How many of you are familiar with Windows 8.1/8's quick, noisy startup?
How many of you are familiar with Windows 8.1/8's quick, noisy startup?
The boot times are comparable, but using the PC after it powers on shows a significant gap from 7 to 8. The W8 runs tasks much quicker, and even gaming feels smoother on the W8.1 version. Barnacles mentioned improvements in memory handling that make W8 faster, though the exact details remain unclear.
This function belongs to Windows 8. All users with that OS have it turned on unless they face compatibility issues with earlier versions. It’s not a simple setup, but it works well. Even when you turn it off, starting up is slightly quicker than in Windows 7, as Microsoft has made improvements. This capability was highlighted in the Windows 8 preview builds and at various press sessions. ASUS also displays this feature: for full compatibility you need a motherboard that fully supports UEFI, a decent SSD, Windows 8 itself, and a graphics card with GOP ready firmware—usually an upgrade from the current BIOS. Manufacturers haven’t added this automatically; you must manually install the vBIOS update. After upgrading, you can’t revert it back.
CSM means Compatibility Support Module. When active, it allows UEFI to recognize older BIOS graphics cards. Disabling it prevents booting with modern GPUs like Nvidia or AMD unless you’ve applied the vBIOS upgrade. If enabled, turning it off blocks startup for those cards. Once installed, the system remains locked in that configuration.
I've tried it, but I turned it off after running into problems when trying to boot into recovery because the quick startup was bypassing it.