System Configuration System Configuration is an advanced tool that can help identify problems that
System Configuration System Configuration is an advanced tool that can help identify problems that
might prevent Windows from starting correctly. You can start Windows with common services and startup programs turned off and then turn them back on, one at a time. If a problem does not occur when a service is turned off but does occur when turned on, then the service could be the cause of the prob- lem. System Configuration is intended to find and isolate problems, but it is not meant as a startup management program.
The System Configuration tool can be loaded from the Administrative Tools. The tabs found in System Configuration tool are shown in Table 16.1.
TABLE 16.1 System Configuration Tool Tabs
Tab Description
General Lists choices for startup configuration modes: Normal startup : Starts Windows in its normal mode. Diagnostic startup : Starts Windows with basic services and drivers
only. If Diagnostic startup starts without a problem, it verifies that the problem is not the basic Windows files.
Selective startup : Starts Windows with basic services and drivers and enables you to select individual services and startup programs. Select startup is used to isolate problematic services and startup programs.
Boot
Shows configuration options for the operating system and advanced debugging settings, including:
Safe boot-Minimal : Boots Windows into Safe Mode with GUI interface, which runs only essential system services. Networking is disabled.
Safe boot-Alternate shell : Boots to the Safe Mode (command prompt). Networking and the graphical user interface are disabled.
Safe boot-Active Directory repair : Starts Windows in Directory Services Restore Mode so that you can restore or repair Active Directory.
Safe boot-Network : Boots Windows into Safe Mode, which runs only essential system services but also enables networking.
Boot log : Lists all of the drivers that are installed during startup in the ntbtlog.txt file. The ntbtlog.txt file can be used to determine which driver failed if Windows cannot start properly.
Base video : Boots to the Windows graphical user interface in minimal VGA mode using the standard VGA drivers (640 × 480 resolution and 16 colors).
OS boot information : Shows driver names as the drivers are loaded during the boot process.
Make all settings permanent : Does not track changes made in System Configuration. Options can be changed later using System Configuration, but must be changed manually. When this option is selected, you cannot roll back your changes by selecting Normal startup on the General tab.
CHAPTER 16: Backups and System Recovery
TABLE 16.1 Continued
Tab Description
Services
Lists all services that are registered with Windows and displays their cur- rent status (running or stopped). You can use the Services tab to enable or disable individual services so that you can isolate a problematic serv- ice that loads during boot up.
You can select Hide all Microsoft services to show only third-party applications in the services list.
Startup Lists applications that start when the computer boots, including the name of their publishers, the paths to the executable files, and the loca- tions of the registry keys or shortcuts that cause the applications to run, as shown in Figure 16.8. This option is used to isolate problematic pro- grams that load during boot up.
Tools Provides a list of diagnostic tools, as shown in Figure 16.9.
FIGURE 16.8 System Configuration Startup tab.
FIGURE 16.9 System Configuration Tools tab.
Looking at Events
A new component that has been added to Windows 7 System Configuration is the ability to increase Windows 7 boot speed. If you select the Boot options and click the Advanced Options, you can increase the number of processors used during boot up, assuming you have multiple processors. As a result, you have a quicker boot time.