Windows offers multiple ways to troubleshoot problems on PC, and one such method is Clean Boot in Windows. This post will guide you on Restart PC in Clean Boot and troubleshooting PC issues.
You may have encountered this problem on multiple occasions when you try to power up your computer and receive an error message claiming that a problem or a software conflict is stopping you from doing so regularly. You begin to wonder what is wrong with your system, creating this type of problem with no apparent cause.
To many people’s astonishment, they are unaware of a simple solution to this problem. But don’t worry, since you’ve found this article, which will walk you through the Clean Boot process, which is a simple resolution for this incredibly aggravating problem.
What is Clean Boot in Windows?
Clean Boot, as the name suggests, is a method of starting your computer with the bare minimum of programs and drivers required by the present operating system. It launches your computer with the fewest services and related drivers possible.
This method aids in identifying the actual root cause, or background processes, of the interference that is causing your system to boot incorrectly. It offers you greater control over services that run during the Startup process, which eventually identifies the problem and removes it. It’s a troubleshooting technique.
For the most part, non-Microsoft products are the leading cause of errors during the Startup process, so to combat this, mainly Microsoft services are allowed to run during the Clean booting process. The System Configuration program (MSCONFIG) is commonly used in our Windows-based OS to select and commence a Clean Boot process.
Here, we’ll go over the easy techniques or steps you can use to do a Clean Boot.
How to Restart PC in Clean Boot?
These steps might look too much to deal with at first, but if you follow them step-by-step with us, there’s nothing complicated about it. However, before getting started, we must do certain things to perform this seamlessly. You must have administrator rights to your PC, which means you must be signed in as an administrator on your PC, as it is the only way you can access those settings, which we will discuss further.
Finally, after completing a Clean Boot, you may not see your computer as you did previously, and it may work differently, but don’t worry. The diagnosis of those problems is predicated on the one-of-a-kind state. Your PC will revert to its original state once you have performed the essential procedures.
Here are the steps you need to follow to perform a Clean Boot.
- Right-click on the START button.
- Click on Search.
- Type the word MSConfig and press Enter on the keyboard.
- It will open the System Configuration window. Switch to the Services tab.
- Click on the checkbox present near Hide all Microsoft Services.
- Click on Disable all button.
- Click Startup and click on the Open Task Manager link.
- There you’ll see all the Startup programs during the initial booting process.
- Click on any Startup programs that you might think are interfering with the bootup.
- Click on Disable. It will disable those programs when you boot your PC.
- Repeat for all the programs that you might want to disable and are on your suspect list of yours.
- Close the Task Manager.
- Click OK in the System Configuration windows that you opened earlier.
- Finally, Restart your PC.
When your PC restarts after a while, the apps that you did not disable before will load, together with other necessary programs and drives. If you were having problems with a specific program or update, try it again under the Clean Boot environment. If the problem persists after you launch and update that program, you’ve located your culprit, and the problem is no longer impacting your PC.
If still you haven’t found the root cause, you can attempt the same process as many times as you want. Just go through steps 1-5 that we’ve mentioned above, but re-enable half of the services each time.
The best method to accomplish this is to re-enable the top half of the services. Then proceed with the rest of the process, which will result in the PC restarting in Clean Boot mode to see if the error still exists. It does not imply that the top half is totally fine and is not the source of your frequent error notices.
Repeat the steps again but, in this instance, re-enable the bottom half of the non-Microsoft services. Perform the restart. If the error shows up again, then you’ve found the root cause. Another way of doing it is to narrow down the entire search, uncheck the services one by one and restart your PC. It will lead to finding your root cause directly.
How to Exit Clean Boot in Windows PC
After you’ve done all the hard work of performing those steps, you must’ve found the exact program that was causing those conflicts daily. Now, it’s time to get everything back to normal as it was earlier, well, without the cause this time.
- Open Run Prompt (Win + R).
- Type MSConfig and then press Enter to launch System Configuration.
- Switch to the Services section, and click on the Enable all button.
- Apply the changes and click on the Ok button to close it.
- Open Task Manager using Ctrl + Shift + Esc
- Switch to the Startup tab, and enable the programs except for those causing the problem.
Does Clean Boot Erase Everything?
No, the Clean Boot does not erase everything. It is just a way to boot a Windows computer with minimum Startup programs, devices, and services. The Clean Boot helps in identifying software and hardware issues with the computer. To completely erase everything on a Windows computer, one needs to perform a factory data reset from Windows settings.
Does Clean Boot Help?
Yes, the Clean Boot can help you quickly identify critical issues in your PC. The logic behind this is simple, with Clean Boot, you disable every such software, service, or device that can be creating issues for your PC. If the PC functions normally after that, you can consider reinstalling/changing the software, service, or device.
Above, we went over all the essential details and processes for completing a Clean Boot in great depth, helping you through each step. It will ensure that any issues encountered during the bootup process are resolved.
If it doesn’t, there’s a hardware problem that can be fixed if you know how to manage a CPU externally, or if you don’t, please consider talking to a qualified expert. The majority of the issues and errors are caused by software conflicts, such as malfunctioning programs, drivers, etc. We hope this post was useful to you and you have learned how to restart the PC in Clean Boot and troubleshoot.
