ASRock Instant Boot loads Windows in four seconds
Posted at: 3:42pm 12th November 2008 by Ben Hardwidge
Load your Windows desktop with a clean boot in just a few seconds, even after a proper shut down
ASRock Instant Boot screenshot
With high electricity prices and tough economic times ahead, now isn’t a good time for most of us to leave our PCs on 24/7, but that also means you’ll have to wait a little while when you switch on your PC if you want a clean boot of Windows. However, Asustek’s budget motherboard wing, ASRock, reckons it’s found a good way around this with its Instant Boot system.
The idea behind Instant Boot is that it takes advantage of the S3 and S4 features of ACPI (advanced configuration and power interface), which normally enable the Sleep/Standby and Hibernation modes in Windows respectively. However, by calling them at different times in the boot-up and shutdown process, Instant Boot enables you to boot up to your Windows desktop in three to four seconds, even after a proper Shut Down.
Two modes are available; Fast mode, which uses S3 and boots up in around four seconds, and Regular Mode, which uses S4 and apparently takes between 20 and 22 seconds to boot. The advantage of Instant Boot when compared with normal Sleep and Hibernation modes is that you get the advantage of a clean boot of Windows, without what ASRock calls ‘accumulated garbage data,’ and you also get the security of knowing that you won’t lose any data if there’s a power cut and you lose AC power.
The latter advantage only applies when using the Regular Mode, however. When using the Fast Mode, ASRock advises you not to switch off the AC power to the PC at the mains. As well as this, you’ll also save money on electricity by not leaving your PC switched on. Instant Boot will also only work on Windows systems (XP or Vista) with a single-user account and no password protection.
Instant Boot can be enabled on five of ASRock’s current boards, which are based on AMD’s 780G and 790GX chipsets, and Intel’s P45 and P43 chipsets, and you can grab the appropriate BIOS updates from here. ASRock has also released a hilariously cheesy video to demonstrate the feature in action, which looks as though it was shot in the motherboard factory. Check it out below.
Those guys at ASRock seem to have fun jobs ^_^
Posted at: 3:42pm 12th November 2008 by Ben Hardwidge
Load your Windows desktop with a clean boot in just a few seconds, even after a proper shut down
ASRock Instant Boot screenshot
With high electricity prices and tough economic times ahead, now isn’t a good time for most of us to leave our PCs on 24/7, but that also means you’ll have to wait a little while when you switch on your PC if you want a clean boot of Windows. However, Asustek’s budget motherboard wing, ASRock, reckons it’s found a good way around this with its Instant Boot system.
The idea behind Instant Boot is that it takes advantage of the S3 and S4 features of ACPI (advanced configuration and power interface), which normally enable the Sleep/Standby and Hibernation modes in Windows respectively. However, by calling them at different times in the boot-up and shutdown process, Instant Boot enables you to boot up to your Windows desktop in three to four seconds, even after a proper Shut Down.
Two modes are available; Fast mode, which uses S3 and boots up in around four seconds, and Regular Mode, which uses S4 and apparently takes between 20 and 22 seconds to boot. The advantage of Instant Boot when compared with normal Sleep and Hibernation modes is that you get the advantage of a clean boot of Windows, without what ASRock calls ‘accumulated garbage data,’ and you also get the security of knowing that you won’t lose any data if there’s a power cut and you lose AC power.
The latter advantage only applies when using the Regular Mode, however. When using the Fast Mode, ASRock advises you not to switch off the AC power to the PC at the mains. As well as this, you’ll also save money on electricity by not leaving your PC switched on. Instant Boot will also only work on Windows systems (XP or Vista) with a single-user account and no password protection.
Instant Boot can be enabled on five of ASRock’s current boards, which are based on AMD’s 780G and 790GX chipsets, and Intel’s P45 and P43 chipsets, and you can grab the appropriate BIOS updates from here. ASRock has also released a hilariously cheesy video to demonstrate the feature in action, which looks as though it was shot in the motherboard factory. Check it out below.
Those guys at ASRock seem to have fun jobs ^_^