Error Messages After Windows Starts

When Windows launches but won’t go any further without locking up or spewing forth error messages, check out the following options.

Windows utilities

Repeatedly press F8 (check your PC’s documentation for another option if this key doesn’t work) during startup to launch the Windows Advanced Options menu. Select Enable Boot Logging. When Windows starts, go to C:\WINDOWS, open Ntbtlog.txt, and browse for error messages. Work from Safe Mode to repair any errors you find.

Safe Mode

Select Safe Mode from the Windows Advanced Options menu. Safe Mode loads Windows with a minimal set of drives and processes for more effective troubleshooting. Perform some basic system maintenance, such as an antivirus scan and Chkdsk. Reboot your computer. If this fails to solve the problem, go back to Safe Mode and use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall anything you recently added to your system. Also try a System Restore, which will roll the OS (operating system) back to its state at an earlier date. Go to Start, All Programs, and Accessories. Select System Restore from the System tools submenu and follow the prompts.

Last Known Good Configuration

If you can’t perform a System Restore from Safe Mode, select Last Known Good Configuration from the Advanced Options menu. Last Known Good Configuration rolls back your Registry and device drivers to the last setting under which your computer shut down successfully.

Windows CD

Use your Windows installation disc or system recovery CD. Insert the disc and boot up. You need to press any key in order to boot from the disc. If not, you’ll have to enter the BIOS and set your optical drive as the primary boot option. After setting the optical drive as the primary boot drive, restart your system and try booting into Windows. There’s a difference between a true Windows OS disc and the image restoration discs many manufacturers ship with PCs. If you only have the latter, the following tips may not work. Windows’ repair option attempts to re-create the Registry and restore settings without removing or altering user data. When a repair is available and works as planned, it’s a great way to get a troubled system running again without starting from scratch. Boot into your Windows installation disc or system recovery CD. When prompted to choose between setting up Windows, accessing the

Recovery Console, or quitting Setup, press ENTER to enter Windows Setup. Press F8 to accept Microsoft’s license agreements and then press R to Repair the selected

Windows installation when prompted.

Recovery console

If you have any way to back up your data, do so. Boot from your Windows installation CD (a manufacturer’s restoration CD won’t work). Press R from the Welcome screen. Select your Windows installation if prompted and enter your administrator password. At the command line, delete your existing Registry files by typing delete c:\windows\system32\config\system. Repeat four times, substituting software, sam, security, and default for system, each in turn. Now copy pristine versions of those files by entering copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system 32\config\system. Repeat four times replacing system in both portions of the command with the words software, sam, security, and default. Type exit, press ENTER, and reboot.