by Craig Ardolino

Created on: March 11, 2011

Have you ever started your computer and for some reason it failed to boot properly? As fate would have it, stuff like this happens when we need to get something done that is important. It is trying on our patience, but the most probable reason for this boot error is the hard drive.

It isn’t always easy to tell if the startup problem was caused by the Windows Operating System or one of the programs that run automatically at startup. An easy procedure is to disable one of the programs located in the startup sequence.

Windows makes it easy to access this program, simply go to the run bar and type in “msconfig” to load the System Configuration window. Choose “Startup” and scan the list. Check off the programs you can do without. Do not go ‘check happy’ and uncheck programs that help protect or run your system. It is advisable that you write down which programs you disable so you can enable them later. Once you are done, you will need to restart your system.

If your system crashed and shut down, it may restart on its own. During reboot the system may automatically access the Advanced Boot Options menu. Select the line for the Last Known Good Configuration. This will load the system with the last configuration that worked.  If this solves the problem there is no need to access Safe Mode.

If the last known configuration did not work, another alternative is starting the system in Safe Mode. Essentially Safe Mode loads Windows with a minimum number of programs and drivers. Safe Mode takes a lot longer to load than the normal booting process, so be patient.

The Safe Mode screen will look radically different than your normal screen because Safe Mode doesn’t load background applications. You are only permitted to do certain things in Safe Mode, for instance, your CD or DVD drive may not be available, and your backup options will be disabled. After you have accessed your startup files, or scan disk, you need to reboot the system to enter Windows normal boot sequence. Safe Mode isn’t a place for beginners to fool around in, so do what you need to do, then get out.

Another startup error could occur from the Windows Registry. The Registry is critical to the operation of Windows and should never be tampered with if you are not qualified. There is a command to use to access this part of the system, but I will not mention it in this article because entering into the registry editor is extremely dangerous.

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