Just asking for a little help, simple stuff =)

I am in a statistical math class and I have a project to do. So I would like to ask for a small hand from my friends here. I am doing a study and developing a hypothesis based on computer reboot times.

All computers used for my study must be newer(ish), no old sub 1000mhz systems if you would please. Newer single core or dual core (2000+ish MHZ) would be most ideal; Windows only for this hypothesis.

Simple procedure, get out yur stopwatch (or watch with a second hand) close all programs running (not task bar items) hit the start menu and press restart then start your timer.

Please post your time to a complete reboot (total minutes and seconds), to the point where you can actually start a program, not just the splash screen. If you wouldn't mind tell me your CPU and RAM amount (hard drive size/type is not important for this base line).

You should be able to tell when your computer is finished booting, HD activity slows way down, and program/The Start Menu should open easily. Try to be as exact as possible, do it twice to make sure you have an acurate time.

This is a team project but my team is slacking off and I need more than 30 numbers for a large sample size. If you see 30 responses to this then I have enough numbers for my hypothesis.

I would greatly appreciate it =)

45 Seconds and 47 seconds.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 @ 3.0 with 4th core unlocked.
RAM: 4GB PC6400 800MHz
HDD: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 32MB Cache

hit the start menu and press restart then start your timer
to the point where you can actually start a program.

52 seconds

Got a few more numbers for the sample now I only need 8 more...

Thank you very much - I've managed to contact a few more friends on facebook and get a few more numbers. Now I need 4 more to fill my sample.

thanks englandr,

I now have all I need for my sample. =)

Out of curiosity, why is this the case? A Solid State Drive will wipe the floor with a platter-based HDD.

We have a small range of older systems. All with varying degrees of crap installed on them. With reboot times that range from ~6 mins to ~15mins.

I wanted a range of newer systems with a completely random sample. So there would be a wide range of crap installed but would be a fair sample of the average (Newer) computer system.

I will be using hypothesis testing on the mean for both a small sample size (older systems) and a large sample size (newer systems). Standard deviation will be determined (of course) and a conclusion will be drawn based on the Null/Alternative Hypothesis for each case. All done in the name of showing that newer systems would be more productive to a certain degree, than the older systems. This is not a hard core (BE ALL END ALL) direct comparison between a single old system and a faster new system. So this is a perfect type of test for what my assignment requires. Remember this is a Statistics Class, not a Computer Class.

HDD size/type does not matter because it will only give a very fast number (or two) out of a random sample, which would actually be ideal for this test, because a full spectrum of what is available (for newer computer) will show up in the sample.

Thanks..

Wish I would have seen this thread earlier, as I woulda thrown in some results for you as well. Never the less, if you remember to and have enough time, post up the results of your study- I'm curious to see the results. Don't worry about translating the stats., had to do plenty of that crap in school myself.

Best of luck.

time shut down : 10 seconds.
Post = 5 seconds
win splash = 7seconds
extra time to start up FIREFOX 3.5 = 15 seconds
p4 garbage,1gb crucial ballistix,old wd 80gb ide