From the course: Cert Prep: Microsoft Windows Client (MD-100)

Troubleshoot boot and startup processes

From the course: Cert Prep: Microsoft Windows Client (MD-100)

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Troubleshoot boot and startup processes

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- [Instructor] When Windows won't boot or doesn't start up properly, you have several troubleshooting options. There's system restore from the Start menu. And there are options in Start, Settings, System, and Recovery. From here, you can access Troubleshooting Wizards and you can reset or reinstall the operating system. There are other things you can try beyond what's available in Settings though, especially if boot up is slow or problematic. You can access these options from Task Manager. You can get to Task Manager by right-clicking Start and choosing it in the results. Make sure you see fewer details here and maximize the window and then click the Startup tab. Sort the items you see here by clicking Startup Impact. Look at what's shown as high. If you see anything set as high that you don't need to start when Windows does, click it and down in the bottom right corner, click Disable. I've already done this and my boot up is pretty fast, but I still have the option to say disable Microsoft Edge from booting when Windows does. Let's close Task Manager. Another common startup problem occurs when Windows isn't activated properly. Let's go back to Settings, and let's click System and Activation. It's easy to see that this Windows 11 Pro machine is activated. If it wasn't, I could click Change Product Key and type a new key. If I found a problem here, I'd click Change next to Change Product Key and input the key. One more time. Back at System Settings, there's also an option to look at storage. Problems can occur if you're running low on storage. If that's the case, you can remove temporary files, you can access apps and uninstall any you don't need, and you can get cleanup recommendations. Cleanup Recommendations here shows I have over five gigabytes of storage available. And if I opt to clean up downloads and temporary files, I can regain 7.63. There are other options, of course. Large and unused files, files synced to the cloud, and unused apps. Finally, let's look at Start, Settings and Windows Update and review what's shown here. If you see as I do that updates are available to download, you'll want to do that. You can also see I have some options ready to download and install, and I'll need to take some time and do that as well. I'll close this window. Sometimes a computer simply won't shut down. You can force a shutdown and install updates at a command prompt. Type "cmd" and open it with administrator privileges. The command to restart the device and install updates is "shutdown /r." I'm not going to press Enter or shut down my computer now, but I might later. But what happens if you can't boot the computer to access the Settings options or you can't even access the command prompt? You'll have to somehow get into the Windows 11 Recovery Environment. Here are some ways to do that. You can reboot the PC and enter the BIOS to change the boot sequence. Then when you reboot again, you can choose a recovery drive or a Windows DVD to boot with. If your PC is stuck in a loop, you can hold down the power button and restart it three times to get out. You can also press the Windows logo Key plus L to get to the sign-in screen and then restart your PC by pressing the Shift key while you select the power button and choose Restart in the lower right corner of the screen. However you do it, the recovery options will become available. This is the Windows Recovery Environment. The four options you'll see on the first page are to either continue, which exits and continues to Windows 11. Or you can opt to use a device to help boot the machine, which is often a USB drive, a Network connection, or a Windows recovery DVD. There are also several troubleshooting options and you can opt to turn off your PC. Let's look at troubleshoot. This option, Reset This PC, is the same option you see in Settings in Recovery, but if you can't get there, you can access that option here. There are additional options under Advanced Options. There's Startup Repair, Startup Settings, you can access a Command Prompt, you can Uninstall Updates, you can choose UEFI Firmware Settings, and, of course, System Restore. You might also see more recovery options. I have one extra and that's to recover Windows using a System Image File. It'll be up to you to choose the one that you think is going to suit your situation best. Once you do, you'll be prompted on how to proceed. You might have to navigate to a recovery drive, you might have to run a repair sequence or boot into safe mode or any number of other things. If you decide you don't want to do anything, you might try Continue to exit and continue to Windows 11.

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