Diagnose PC Problems With Clean Boot

Many programs are memory resident. In order to see if these memory resident programs are interferring with computer operation, you need to shut them down so they don't load when the computer boots up.

Start, Run, msconfig

Click the Selective Startup button.

Uncheck all boxes except the "Load System Services" box.

Go to the Services Tab.

So as to not turn off anything that is absolutely needed, Check the box that says "Hide all Microsoft Services."

Then click the "Disable All" button and click OK.

Then reboot and you will be only running with necessary services. If your problem is still happening, then you know it wasn't one of these memory resident programs. If the problem is gone, then it is caused by one of thes programs.

Here is how to test to see what program is the problem:

Turn half the programs back on again, reboot and see if you still have the problem. If not, turn off these programs and turn on the other half. If you have the problem, then turn off half the programs and keep doing this until you figure out which is the problem program.