Reducing boot time by providing quantitative performance cost data within a boot management user interface

1. A computer implemented method for improving performance of a boot sequence, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying local boot processes associated with the boot sequence on a specific computer;

for each identified local boot process, monitoring usage of a plurality of hardware computing resources local to the specific computer during the boot sequence;

determining a performance cost for each identified local boot process, a determined performance cost being based on monitored usage of the plurality of local hardware computing resources of the specific computer during the boot sequence on the specific computer;

presenting identified local boot processes and associated performance costs to a user; and

further comprising performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting local boot processes which the user wishes to remove from the boot sequence; and

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting processes which the user wishes to uninstall based on the performance cost during the local boot sequence.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a performance cost further comprises:

determining whether each local boot process was initiated directly or spawned by a parent process; and

including performance costs of spawned processes in the performance costs of corresponding parent processes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a performance cost further comprises:

estimating the performance cost for an identified local boot process as a percentage of performance cost of the boot sequence.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a performance cost for each identified local boot process further comprises:

estimating the performance cost for an identified local boot process in units of time.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting identified local boot processes and their associated performance costs to a user further comprises:

presenting identified local boot processes and associated performance costs at an application level, wherein the present performance cost of an application includes the performance cost of each local boot process of that application.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to remove at least one local process from the boot sequence, removing the at least one process from the boot sequence; and

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to uninstall at least one local boot process, uninstalling the at least one process based on the performance cost during the local boot sequence.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a performance cost further comprises:

weighing usage of local hardware computing resources of the specific computer that are more highly contested during the boot sequence more heavily.

8. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium containing a computer program product for improving performance of a boot sequence, the computer program product comprising:

program code for identifying local boot processes associated with the boot sequence on a specific computer;

program code for each identified local boot process, monitoring usage of a plurality of hardware computing resources local to the specific computer during the boot sequence;

program code for determining a performance cost for each identified local boot process, a determined performance cost being based on monitored usage of the plurality of local hardware computing resources of the specific computer during the boot sequence on the specific computer;

program code for presenting identified local boot processes and associated performance costs to a user; and

further comprising program code for performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting local boot processes which the user wishes to remove from the boot sequence;

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting local boot processes which the user wishes to uninstall.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the program code for determining a performance cost further comprises:

program code for determining whether each local boot process was initiated directly or spawned by a parent process; and

program code for including performance costs of spawned processes in the performance costs of corresponding parent processes.

10. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the program code for determining a performance cost further comprises:

program code for estimating the performance cost for an identified local boot process as a percentage of performance cost of the boot sequence.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the program code for determining a performance cost for each identified local boot process further comprises:

program code for estimating the performance cost for an identified local boot process in units of time.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the program code for presenting identified local boot processes and their associated performance costs to a user further comprises:

program code for presenting identified local boot processes and their associated performance costs at an application level, wherein the present performance cost of an application includes the performance cost of each local boot process of that application.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising program code for performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to remove at least one local boot process from the boot sequence, removing the at least one local boot process from the boot sequence; and

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to uninstall at least one local boot process, uninstalling the at least one local boot process.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the program code for determining a performance cost further comprises:

program code for weighing usage of local hardware computing resources of the specific computer that are more highly contested during the boot sequence more heavily.

15. A computer system for improving performance of a boot sequence, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

a system memory; and

a boot sequence manager residing in the system memory:

for identifying local boot processes associated with the boot sequence on a specific computer;

for each identified local boot process, monitoring usage of a plurality of hardware computing resources local to the specific computer during the boot sequence on the specific computer;

for determining a performance cost for each identified local boot process, a determined performance cost being based on monitored usage of the plurality of local hardware computing resources of the specific computer during the boot sequence;

for presenting identified local boot processes and an associated performance costs to a user; and

further for performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting local boot processes which the user wishes to remove from the boot sequence;

providing the user with a user interface component for selecting local boot processes which the user wishes to uninstall.

16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the boot sequence manager is further:

for determining whether each local boot process was initiated directly or spawned by a parent process; and

for including performance costs of spawned processes in the performance costs of corresponding parent processes.

17. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the boot sequence manager is further for performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to remove at least one local boot process from the boot sequence, removing the at least one process from the boot sequence; and

responsive to receiving input from the user indicating to uninstall at least one local boot process, uninstalling the at least one local boot process.