Vista includes a recovery feature known as the Last Known Good Configuration. You may be familiar with this feature if you’ve worked with earlier version of Windows.

If you install a device driver or make a change to the registry that prevents Windows from starting correctly, you can use the Last Known Good.

The Last Known Good (LKG) starts Windows using information stored in the registry from the last successful startup. For example, if you installed a new video driver that causes a problem, you can use the LKG and Windows will be started using the original drivers (those used before the update was performed). The LKG, however, cannot be used to start Windows if the problem is due to missing or incorrect device drivers or missing system files.

You can start Windows using the Last Known Good Configuration by pressing F8 when your computer is starting up. From the Advanced Boot Options, use the keyboard arrows to highlight Last Known Good Configuration and press Enter. More information about using the Last Known Good Configuration can be found here.

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