Ron Schenone

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista

Posted by on May 5, 2007 | 4 Comments

I received a newsletter from TechNet and spotted this item about solving boot problems in Windows Vista. Though most of what you would do is similar to what we did in Windows XP, there are some slight modifications of the process. You may wish to bookmark this KB article for future reference in case you run into this problem yourself, or need to help someone else who may be experiencing boot problems.

Microsoft states the following:

‘To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a “clean boot.” A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts. This article describes how to troubleshoot problems in Windows Vista by performing a clean boot. This article also describes how to start the Windows Installer service and how to reset the computer so that it starts as usual.

Note When you perform a clean boot, you may temporarily lose some functionality. When you start the computer as usual, the functionality returns. However, you may receive the original error message, or you may experience the original behavior.’

One point of interest is that Microsoft goes on to say that you may still need to search for KB articles that address specific error messages:

‘This information is not intended to troubleshoot specific problems. Therefore, before you follow these steps, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for information about your problem. Use the text of the error message or a description of the problem when you search. To search the Knowledge Base, visit the following Microsoft Web site:’

With this in mind you can try the diagnostic steps as listed in the KB article to determine if this may resolve the problem. Also don’t forget Google. Most likely you are not the first one to experience a particular problem. I have found Google to be a great tool in diagnosing an ailing machine.

Also don’t forget the forums. The LG forum here is also a great place to seek out help and advice. There is a dedicated section just for Vista users.
Microsoft Vista troubleshoot article here.

[tags]microsoft, vista, troubleshoot, boot, problems, [/tags]

  • alex

    After installing windows vista i no longer have external sound if possible please advise I have already tried checking all the wiring and plug

  • colin

    Fix sounds excellent but I dont know what it costs in this window.

    My Vista problems:
    1) very slow to boot and shut down.
    2) Gymnastic mouse that doesnt land where directed.

    Regards Colin

  • Scott Bartels

    4000 dpi is BS marketing. They are counting each color as its own dot. If you want to compare you should count each sub-pixel in a display. Woohoo! Triple the ‘resolution’! Here’s what you should be looking at. Printing NEEDS 300 DPI to look decent. Most commercial printing is 300 DPI images. There are special print methods for fine art that can reproduce 600 DPI or higher but the differences to the eye are very subtle. Compare this to screen DPI though. A 72 DPI photo at 1:1 pixel on a large LCD will look perfectly crisp but if you were to print the same photo at the same physical size as its screen size it will look very sub-par. Why do relatively low DPI displays make photos look better I can not explain but it does. I therefore believe that a higher res display will only enhance this effect further meaning at 200 PPI the image will be every bit as good as commercial print.

    • http://robertglenfogarty.com/ Robert Glen Fogarty

      Excellent explanation, Scott. Thanks for taking the time to comment!