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One of the most frustrating experiences you can have as a PC user is when something just won’t work. Maybe it’s a game that blacks out after the title screen, or an app that refuses to launch when you tell it to, but in any case it doesn’t give you much of a clue what’s going wrong, and it’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out.
One possible cause of these mysterious crashes is interference with one of your computer’s background processes. Unfortunately, a whole host of them start with Windows, so it can be tricky to figure out if they’re causing a problem, and if so, which one.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use a clean boot to identify harmful program interactions. A clean boot is a boot where no unnecessary background processes launch at startup. Some functionality of the computer may be lost while performing a clean boot, but it’s easily reversible and a powerful diagnostic technique.
To perform a clean boot on a system running XP, you’ll need to start by clicking the ‘Run’ option in the start menu, which will open a dialogue. In the ”Open:” field, type “msconfig.”
The System Configuration Utility will launch, which will allow you to modify which services startup with Windows. Click the radial button marked “Selective Startup” then uncheck the boxes marked “Process SYSTEM.INI File,” Process WIN.INI File,” and “Load Startup Items.” Leave the “Load System Services” box checked.
Next, you’ll navigate to the “Services” tab, which contains a list of all services that launch on startup. We don’t want to screw with anything vital to the computer, so check the box that says “Hide All Microsoft Services.” Then click the “Disable All” button, which will uncheck all the boxes, and click OK.
A clean boot in Vista is performed in very nearly the same way as in XP. You start by entering “msconfig” into the Start Search Bar in the Start menu, which will launch the System Configuration Utility.
In the System Configuration Utility, click the “Selective Startup” radial button and uncheck the “Load Startup Items” option.
Go to the Services tab, select “Hide All Microsoft Services” and press the “Disable All” button. Click OK.
On either operating system, you’ll be prompted to restart your system. Do so, and when it reboots, your computer will be running clean. Try running the program you’ve been having trouble with. If the problem persists, then it’s likely not due to interference by another program. If this is the case, you can return your startup settings to normal simply by launching the System Configuration Utility and selecting the radial marked “Normal Startup – load all device drivers and services.”
If the problem’s gone, it probably does have something to do with interference, so read on to find out what to do.
Comments are closed on this article
Jwitmer
December 15, 2011 at 12:31pm
I was cheered intially when my "clean boot" enabled me to operate again at speed. However, after a while (about an hour) the system reverted to the S -- L-- O -- W -- S again. Checking the msconfig, I discovere that the old "Load startups items" had been reinstated. How did that happen and how can I be sure it doesn't happen again?
TheDorkSide
November 06, 2008 at 2:48pm
Sure a lot of us know about this little app but many new users/enthusiasts/closet geeks/whatever don't. I'm glad this is here, it's great tip to get your system starting up a little faster. I agree there should be more articles like this, maybe in a different section.
strykyr
November 06, 2008 at 8:34am
I would think that anyone who comes to this site would already know how to do this...
s3th
November 08, 2008 at 7:13pm
Lol, well not everyone is good with everything on a computer someone may be a gamer and not know anything about coding a game itself, a computer hardware engineer may be good at what he does, and not know how to even work a computer. Its logic :D lol...
idk what Im sayin
marshall834
November 06, 2008 at 9:15am
Huh... I didn't and I've been a reader since 2003. Don't know why I didn't think about it though now that you mention it... Well anyway. I say its a good article and there should be more diagnosing articles like this one!
strykyr
November 06, 2008 at 9:45am
Yes there should be more diagnostic articles. But this is one of the first trouble shooting steps Microsoft, Logitech, Creative Labs and ATI Put you through. Notice that these are also the ones I have always had some sort of issue with too. Creative Labs and ATI hardware just did NOT get along a few years back. My Logitech MX for bluetooth combo won't let me use the wheel button in games if I have the logitech software installed. They still say they don't know why...without the software it works perfectly. Microsoft is just that..Microsoft(I do use Vista 64bit Ultimate with no issues). That's why when I read this, I was like DUH! If MaximumPC is going to do these types of articles I think they should be a little further in the troubleshooting process than this. But at the same time I guess this could be useful as a starting point. So good point marshall834
marshall834
November 06, 2008 at 10:53pm
Ah ha. I guess that explains why I didn't know about this handy step. I don't think I've ever called tech fro support other than Patriot or Corsair, which didn't have anything to do with software. Also, on a side note, I did know about msconfig, and I have used it in the past to disable start up programs. I guess the thought of disabling all unneseccary software for use as a troubleshooting technique never dawned on me :p
