Diskeeper, which has sold 36 million copies of its defragmentation software, began working on HyperBoot six months ago. The software rearranges the order in which applications and services are loaded by Windows to minimize delays and maximize efficiency.

A HyperBoot-enabled PC will average 100% CPU utilization during the Windows loading process, said Ed Beckman, vice-president of development for Diskeeper.

also physically remaps how Windows boot data is stored to bring it closer together, so as to minimize access delays caused by the hard drive spindle having to move from one part of the disk to another, Beckman said.

Even after optimizing a PC the first time, HyperBoot will continue to monitor and re-optimize Windows as it continues to run, and more apps are installed, preventing the sluggishness most users are accustomed to, Beckman said. The software can also cut shutdown times by about 10%.

Version one of HyperBoot was optimized for Windows XP and conventional hard disk drives. Version two, which Diskeeper is now offering to PC makers, works with Windows 7 as well as solid-state disk (SSD) drives, which many performance hounds are turning to for even faster boot times, Beckman said.