How long does your DAW take to boot?

And by that I mean, from the time you power your computer on, how long before you can start using Sonar without any pops or bleeps?
 
I find I have to let my computer (quad core 64 bit 8 GB RAM, W7) go for a good four to six minutes after logging in before the HD-in-use light goes out. If I start Sonar before that, I am just asking for a lengthy wait.

jim,mine is about 4 minutes,so yours isnt far off.
you can go into your bios and probably untick a few things in there.

when your computer starts it does a random check of all your hardware to make sure everything is working okay.
maybe yours is sticking on something for that extra 2 mins.
a hard drive,ram?

i find in most cases its the hd,its a weakened sector that you computer stalls on.

but thats not to say you should probably go through your start up items and "86" a few of the not so needed ones.
msconfig/start up.
while your there look at services(just turn off  "see windows services")
that way its easier to sift threw what you got in there.

im sure you probably already know this though and have made the adjustments.

on another note,i just got the foreigner box set,listening to foreigner 4 right now "break it up"...these guys rock !!!!

rock on jimmy boy !
 
ps-
im running win 7 64 as well on a custom built(by mua)gigabyte mobo,AMD phenom 2 -6 core,8 gigs of ram

I have an SSD, that makes a big difference

James,

I can start SONAR within moments after I log on if my RME Fireface UFX is already on when I boot up.

The computer boot up process seems to be about 30-40 seconds. The ADK laptop is slightly longer (I have databases and web servers on that machine for 'local' testing).

If it's taking several minutes before you can do anything in Sonar, it might be scanning all VST's when you first start Sonar. If you have a lot of plug-ins, it can take awhile. You can turn that off. No need to scan them everytime you start Sonar. I have a lot of VST's. Never scan them on boot-up. They always work fine. My daw boots up in 20 -30 seconds and it's not a new one by any means.

I don't normally shut down my computer unless it needs to reboot for an update or something or I'm not going to be using it for a while - I just turn off my monitor and then I turn it back on and ready to go in seconds. I'm sure there's a downside to this but hasn't caused me any problems.

Some service(s) on a delayed start may be the cause or, may be indicating/emphasizing another problem that could be hardware related. Have you scanned your OS drive lately for bad sectors? How full/fragmented is the OS drive? Have you made any changes recently that involved the swap/paging file or anything else? Was it a full moon when you noticed this happening for the first time? 

But to confirm, that's a long time (ridiculously long time) to wait to start working...

I've built and repaired PC's for about 12 years now. What's most likely happening at start-up is Windows is trying to sift through all the useless processes and crap installed on your PC.   

The best thing for a fast PC is to not install a bunch of garbage on it.  Especially your DAW machine.  I don't install screensavers, or flashy things that alter the OS in some way.  I don't go online with my DAW machine so I don't use any anti-virus (major resource hog).  I don't download any updates from windows either, unless there is a specific update for a problem I'm having (which hasn't ever happened).  They are always just security updates, and whenever I install any of them, my memory usage goes up.  I also disable all updates, notifications and any services that aren't necessity for Win to run.  I also NEVER let anyone on my DAW machine. No exceptions.  The less processes and updates you have, the better your machine is going to run.  If you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del or even better, hold shift-control with your thumb and hit esc with your index finger it skips the log screen and takes you right to the task manager.  If you have 60 or more processes running after you hit show processes from all users, you have way to much crap on you PC. .After your PC warms up and is idle (no hd light flashing or anything) your CPU usage should be 0%.  With 8 GB of memory,  your physical memory be at around 8-10%.  I have 4GB and at idle I have 0 cpu and use about 14% physical memory.
Even if you buy a PC new from a retailer. They all come loaded with garbage.  Removing useless progs from your PC will help, but there's nothing like a fresh clean install of Windows minus the garbage.  The key is to resist installing things you don't really need.

I have an older dual core amd with 4 GB memory on Win 7 Ultimate, and I can start playing a song in sonar in under 2 minutes from the time I hit the start button on my tower.  If you can, you'd be better off to use a cheap pc or laptop for internet and stuff and try to keep your DAW machine free of unnecessary software.

After post, 10-15 seconds. once on, a soft restart is 10 seconds.

 I recently cut out VST scanning and now it starts up like greased lightening.

3-4 min.  I have roughly a million (give or take) programs installed on my DAW..which serves as my general all around PC  PC. 

About 30-45 Seconds from power to play, I also have a dedicated ADK DAW that has never been on line since I bought it.

I think mine is about 20-25 seconds

not long