A Clean Boot is a troubleshooting method that starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. By doing so, it isolates the operating system from third-party software and services, making it easier to identify and resolve conflicts or issues that may be causing problems on the system. If you are experiencing problems with your Windows 11 computer, such as slow performance, errors, crashes, or compatibility issues, you might want to try performing a clean boot. This helps you figure out whether an additional program or service is the cause of this problem, or if it’s due to some problems with the system files. This article explores what is a clean boot, how to perform it on Windows 11 or 10, and how to restore your normal boot settings after troubleshooting.
In Windows computers, Clean boot option is specially designed to isolate a performance problem.
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What Is a Clean Boot?
A clean boot is different from a normal boot or a safe mode boot. A normal boot starts Windows with all the programs and drivers that are configured to run at startup. A safe mode boot starts Windows with only the essential system programs and drivers, but disables the network, sound, graphics, and other features. A clean boot starts Windows with only the essential system programs and drivers but allows you to enable or disable other programs and drivers one by one to isolate the cause of the problem.
A clean boot is useful when you want to troubleshoot a problem that occurs only when a certain program or driver is running, such as a conflict, an error message, a performance issue, or a compatibility issue. By performing a clean boot, you can narrow down the source of the problem and find a solution more easily.
How to Perform a Clean Boot Windows 10
Performing a Clean Boot can be beneficial in various scenarios, such as If your Windows 11 system is experiencing frequent crashes, freezes, or other stability issues, a Clean Boot can help identify the underlying cause.
Slow boot times, sluggish performance, or high resource usage may be indicative of software conflicts or unnecessary background processes, which can be addressed through a Clean Boot.
When troubleshooting specific software applications that are behaving erratically or crashing, starting Windows in a Clean Boot state can help determine if the issue is related to third-party software interference.
Note: The following Steps are also applicable to perform a clean boot on Windows 10, 8.1 and 7 all editions.
Steps Perform Clean Boot
- Press the Windows + R key, Type msconfig and press Enter to open the System Configuration utility.
- Here Under the General tab select the option Selective startup, then uncheck the Load startup items check box. Also, Make Sure the Load system services and Use original boot configuration is checked As shown below image.
Disabling Third-Party Services
- Check the box next to “Hide all Microsoft services” to ensure that essential Windows services are not disabled.
- Click on the “Disable all” button to disable all non-Microsoft services.
- Next, go to the “Startup” tab in the System Configuration window.
- Click on the “Open Task Manager” link and disable each startup item by selecting it and clicking on “Disable” at the bottom right corner.
- Note for Windows 7 Users: When you move to the Startup Tab, You Will find all the startup Item List. Uncheck All the Startup programs and Click Apply and OK.
- After disabling all non-essential services and startup items, close the Task Manager and return to the System Configuration window.
- Click on “OK” and choose “Restart” to reboot your computer.
Once your computer boots into the Clean Boot environment, observe its performance and check if the issue persists. If the problem is resolved, gradually enable services and startup items to identify the culprit.
Well If the issue persists even after performing a Clean Boot, consider other troubleshooting steps such as updating drivers, scanning for malware, or performing system repairs.
How to Restore Normal Boot on Windows 11
To return to normal boot, Just need to undo the changes you have made and restart your PC.
- Again open system configuration using msconfig, under the General tab select the radio button Normal Startup.
- Move to the Services tab, check the Hide all Microsoft services option and Click the Enable All button.
- Next on the Startup tab Click the Open Task Manager link, Under the Startup tab, select each item and click the Enable button.
- That’s All Close Task Manager, Apply and ok in the System Configuration window.
- This will ask restart to take effect the Changes and restart windows to Start at normal mode on the next boot.
Different Between Clean Boot And Safe Mode
On Windows computers Safe mode and Clean Boot, both Are Enter windows into diagnostic mode to determine and fix different Startup issues. But A clean boot is totally different from safe mode. Windows Safe mode boot shuts down everything that is not required to launch Windows and runs with the most stable driver available. on the other hand, Clean Boot does not care about the Windows Environment and it only removes the third-party vendor add-ons that are loaded on startup. All the Microsoft services are running and all the components of Windows are enabled. But in Windows safe mode non-essential processes do not start and non-core components are disabled.
Also read:
- How to revert back to Windows 7 from Windows 10
- How to Install Windows 11 version 23H2 on Unsupported PC
- Windows 10 sound problem After Windows update? Let’s fix it
- How To Fix Startup problems on windows 11 and 10 (8 Solutions)
- Windows 11 computer stuck on restarting loop (7 Solutions)
- Microsoft PC Manager to optimize Windows 11 and Windows 10
