Some time you might experience problems after you install any programs or drivers on your computer. Clean boot will allow you to determine whether a driver or a conflict with another program might be causing the issue you are experiencing.
A clean boot is a restart of Windows without any applications and it loads only the essential files and drivers on your computer. Here is an instruction to perform clean boot in windows.
Perform a selective startup under Windows XP, Vista, 7
1. Click Start, and click Run. The Run window appears.
2. In the Open box, type msconfig and then click OK. The System Configuration Utility appears.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Click Selective Startup.
5. Uncheck the processing options that are listed below Selective Startup except "Load System Services."
6. Then go to Services tab and put a tick mark on Hide all Microsoft Services and click on Disable all
7. Click Apply, and then click Close.
8. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.
Windows restarts in a state that is similar to when Windows was first installed. Selective startup can help identify problems that might prevent Windows from starting correctly. If you identify a program that is causing problems, you can check for updates or uninstall the program.
Using the Selective Startup option, you can turn services and startup programs on or off individually to see if the problem occurs the next time you restart your computer. If you select a check box in System Configuration, the service or startup program will run when you restart Windows. If the check box is cleared, the service or startup program won't run when you restart the computer.
To restore your computer to its original settings:
1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run window appears.
2. In the Open box, type msconfig and then click OK. The System Configuration Utility appears.
3. Click Normal Startup.
4. Click Apply, and then click Close.
5. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.
6. Windows restarts normally with all drivers and programs.