Installed Windows7 on MBA (2011) - takes long to boot

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Hi guys, im new here. I just converted to the mac worls. Been a PC user all my life and now snached up the new air. love everything about it. So being a PC user, i naturally wanted to install Windows on it and i did. Windows works flawlessly, however, it takes a while to boot. For comparison OSX boots in like 20 secs, but when i choose windows, it gives me a black scree and the underscore cursor blinking for like 45secs and tehn windows boots. So in total it probably takes it over a minute to boot windows. Is this normal? Or is there a way to minimize the boot time?

Thanks a bunch
 
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MBP 17" 2011, 2.3GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 8GB RAM, MacMini 2011, 2.7GHz Intel Dual-Core i7, 8GB RAM
It is normal for Win7 to take longer to boot than OSX. The Blinking Cursor generally means something happened when activating your copy. Now, taking for granted you used a legit and legal copy of Win7, reactivate it.

Also, It will take more than 20 sec for Win7 to boot on anything. Just the way of the beast. 1 minute on the Mac to boot in Bootcamp is still better than the 2 minutes (almost) it takes on my HP to get Win7 up and surfing.
 
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I think I know what you mean. For me when I boot windows it takes a really long time, I'm using Win7 Enterprise on it and just takes longer to boot the partition because to my understanding there is a bit of emulation going on. I would love to be able boot into it more quickly, but since I use windows only for games I try to only boot into it every few days.
 
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It will take more than 20 sec for Win7 to boot on anything. Just the way of the beast.
I have heard tell of a server PC with specs of 12 cores @ 2.93GHz, 64GB of RAM, a streamlined BIOS, and booting off an SSD, booting Windows 7 in less than five seconds.

But, of course, that's a top-of-the-line Mac Pro-class machine; so not really a valid comparison to the average Mac... Still thought it bore a mention, though!
 
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i times the boot up time for windows and its just around 2:00 minute mark. i seems to take longer now that I installed all the windows updates. So are you guys saying this boot time is normal? Is in the Apple's way to discourage windows use lol?
 
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My windows 7 is booting in about 20-25 seconds. From sleep is comes up instant same as mac.
 
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ct1211, are you running a macbook air? Also what windows are you running? Im running ultimate (windows 7 of course). Do you thing that has anything to do with it? Oh, and from sleep windows pops right up too.
 

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Never heard of the blinking cursor being caused by activation issues. That's a new one to me.

In my experience, the blinking cursor means the EFI is having a hard time with the boot loader. Most often this is fixed by zapping the PRAM. Turn your machine off, turn it back on and press and hold Command + Option + P + R. Continue holding until the machine chimes twice, then release. See if that does the trick.
 
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Never heard of the blinking cursor being caused by activation issues. That's a new one to me.

In my experience, the blinking cursor means the EFI is having a hard time with the boot loader. Most often this is fixed by zapping the PRAM. Turn your machine off, turn it back on and press and hold Command + Option + P + R. Continue holding until the machine chimes twice, then release. See if that does the trick.

did as you said. restarted form mac and held option/command/p/r. the system didn't really chime twice it tried to restart twice when i was holding it. then i let go. so i guess it did chime each time it tried to start. I tried to start windows and, again, it take 2:00 minutes to start. here is the chronological order:
1. turn on laptop and hold option
2. chose windows and hit enter
3. cursor blinking for 1:30 minutes
4. windows starts 25 secs
 
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Stupid Question ALERT...this is through Bootcamp right?

I want to understand this because I am planning on doing the same!
 
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Toofast:

I am running the new 13" Macbook Air Mid 2011 with 256 SSD. When I did Bootcamp I gave about 140GB to the Windows side because while the Mac OS is cute I have programs like Adobe CS5 that I could not swap from PC to Mac for Free and I have spent enough on my tech addiction this year. I also spent 200 on Windows & Home. The only advantage to ultimate is enterprise features. I have a home office so I don't need the extra stuff. It is talking about 25 seconds for a full boot. Beats the 3 minutes of my Sony Z!! Funny story, I was on the road waiting for a meeting. A client calls with a question on my cell. I told him "Hang on let me try and look it up" When he hears my computer starting he says "oh sounds like your just starting up your computer, we can do this later" I said "hang on I just got a new Mac" 5 seconds later I had his answer!!!"

I am in the process of evaluating why I should be 100% Mac (Sorry I am new to Mac) If someone has a clue besides a different UI why I should at some point make the leap let me know. I am all ears.
 
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so ct1211:

It seems like we have the same machines. I have the i5 though. You? THe only differences in out setups are 140gb (you) and 90gb (me) for windows and the fact that i run ultimate and you run home.

Can you do me a favor can you tell me if you did anything different about the install? Did you install from cd or USB (i did from cd)? Is your bootcamp the same version that came with the laptop? Any other pointers? I may try to install windows 7 home if i can get it (legally of course)
THanks
 

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