How to Use the Windows 11 and Windows 10 MSCONFIG utility

Table of Contents:

1. What is MSCONFIG?
2. How to Open MSCONFIG
3. How to use MSCONFIG to diagnose Boot Issues
4. How to use MSCONFIG to troubleshoot a Configuration Issue
5. How to use MSCONFIG to troubleshoot a Conflict Issue

What is MSCONFIG?

MSCONFIG is an operating system utility designed to troubleshoot the Microsoft Windows startup process. It can disable or re-enable software, device drivers, or Windows services that run at startup, and it can change boot parameters.

MSCONFIG is straightforward to use and helps troubleshoot a lot of Windows 11 and 10 boot problems. Learn to modify how the computer boots (start-up file), the services, and the startup files on either a temporary or a permanent basis. This makes MSCONFIG a useful troubleshooting utility. It can be used to speed up your Boot times and to streamline what loads where and when as your device starts up.

How to Open MSCONFIG

1. In Windows 11 and 10 press the Windows + R keys together and a run box appears.

   • Alternatively, pressing the windows key or clicking the start button opens the start menu. Type: MSCONFIG The application is shown in a list.

      

2. Type MSCONFIG in the box and then press the ENTER key on your keyboard.

   

3. This launches the Microsoft System Configuration Utility.

4. The MSCONFIG window contains five tabs:

   

   • General

     

   • Boot

   • Services

   • Startup

   • Tools

How to use MSCONFIG to diagnose Boot Issues

• Boot Issues: These are issues where the computer is either having trouble loading correctly, is taking a long time to boot or is giving errors on-screen as it starts up. It can even be a combination of the three. First identify the issue, narrow down the cause and then change it to resolve the problem.

The General tab

The MSCONFIG General tab gives some basic options for starting your device. The default choice for the utility is Normal Startup. The other two options for starting the computer are Diagnostic Startup and Selective Startup.

Diagnostic Startup:

This starts Windows with basic services and drivers only. This mode can determine if a basic Window file is the problem. This type of startup gives a minimum environment for troubleshooting.

Selective Startup:

This allows you to choose which programs and services you want to open and which ones to keep from opening at startup.

If you detect that one of the launch programs is causing a problem at startup, clear the Load Startup Items. It prevents any startup program from launching. This is too general to help determine which program is causing the problem, but it helps narrow down the issue to a certain area.

How to use MSCONFIG to troubleshoot a Configuration Issue

• Configuration Issues: These are issues where new commands have been set or old ones modified and it had an adverse affect on the computer. This can usually be resolved by finding the wrong or modified command or setting and either changing it to one that works or revert it back to its original state.

Boot options using the Boot tab

This tab gives many options for starting up the computer. The top portion of the window contains the start-up file that the computer is using. If there are multiple boot partitions on the computer, they are each listed here. Change the timeout value for the boot menu. Clearly see what commands that the boot manager is using, to see if there are any issues.

Two of the three buttons provided in this window are for editing purposes and are unavailable by default. There are two options down the side of the page:

Make all boot settings permanent:

Changes made in System Configuration are not tracked. If you want to make changes later, you have to do so manually. Use this feature with caution!

Timeout field:

Using MSCONFIG can cause the operating system selection screen to display for 30 seconds. As a result, 30 seconds are added to the overall startup time. To prevent the operating selection screen from appearing for 30 seconds on startup, change the timeout line in the Timeout field to zero.

The only button that is not unavailable under the Boot tab, is the Advanced Options. Clicking the Advanced Options button brings up the Boot Advanced Options dialog box. Usually you do not use these options, but they can come in handy. Such as if you suspect that a boot issue is being caused by having multiple processors. Limit the number of processors used to boot the computer by selecting the Number of Processors checkbox and specifying a number.

Boot option choices

The most valuable functions on the Boot tab are the boot options. Use these choices for various troubleshooting.

Safe boot Minimal:

On startup, opens the Windows graphical User Interface (UI) Windows Explorer in safe mode running only critical services. Networking is disabled

Safe boot Alternate shell:

On startup, opens the Windows command prompt in safe mode running only critical services. Networking and the UI are disabled.

Safe boot Active Directory repair:

On startup, opens the Windows UI in safe mode running critical services and Active Directory

Safe boot Network:

On startup, opens the Windows UI in safe mode running only critical services and networking is enabled

No UI boot:

It does not display the Windows Welcome screen when starting

Boot log:

Stores all information from the startup process in the file %SystemRoot%Ntbtlog.txt

Base video:

On startup, opens the Windows UI in minimal Visual Graphics Adapter (VGA) mode. This loads standard VGA drivers instead of display drivers specific to the video hardware on the computer

OS boot information:

Shows driver names as drivers are loaded during the startup process

Advanced>Number of processors:

This can limit the number of processors used on a multiprocessor. If the checkbox is selected, the computer boots using only the number of processors in the drop-down list.

Advanced>Maximum memory:

This specifies the maximum amount of physical memory used by the operating system to simulate a low memory configuration. The value in the text box is megabytes (MB).

Advanced>Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Lock:

It prevents Windows from reallocating I/O and Interrupt Request (IRQ) resources on the PCI bus. The I/O and memory resources set by the BIOS are preserved.

Advanced>Debug:

Enables kernel-mode debugging for device driver development

Advanced>Global debug settings:

These are the debugger connection settings on this computer. To let a kernel debugger, communicate with a debugger host. The debugger connection between the host and target devices can be Serial, IEEE 1394, or USB 2.0.

Advanced>Debug port:

Specifies using Serial as the connection type and the serial port and the default port is COM1

Advanced>Baud rate:

Specifies the baud rate to use when Debug port is selected and the debug connection type is Serial. This setting is optional. Valid values for baud are 9600, 19,200, 38,400, 57,600, and 115,200. The default baud rate is 115,200 bps.

Advanced>Channel:

Use channel 1394 as the debug connection type and it specifies the channel number to use. The value for channel must be a decimal integer between 0 and 62, inclusive, and must match the channel number used by the host computer. The channel specified does not depend on the physical 1394 port chosen on the adapter. The default value for channel is 0.

Advanced>USB target name:

Specifies a string value to use when the debug type is USB and this string can be any value

How to use MSCONFIG to troubleshoot a Conflict Issue

• Conflict Issues: These are issues such as drivers, services, or updates that have loaded and have changed another file or are trying to use the same resources as an existing file or device. To troubleshoot these issues, try to disable different files and services temporarily until you identify the conflict at which time you can either load another file that does the same job or update and reinstall both files.

Working with the Services tab

The MSCONFIG Services tab lists integrated Windows services and programs that start when Windows 11 and 10 starts. The Windows operating system periodically runs them itself. Be careful when disabling services as many are critical to the computer's operation. Enable or disable programs or services from starting by checking or disabling the checkbox next to the program name. This is useful when you are troubleshooting service-related problems.

Microsoft designed most of the services in Windows 11 and 10 themselves. To make it easier to find third-party services, you can click the Hide All Microsoft Services button.

Troubleshooting using the Startup tab

This tab is used to allow you to prevent items in your startup folder from starting when you log in. It gives a clickable link to the Windows 11 and 10 Task Manager which controls this function now.

The Startup tab of the Task Manager shows a list of the current software applications that open automatically after Windows opens. It shows the status of each app. Disable individual software applications by highlighting the application and click Disable.

Note: You must know what a service does, before you decide to disable it permanently. Run a search in Bing  or Google  for the service. That would supply an explanation of what that service does for your machine. Alternatively, you can go to one of the various third-party pages  and see if you can match your service against one of their lists.

Using the Tools tab.

The Tools tab lists diagnostic tools and other advanced tools that you can run to improve computer performance. Read the description next to the name of the tool to better understand its function before you open it. To open a tool, select the name of the tool from the list and click the Launch button. These are tools that are built into the operating system like event viewer and such, but they are all gathered in one place under this tab.

Once any changes have been made, you are asked to restart when you close the MSCONFIG utility. Check if the changes affected what happens on restart. If they have you can keep them and continue to narrow the issue down. If they do not, revert back to the defaults and try again with different changes.

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