Note
If your issue prevents you from booting into Windows, you won't be able to follow the steps in this article. After the device tries to restart a few times, you should get Windows Recovery Options, which you can use to try to resolve the issue. Click a link below that corresponds to your version of Windows:
- Windows 10: Recovery options in Windows 10
- Windows 8.1: How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC
- Windows 7: What are the system recovery options in Windows?
Summary
A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.
How to perform a clean boot
These steps might look complicated at first glance, but following them in order, step-by-step, will help you get you back on track.
Use the following steps to perform a clean boot in Windows 10. Perform a clean boot for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
- Sign in to the computer as an administrator. If you don't have an administrator account, you can create one. Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10.
- In the search box on the taskbar, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.
Important If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from following these steps. Only use the System Configuration utility to change the advanced boot options on the computer with guidance from a Microsoft support engineer. Using the System Configuration utility might make the computer unusable.
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On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all.
- On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.
- Under Startup in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then select Disable.
- Close Task Manager.
- On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it's in a clean boot environment. Follow troubleshooting steps to install, uninstall, or run your application. Your computer might temporarily lose some functionality while in a clean boot environment. Reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting and resume functionality.
How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot
Reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting
How to start the Windows Installer service when system services are not loaded
If you run a Setup program without starting the Windows Installer service, you might receive the following error message:
The Windows Installer service doesn't start if you clear the Load system services check box in the System Configuration utility. To use the Windows Installer service when system services are not loaded, start the service manually. Here's how: