What is Clean Boot State on Windows 10/8/7? How to perform Clean Boot? How are Safe Mode and Clean Boot State different on Windows operating systems? To answer these questions, please refer to the following article by the administrator.
Windows users are no stranger to Safe Mode. During the Windows computer boot process, you just need to press the F8 key to boot into Safe Mode. When in Safe mode, users can fix some problems that occur on the system.
1. Clean Boot State
Clean Boot State is used to diagnose and repair Windows problems. If your computer cannot boot normally or if during the boot process you receive an error message, then you may want to consider performing a “Clean Boot”.
When starting Clean Boot, your Windows computer will start using the available driver settings and the Startup program. And when your computer boots with the available driver settings, some programs will not work as you expect.
Clean-boot troubleshooting is designed to separate performance issues. To perform Clean-boot troubleshooting, you have to take a few extra steps, and after each step you have to restart your computer.
2. How to perform Clean Boot?
Windows 10
These steps may seem complicated at first, but following them in order will get you on the right track.
To perform a clean boot in Windows 10, follow the steps below.
1. Log on to the computer with admin rights. If you don’t have an administrator account, create one. In Windows 10, create an admin account or a local user.
2. In the taskbar search box, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.

Important Note:
If the computer is connected to a network, the network policy setting may prevent you from following these steps. Only use the System Configuration utility to change advanced startup options on your computer with guidance from a Microsoft support engineer. Using the System Configuration utility may render the computer unusable.
1. Select Hide all Microsoft services on the Services tab of System Configuration, followed by Disable all.

2. On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.

3. In the Task Manager of Startup, for each startup item, select it and then select Disable.

4. Close Task Manager.
5. On System Configuration‘s Startup tab, Select OK.
When you restart your computer, it will be in the Clean Boot environment. Follow the troubleshooting steps to install, uninstall, or run your app. The computer may temporarily lose some functionality while in the Clean Boot environment. Reset the computer to boot normally after troubleshooting with Clean Boot and continue using that function.
Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, then select Search. Or if you’re using a mouse, point to the bottom-right corner of the screen, then select Search.
2. Type msconfig in the search box, then select msconfig.

3. The remaining steps are similar to Windows 10 above.
Windows 7
To perform a Clean Boot State in Windows 7, first enter msconfig in the Search box on the Start Menu, then press Enter to open the System Configuration Utility.
On the System Configuration Utility window, click the General tab and then click Selective Startup.
Uncheck Load Startup Items. Make sure you’ve checked Load System Services and Use Original boot configuration.
The next step is to go to the Services tab, check Hide All Microsoft Services, and then select Disable all.
Click Apply/OK, then restart your computer. Windows will now boot into the Clean Boot State, and then you can find and detect which applications, programs, or software are the “culprits” that cause the error and find ways to fix the problems and issues that you are encountering.
You can also uncheck the Load System Services item on the General tab, then click Apply / OK and restart your computer.
To configure Windows to boot normally, simply undo the steps.
Check out some more articles below:
- Repair System Restore on Windows 10/8/7
- All about booting Windows in Safe Mode
- Start Windows 7, 8, or 10 in Safe Mode without the F8 key
Good luck!