Refresh will solve most of your
computer’s woes automatically. But you may run into situations where
Refresh doesn’t work and you don’t want to start over or revert to a
system image. Windows comes with a number of troubleshooting options
that you can use to save the day:
• System Restore restarts your system, has you log in, and then allows you to take your system back to a stored state.
• System Image Recovery uses an image to revert your system back to a stored state.
• Automatic repair runs a diagnostic program that attempts to find problems and restore your system to a working state.
• Command Prompt opens an administrator Command Prompt into which you can enter commands that will fix or modify your system.
• Startup Settings opens the Advanced Boot menu option .
Startup Settings describes some of the options that the Advanced Boot menu offers.
If you select the Startup Settings button, you see the Startup Settings screen, which allows you to choose one of several options to help you fix your system.
The Startup Settings screen will restart your system and put you into a
debugging, logging, low-resolution video, safe mode, or recovery
environment.
Space precludes a complete discussion of these startup options, but here’s a brief description of each:
• Repair Your Computer. This option will appear if your system has a System Reserved partition that you can repair from.
• Enable Safe Mode (with Networking or Command Prompt).
Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and services so you can boot
successfully to Windows and fix what’s broken. This works well with
damaged device drivers and hardware issues.
• Enable boot logging. This method will write the ntbtlog.txt file, which contains the installed drivers that you can use for troubleshooting.
• Enable low-resolution video. For display problems, you can use this option to boot into 640 x 480 pixel resolution and install new display drivers.
• Enable debugging. This mode allows a trained professional to diagnose your system by loading it step by step.
• Disable driver signature enforcement. This option allows your system to load drivers that aren’t properly signed or certified.
• Disable early launch anti-malware driver. ELAM drivers load first and can interfere with software that they deem malware.
• Start Windows Normally. This will ignore all options and boot to Windows.
To boot to the Advanced Options menu
1. Open the General page of the PC Settings screen.
2. In the Advanced Startup section, click the Restart Now button.
When your computer restarts, you will see the Choose An Option screen .
The Choose An Option screen
3. Click Troubleshoot.
4. On the Troubleshoot screen, click the Advanced Options button to view the Advanced Options screen .
The Advanced Options menu
Tip
The Recovery control panel has options to
create a recovery drive, open the system restore feature, and create a
system restore point.
