đź§° Built-in Windows “fixing” Tools

1. Device Manager

  • How to open: Press Win + X → select Device Manager.

  • Purpose: Shows all installed hardware and their drivers.

  • What you can do:

    • Look for yellow triangle ⚠️ → indicates problems.

    • Right-click device → Update / Disable / Uninstall driver.

    • View driver details (Driver tab > “Driver Details”).

2. Event Viewer

  • How to open: Press Win + R → type eventvwr.msc.

  • Check: Windows Logs → System for errors ⚠️ and driver-related errors (e.g., Event ID 1001, 7026, 219).

  • Useful to catch failing drivers during boot or device enumeration.

3. Reliability Monitor

  • How to open: Type Reliability Monitor in Start Menu.

  • Shows driver crashes and hardware failures over time.

4. Driver Verifier (Advanced)

  • How to run: verifier in Run dialog (Win + R).

  • Stress-tests and monitors driver behavior.

  • ⚠️ Use with caution — can cause BSOD if a faulty driver is found (used by IT pros for debugging).


đź§° Third-Party Tools

5. Autoruns (Microsoft Sysinternals)

6. DriverStore Explorer (Rapr)

7. BlueScreenView (NirSoft)

8. WhoCrashed


âś… Best Practices

  • Always create a System Restore Point before making system changes and removing drivers.

  • Keep chipset, graphics, network, and storage drivers ONLY from OEM or hardware vendor sites, not from third-party “driver updater” tools.

  • Check for system files corruption and autofix errors: run in CMD (admin rights needed):

    sfc /scannow

    and for windows updates errors:

    dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

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About the Author: markoze

I'm an exploring artist, illustrator and creator of digital media (2D graphics, illustrations and 3D designs). I share my works, tutorials, tips, free art, items and tools. I also create websites (and apps) for organizations, communities, groups, people movements, faith organizations and more.
Published On: May 28th, 2025Categories: Blog, windowsTags: , , , ,
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