System Information

If a startup problem occurs inconsistently and if you can start Windows in safe or normal mode, you can use System Information to view driver and service name, status, and startup information.

Using System Information, you can create lists of drivers that were processed during safe and normal mode startups. By comparing the differences between the two lists, you can determine which features are not required to start Windows. For diagnostic purposes, you can use this list of differences to help you determine which services to disable. In safe mode, disable a service and then try to restart the operating system in normal mode. Repeat this process for each service until you are able to start in normal mode.

To view service or driver information, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, type msinfo32, and then press Enter.
2. Depending on the information you want, do one or more of the following:
   • To view service information, expand Software Environment and then click Services.
   • To view the state of a driver, expand Software Environment and then click System Drivers. Information for each driver is in the right pane.
   • To view driver information arranged by category, expand Components and then select a category, such as Display.
   • To view problem devices, expand Components and then click Problem Devices. Examine the Error Code column for information relating to the source of the problem.
   • To view shared and conflicting resources (which do not always indicate a critical problem), expand Hardware Resources and then click Conflicts/Sharing. Examine the Resource and Device columns for devices that are incorrectly assigned overlapping resources. Remove or disable one of the devices or use Device Manager to change the resources assigned to the devices.