

You can often pinpoint problems by narrowing the potential sources, and Safe Mode helps identify new applications, drivers, and settings as culprits while giving you a clean slate to work from.

Press F8 to invoke the Advanced Boot Options menu.You access the Advanced Boot Menu by pressing F8 after the BIOS power-on self-test (POST) finishes and makes a hand-off to the operating system boot loader.įollow these steps to use the Advanced Boot Options menu: Windows Vista lacks an option to invoke the RE from the Advanced Boot Options menu in standard (non-OEM) installations, but Windows 7 thoughtfully includes one. This article covers Windows 7 repair and troubleshooting utilities, beginning with Advanced Boot Options, which help you troubleshoot and fix startup problems. Microsoft has also introduced subtle changes to the native backup facility, which is now simply called "Windows Backup." Windows 7 builds upon this foundation but calls it System Recovery Options. Windows RE enables you to perform file and system recovery tasks on unbootable computers. In addition, Windows Vista introduced the Recovery Environment (RE), a pre-boot diagnostic platform for identifying and resolving numerous fail-to-start issues.

The good news is that Microsoft Windows 7 is better at repairing and recovering from system faults and failures than previous Windows versions. That "new PC smell," however, wears off as programs and updates are installed over weeks and months of use.Įventually, every Windows system encounters errors of minor to major proportions. Imagine how easy the average workday would be if Windows PCs ran as reliably and problem-free over the long term as they do right out of the box.
