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Find the program causing problems (clean boot)

Step 1 of 3

Press Win + R, type msconfig, click OK

The System Configuration window opens.

The simulation shows Windows in English, like most laptops.

  1. Press Win + R, type msconfig, click OK

    The System Configuration window opens.

    WinR

  2. Services tab: tick Hide all Microsoft services, then Disable all

    Click OK. Windows’ own services keep running.

    msconfigServicesHide all Microsoft servicesDisable all

  3. Turn off start-up apps, then restart

    Task Manager › Startup apps: Disable them one by one. Problem gone? Turn things back on a few at a time to find the culprit.

    Task ManagerStartup appsDisable
Technician fixes (advanced)

The simple steps didn’t help? A technician would try these next, in this order. Stop as soon as the problem is fixed. Commands marked “as administrator”: right-click Start › Terminal (Admin).

  1. Find the culprit fast: the half-and-half method

    Problem gone after the clean boot? Turn on half of the disabled services, restart. Problem back → it is in that half; otherwise it is in the other half. Keep halving. With 20 services this takes about 5 restarts instead of 20.

  2. Spot services that should run but don’t

    Read-only. Lists automatic services that are stopped. A stopped service from your antivirus, printer or VPN can explain its errors.

    Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.StartType -eq 'Automatic' -and $_.Status -ne 'Running' } | Select-Object Name, DisplayName

  3. See every program that starts: Autoruns

    Microsoft’s free Autoruns (learn.microsoft.com › Sysinternals) shows everything that starts with Windows, including browser add-ons and scheduled tasks that msconfig doesn’t show. Untick an entry to disable it; don’t delete entries.

    Only download Autoruns from microsoft.com. Leave entries from Microsoft and your antivirus alone.

  4. Finish: back to Normal startup

    msconfig › General › Normal startup › OK › Restart. Turn the start-up apps you need back on in Task Manager. Uninstall the culprit, or install its latest version.

Technical details (for the curious)

Why it is called a clean boot

Windows starts with only its own services. If the problem (crashes, slowness, update errors) disappears, one of the extra programs causes it.

Why hide Microsoft services

Turning off Microsoft services can make Windows unusable (network, sound, sign-in). That tick makes sure only other apps’ services are switched off.

Back to normal

When finished: msconfig › General tab › Normal startup › OK, then restart. Don’t leave the laptop in clean boot, because third-party antivirus is switched off too.

Coming soon

Still not fixed?

In the next update you can tell us what happened, and our AI helper will suggest another way. Until then, restart the device and go through the steps once more.