| Don't delete your paging file
By Ed Bott
When you're troubleshooting a PC problem, one of the most important steps is to rule out hardware and driver issues. The best way to do that is to run a clean copy of Windows, with only a basic set of device drivers and no third-party apps or utilities.
Setting up a second copy of Windows isn't difficult, as long as you follow two simple rules:
You must use a separate disk partition from your current Windows installation. On a desktop PC, you can often add a second physical disk. On notebooks and other sealed systems with a single physical drive, you need to shrink the main disk partition to carve out at least 32 GB of unused space.
You must boot from Windows installation media. Don't run Windows Setup from within Windows. Instead, use a bootable USB flash drive and choose the Custom installation option. Specify the separate disk partition as the location for your new copy of Windows.
After setup is complete, you'll have a new boot menu you can use to choose which Windows installation you want to run. When you need to check something out by booting from your clean Windows copy, go to Settings > Update & Recovery > Recovery. Under the Advanced Startup heading, click Restart Now to restart immediately and display a menu that includes options to choose your other copy of Windows. Microsoft vows to vigorously defend employees losing DACA protections The Trump administration has decided to phase out DACA protections. The tech industry, led by Microsoft and others, vows to fight the decision in court if necessary. More TechRepublic stories |
Gallery: The September 2017 Apple event in pictures Video: Everything you need to know about the Equifax hack 143 million consumer records were exposed in the Equifax hack. Emily Wilson, director of analysis at Terbium Labs, separates fact from fiction and explains what you need to know about this year's biggest hack. Today's recommended downloads |
(McAfee, Inc.) (Carbon Black) (McAfee, Inc.) (Carbon Black) (McAfee, Inc.) |
Survey: Does your company use SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS? |
Software as a Service has given way to Everything as a Service: platforms, infrastructure, and more. While vendors are touting cloud-first strategy, what's the reality? This Tech Pro Research survey aims to find out how organizations are integrating XaaS, and what components are integral to cloud services strategies. Take this short survey. A special feature from ZDNet and TechRepublic |
Businesses are good at collecting data, and the Internet of Things is taking it to the next level. But, the most advanced organizations are using it to power digital transformation. Connect with TechRepublic |
|
