Interesting. I rarely bother to keep MSSQL loaded because it starts so quickly... PS C:\> (Measure-Command { Start-Service MSSQLSERVER }).TotalMilliseconds

Interesting. I rarely bother to keep MSSQL loaded because it starts so quickly... PS C:\> (Measure-Command { Start-Service MSSQLSERVER }).TotalMilliseconds 1127.5208 Alternatively, if you want SQL Server to start automatically without materially impacting startup performance, why not set its startup type to "Automatic (Delayed Start)"? As for shutdown, while it depends on how you're using it immediately beforehand, I've never seen it take more than a few seconds on a development box.