CyberLogic Blog

Users often complain about computers becoming sluggish over time, or errors coming up which didn’t before. These can range from mildly irritating errors to very serious problems which cause the system to hang or crash.  The blame is often shifted to the operating system and the old ‘format and re-install’ approach is often applied next.

While a re-install of the operating system will no doubt resolve the issue, it is often possible to identify the cause of the problem and resolve it without resorting to a re-install. The clean boot approach outlined below can save you a lot of time re-installing software and re-configuring settings.

** Warning: this article is intended for systems administrators only! Disabling the wrong services will render your computer unserviceable. Do not attempt this unless you are qualified to do so! **

The easiest way to identify the cause is to perform a ‘clean boot’ of windows. This means disabling all non-Microsoft services and applications and testing whether the problem still occurs.  It might sound very complicated, but the process is relatively straightforward.

1. Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
2. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all. (Be warned: disabling the wrong services will damage the system!)
3. To stop all additional programs from starting with windows, click on the Startup tab and then click Disable all.
4. Click OK, and then click Restart.

After the restart, determine whether the problem still occurs. If it does not, you can isolate the problematic service by enabling them one by one until the problem recurs.

If this approach does not resolve the problem, move to the Startup tab and repeat the above steps to determine whether it is a specific startup program that is causing the problem.

Once you have identified the startup application or the service that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Alternatively, you can disable or uninstall the problematic application.

By this process of elimination, you can often find the cause of the problem rather than rebuilding the whole system.