MSCONFIG System Configuration Utility to diagnose Windows Errors | Tweak Windows Start-up
MSCONFIG is the System Configuration Editor in Windows Operating Systems. Read how this powerful utility can be used to tweak Windows and also to diagnose and fix errors.
Enter "msconfig"
To access MSCONFIG, you must open a session with rights "administrators". Click the menu Start and then Run and just type: msconfig.
At this point, you'll open a window with multiple tabs
- Tab "General"
- Tab "SYSTEM.INI"
- Tab "WIN.INI"
- Tab "BOOT.INI"
- Tab "Services"
- Tab "Start"
The use and configuration of "msconfig" are simple, you "activate" or "disable" check boxes to suit your needs. Once configured, Windows will ask you to restart your system so that changes are taken into account.The tab "General"
The General tab allows you to select a startup mode, there are three possibilities:
Normal Startup
Windows will load all the device drivers, programs and services by default.
If you make any changes in "msconfig", this start is by default.
Diagnostic startup
Load devices and basic services and the RPC service.This start mode works the same way as if you were typing the F8 key on your keyboard after booting the PC, it corresponds to Safe mode with network connection, it is primarily used to diagnose and correct errors often caused by various drivers recalcitrant.
Selective Startup mode
Windows will load the drivers, services or programs of your choice. Several options are available, they correspond to other tabs as soon as you delete or add an option, you will always start in selective mode.
The next time you restart your PC, a window telling you that you are using the System Configuration Utility will open. You can check the "Notify me no more" so you do not see this window.The tab "SYSTEM.INI"
The tab "SYSTEM.INI" allows you to configure Windows to the machine level (sound card, resolution, etc..)
This tab allows you to edit this file located in C: \ Windows \ or C: \ Winnt \.This file system.ini, like win.ini, is of almost anything on Windows 2000 or XP, they are only there for compatibility reasons the old operating systems.If you want to make changes to these files, you can use the command "sysedit"in the dialog box"run"menu"Start"(for power user!).The tab "WIN.INI"
The tab "WIN.INI" to define the parameters for the user (choice of language, color, wallpaper, etc. ..)It allows you to edit this file located in C: \ Windows \ or C: \ Winnt \ .The tab "BOOT.INI"
The tab "BOOT.INI" is very important, it configures the file boot.ini NTLDR that tells what OS your machine will start. It also through its options to change settings to determine the cause of a problem at startup, for example.
Startup options:
These options apply directly on the file "boot.ini"following the line or is registered / fastdetect.
/ Fastdetect : default, prevents the detection of mouse and serial bus via NTDETECT. Example: / fastdetect = [COM1 | COM1, 2,3 ...]Use this switch if you have a device other than a mouse that works on the serial port.
/ Safeboot : start in safe mode.
/ Noguiboot : disable the logon screen Windows XP (No option for Windows 2000).
/ Bootlog : Activate the startup log file (ntntlog.txt), can read the startup information in this text file and find the cause of the crash.
/ Basevideo : load the graphics card driver in VGA standard mode.
/ Sos : causes the system to specify the name of each driver loaded by the system. This option is most useful because it indicates the names of the pilots. So if your startup hangs or is too long, you'll be able to determine the driver guilty and implement solutions appropriate repairs.
Advanced options:
/ = Maxmem : You can specify the maximum memory space that Windows uses (allows to test if you think you have a hardware failure of one of your memory modules).
/ Numproc = : indicates the number of processors to use.
/ Pcilock : if you install a new PCI card, Windows shifts the configuration settings dynamically by the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL : Hardware Abstraction Layer). Enabling this command will block the changes in resources. A test after removing your card added. Perform a subsequent reboot and reinstall your card.
/ Debug : allows to transfer debug information to a remote computer and this through a serial connection. Very useful for a network administrator.
You can also edit this file which is the root of your primary partition C: \ Boot.ini.By default, this file is a system file, hidden and read-only.
Warning: the file "boot.ini" is a must to start your OS, check out the changes, because otherwise you could not start.The tab "Services"
This tab lets you know of a glance, what are the services that are activated, stopped or started on your operating system:
The option "Hide All Windows services"provides information on the services used by other programs, useful for recognizing the service names of your antivirus, firewall, etc..
To determine the essential services for your OS, take a ride on the topic Configuring Services.The tab "Startup"
The "Startup" tab lists the programs that are loaded at the opening session.Here we must come first disable suspicious programs, you find all these programs in your task manager to "Processes" tab.
All these programs are listed in your registry in keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServices
If you want your session starts soon, you can remove all unnecessary programs, alone should be your antivirus, firewall and your USB connection.
As you can see, this tool offers many possibilities and can often solve problems quickly. This is the first tool to use in case of problems .
