When a writer at MakeUseOf recently turned off Windows Fast Startup, a default power setting that promises faster boots, the result defied expectations. Boot time crept up by roughly two seconds—from about 11 seconds to 13 seconds on an NVMe SSD—but three long-standing hardware and software gremlins vanished without a trace. A flaky USB dock, a Linux partition that kept complaining about unclean mounts, and a Windows update stuck in a fail-and-retry loop all disappeared.

It’s a small test, but it highlights a reality that many Windows power users have suspected for years: Fast Startup, introduced in Windows 8 and still enabled by default in Windows 10 and 11, may cause more trouble than the tiny speed gain is worth on modern hardware.

What actually changed: the Fast Startup illusion

Fast Startup aims to combine the speed of hibernation with the appearance of a full shutdown. When it’s on and you click “Shut down,” Windows does not perform a cold boot the next time you power up. Instead, it logs off your user session, then saves the kernel session and loaded drivers into the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys). On the next power-on, the system reloads that saved state rather than starting everything from scratch. Think of it as a partial hibernation: the user space is fresh, but the core of the operating system is restored from a previous checkpoint.

The catch is that a Restart does not use this shortcut. When you choose Restart, Windows performs a full, clean shutdown and a full initialization, regardless of the Fast Startup setting. This distinction often confuses users because “Shut down” feels like the more thorough action, but with Fast Startup enabled, the opposite is true.

|||Action|Fast Startup enabled|Fast Startup disabled|
|-|-|-|
|Shut down|Hybrid shutdown (kernel session saved)|Full shutdown|
|Restart|Full restart|Full restart|
|Driver initialization|Restores previous kernel session|Loads fresh kernel session|
|||

In the MakeUseOf test, the boot time from pressing the power button after a shutdown went from 11 seconds to 13 seconds—an extra two seconds. That’s a rounding error on an NVMe SSD, but on an older mechanical hard drive, the gap can be more meaningful, which is exactly why the feature was created in the first place.

The three bugs that disappeared

The real surprise wasn’t the boot speed; it was what happened once the machine was running. Here’s a closer look at the three issues that were traced back to Fast Startup.

1. USB dock and external display disconnects

Several times a week, the dock would fail to recognize an external monitor or drive after a cold boot. The only fix was to unplug the dock and reconnect it. Fast Startup explains this because it reuses driver states from the previous session rather than forcing a full reinitialization of hardware. Some devices—especially docks, USB-C hubs, and Thunderbolt controllers—need a complete power cycle and fresh driver load to function reliably. By preserving the kernel session, Fast Startup can leave these peripherals in a confused state.

2. Linux refuses to mount NTFS volumes

In a dual-boot setup with Linux, the NTFS partition often threw the error “not cleanly unmounted” and would mount read-only. This happens because a hibernated kernel marks the NTFS volume as still in use. Linux’s NTFS driver correctly refuses to write to it, avoiding potential data corruption. Disabling Fast Startup forces a full shutdown, which cleanly closes the filesystem, letting Linux mount it normally.

3. A Windows update stuck in a loop

For two weeks, a cumulative update kept failing and retrying. Microsoft’s own documentation acknowledges that Fast Startup saves the kernel session and loaded drivers—the very components an update may need to replace. While not every update failure is due to Fast Startup, a full restart often clears the kind of locked-file situations that can stall a patch. In this case, turning off Fast Startup (and doing a real shutdown) allowed the update to install.

These aren’t isolated anecdotes. Microsoft’s support forums and other tech outlets have documented similar glitches related to Fast Startup, including BitLocker recovery prompts, Hyper-V or WSL2 networking issues, and even problems with kernel-level anti-cheat software.

What it means for you

Fast Startup isn’t malicious, but it changes a fundamental assumption that users and IT pros have relied on for decades: that shutting down and powering on gives you a completely fresh system. Here’s how the impact breaks down by audience.

For everyday Windows users

If your PC has an SSD and you only run Windows, you might never notice a problem. But if you use external docks, multiple monitors, or sometimes restart for troubleshooting, be aware that Restart is a more thorough cleanse than Shutdown. If a device acts up after power-on, try a Restart first. If that fixes it, Fast Startup is likely the culprit. The boot-time penalty for disabling it is so small on SSDs that you may not feel it at all.

For dual-boot and Linux users

If you share an NTFS drive between Windows and Linux, turn off Fast Startup. The risk of filesystem corruption is real. Even if you always shut down Windows before booting Linux, the hibernation flag can lock you out. Disabling Fast Startup ensures Windows fully unmounts the volume, making it safe for other operating systems.

For power users and IT administrators

Fast Startup can interfere with driver updates, Windows Update rollouts, and remote management. At fleet scale, machines that appear to have been shut down might still carry stale kernel state into the next session, leading to inconsistent behavior. Encourage users to use Restart when troubleshooting, and consider disabling Fast Startup on systems that suffer from persistent hardware or update anomalies. The setting is a low-risk variable to remove from the troubleshooting equation.

How we got here: a relic of the hard-drive era

Fast Startup debuted with Windows 8 in 2012, when spinning hard drives were still the norm in consumer PCs. Shaving seconds off boot times was crucial for making the OS feel responsive. The hybrid shutdown approach was a clever engineering compromise: give users the speed of resuming from hibernation without persisting the entire user session.

At the time, Microsoft’s own data indicated that a significant portion of Windows 7 boot time was spent loading device drivers and kernel components. Fast Startup sidestepped that by simply not reloading them from scratch. The tradeoff was that drivers didn’t get a fresh start—and for most single-boot, hard-drive-based PCs of the early 2010s, that rarely mattered.

Today, NVMe SSDs can initialize Windows in a few seconds anyway. The incremental gain from Fast Startup has shrunk, while the complexity of the average PC has exploded. External docks, multiple GPUs, virtualization software, and dual-boot setups are far more common. Each additional layer increases the chance that a saved driver state will conflict with the actual hardware or software configuration.

Microsoft’s documentation on distinguishing Fast Startup from wake-from-hibernation explicitly warns that “device drivers should be prepared to handle a fast startup.” In practice, not all are. The result is a feature that, while well-intentioned, can turn into a source of subtle, hard-to-diagnose bugs.

What to do now

Disabling Fast Startup is simple and easily reversible. Before you do, consider your setup:

  • If you dual-boot Windows and Linux, or regularly access NTFS drives from another OS, disable it now. The risk of filesystem corruption outweighs any boot-time benefit.
  • If you use a USB dock, external drives, or multiple external monitors and experience occasional disconnections, try disabling it and see if the problems stop.
  • If you frequently troubleshoot driver issues, stuck updates, or odd peripheral behavior, disabling it is a safe diagnostic step.
  • If your PC has an older mechanical hard drive and you have never encountered these glitches, you may keep it on. The boot-time improvement is more noticeable, and the feature is doing its job.
  • If you have a modern SSD and none of these issues, there’s little reason to change the default, but know that the Restart command is your friend when something goes awry.

How to turn off Fast Startup

  1. Open the Control Panel (search for “Control Panel” in the Start menu).
  2. Set View by to Large icons, then click Power Options.
  3. On the left, click Choose what the power buttons do.
  4. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable (this requires administrator privileges).
  5. Under Shutdown settings, uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended).
  6. Click Save changes.

That’s it. There’s no need to restart immediately, but the change takes effect the next time you shut down and start the computer.

If you ever want to re-enable Fast Startup, just check the box again. You won’t break anything by toggling it.

Outlook: time for Microsoft to reconsider the default?

Fast Startup isn’t broken—it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do. But as the Windows hardware landscape has changed, the calculus around this default may need updating. SSDs are now standard, and the two-second difference observed in the MakeUseOf test is likely typical for many modern systems. Meanwhile, the list of scenarios where Fast Startup can cause headaches keeps growing.

Whether Microsoft adjusts the default in future Windows releases remains to be seen. In the meantime, knowing what the shutdown button really does—and that Restart often does what you actually meant—can save you hours of troubleshooting. For dual-booters, dock users, and anyone who values reliability over a fractionally faster boot, Fast Startup is a setting worth turning off today.