Disable startup programs
Open Task Manager → Startup tab. Disable everything you do not need at boot. Discord, Spotify, Teams, and OneDrive are common culprits.
Enable Fast Startup
Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Turn on fast startup. Note: this can occasionally mask boot issues — disable it for troubleshooting.
Check for malware
Run a full scan with Windows Defender or Malwarebytes. Background malware activity is a frequent cause of sluggish boot.
Upgrade to SSD
If you are still on a spinning HDD, cloning it to an SSD is the single biggest improvement available — boot times typically drop from 60–90 s to under 10 s.
Check Event Viewer
Filter System log for errors during the boot window. Slow service initialisation shows up here and points directly at the problem service.