Whenever Windows crashes or presents strange errors or if it goes very slow, without resetting and formatting everything and avoiding throwing money from the technician, we must investigate the problem . The first thing that is taught by any technician or systems engineer is to start Windows in safe mode.
Safe mode, however, is very restrictive and loads an operating system stripped of almost any function that you can't work too hard on.
But Windows also offers another boot mode: diagnostic boot that can be enabled on Windows 10 and Windows 7 and server versions .
I had already talked about this computer diagnostic startup in the past by describing the internal MSConfig tool , useful for solving problems with a Windows error-free startup .
As explained in that guide, the Startup Diagnostic is useful for loading Windows if viruses are suspected or if problems arise from some recently installed program or driver.
To set Windows diagnostic startup, type the MSCONFIG command on the search box or in the Run box of the Windows Start menu. Commonly MSconfig is used to disable programs from Windows startup in order to lighten the startup process.
In this case, however, we remain in the main tab of the tool, the General section which presents three computer startup options:
Normal startup : all drivers, services and software are loaded as always. Diagnostic boot : where devices and basic services are loaded. Selective startup : where you can choose which items to load on startup. Selective startup is a diagnostic startup where the more experienced user can try adding items from time to time until he or she finds out which process or program service is responsible for the problem.
Starting the diagnostic mode is much more useful than the safe mode because Windows is loaded in all its functions, with the possibility of using the tools of the Control Panel and finding out which services or programs give problems, recording any errors in a file of log. What remains excluded are all third-party servos and programs, external to Windows that have been added over the time of use of the computer.
With the diagnostic startup, the drivers and basic services are loaded, ignoring everything that is not essential to get to the desktop and make the PC work. Complex operations can be performed in diagnostic mode with the assurance that all third-party services and software cannot affect Windows performance.
I therefore recommend, if there are serious problems or errors, to operate in this sequence, starting from the easiest and most immediate solution up to digging deeper, until it is resolved and the PC returns to work as normal .
1) Use the system restore mode.
2) If recovery is impossible or does not solve anything, start the PC in safe mode and check that there are no errors as explained in the relevant article.
3.1) If the safe mode does not work, if the PC does not start it is better to save everything and reinstall; to be sure, however, it may be prudent to do a recovery of important files with backup on external disk.
Experts could avoid a reinstallation using emergency boot CDs.
Whenever possible, you can restore your computer to factory settings.
In WIndows 10 you can use the function that resets your PC and clears it without deleting your personal files.
3.2) If safe mode is fine, restart the computer with a diagnostic boot using MSCONFIG.
4) In diagnostic startup, in addition to checking the event log and looking for solutions to problems both within Windows.
In Windows 7 there is troubleshooting as a set of tools in the Control Panel and also in the operation center .
In Windows 10 there are troubleshooting tools in Settings).
Malware removal tools are also used to ward off virus infections.
