MSCONFIG

We received a question via e-mail:
“…you mentioned to NOT mess with the start up items
through msconfig. That it was not wise, and not meant
to be a permanent fix. WHY? How do we reset it?
Thanks for your help.”

Take a look at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560/en-us
How to troubleshoot by using the
System Configuration utility in Windows XP

and…

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434/en-us
How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in
Windows XP

It (System Configuration Utility) is a troubleshooting
tool. As a troubleshooter, when I want to assess how
healthy the operating system is I make sure it’s in
“normal startup”: that’s where I can see what happens
when the operating system functions as designed.

There have been times where I’ve changed a computer to
“normal startup”, and it had been in “selective startup”
so long…the operating system was so damaged and
corrupted…a new installation of Windows was needed.
There were times where everything on the hard drive was
lost…

=======================================

Regarding Windows Vista:
“System Configuration is intended to find and isolate problems, but it is not meant as a startup management program…”

moving Windows to a different computer

We got a call from Gary who wanted to move an installation of Windows from one computer to another. It’s possible…BUT…here are some things you should know:

How to move a Windows installation to different hardware

You can restore a system state backup from one physical computer to the same physical computer or another computer that has the same make, model, and configuration (identical hardware).

Microsoft does not support restoring a system state backup from one computer to a second computer of a different make, model, or hardware configuration…Even if the source and destination computers appear to be identical makes and models, there may be driver, hardware, or firmware differences between the source and destination computers.

…the preferred method of recovery is to use the Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature. ASR automates the whole restore process. This process produces the most reliable result.

Hardware
If you remove any hardware on the destination computer that is not required to complete the restore process, you increase the probability of a successful restore operation. For example, physically remove or disable all but one network adapter. Install or enable the additional adapters after you restart the operating system after the restore operation.