How to shorten startup time after Lion to Mountain Lion upgrade? I have been looking for answers since and have seen a few that say I need to do a fresh install and whatnot. I am simply unhappy with the fact that I just bought a brand new laptop that got a free Mountain Lion upgrade and now regretting it because the startup time is over 1 minute. 

I'm not a techy person and I don't know how to do a fresh install. I refuse to do so if I have to pay for another Mountain Lion download.

How to fix the slow computer start, to make start up time as it was before?
Once you've paid once for an OS upgrade, you own the right to download the OS again at any time. Reinstalling will not require another purchase. If you wish to try your luck with a fresh in a fresh install, consider watching TLDToday's video series:

How to Create a Bootable Mountain Lion 10.8 USB Install Thumb Drive

How to Clean Install OS 10.8 Mountain Lion