In order to view the log file, do the following: When the reboot completes, open the msconfig tool. You'll receive a prompt to reboot the machine, which you'll need to do to complete the setup.Ĭlick the image to enlarge.
Once the msconfig tool is opened, click the Boot tab ( Figure A), check the box for Boot Log, and click OK. Click either OK or the Enter key to run the command.Click the Super-r (aka Windows-R) key combination to open the run dialog.Here's how to enable the boot log using Windows built-in msconfig.exe tool. Once you have this information, you can troubleshoot numerous problems.
If you just want to analyze what occurs during the boot process on a Windows 7 machine, you should consider using msconfig.exe. With msconfig, you can set up a boot logger that will log every driver that is loaded during the boot process. To keep control over what is running, you can always use a tool like Autoruns, but for some, that tool is overkill.
Keeping tabs on a machine - knowing what is happening, knowing what is running, knowing what is starting at bootup - is one of the key elements in maintaining a healthy system.