After installing an updated vendor storage-controller driver, your Windows Server 2019 file server freezes solid-no keyboard, mouse or network response-within a couple of minutes of booting when the vendor's monitoring service starts. Hardware diagnostics report no faults. You need to prove whether the new driver is the culprit while keeping the file shares online if the test succeeds. Which built-in Windows startup option should you use first to test this theory?
Start Windows with Enable Boot Logging and inspect ntbtlog.txt after the next freeze.
Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool from Windows RE.
Boot the server into Safe Mode so that only essential Windows drivers are loaded.
Select Directory Services Restore Mode during startup.
Safe Mode starts Windows with only the core services and drivers that the operating system needs to run. If the server runs normally in Safe Mode, you have strong evidence that the recently installed third-party driver is responsible for the freezes. Directory Services Restore Mode is designed for Active Directory maintenance on domain controllers and does not limit non-directory drivers. Enabling boot logging still loads every driver (including the suspect one), so the system could lock up before you can read the log. Windows Memory Diagnostic tests physical RAM and will not help isolate a software driver issue.
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What is Safe Mode in Windows?
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How can you start Windows Server 2019 in Safe Mode?
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Why wouldn't Directory Services Restore Mode help in this scenario?