How Windows starts, and where it fails
Follow the boot from firmware to desktop so you can tell which stage failed and what to do about it.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 40 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Describe the boot stages from UEFI firmware to the user's desktop.
- Identify which stage failed from what the user sees.
- Choose a suitable next step for failures at each stage without risking data.
Course outline
- 1.How Windows starts, and where it failsVideo · 5 min
- 2.The boot sequenceLesson · 8 min
- 3.Startup failures by stageLesson · 8 min
- 4.UEFI, Secure Boot, the EFI System Partition and the BCDLesson · 10 min
- 5.How Windows starts, and where it fails: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 19 questions
- 6.How Windows starts, and where it fails: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 7.Blue screens after a graphics driver updateScenario
- 8.Final exam6 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced troubleshooting for Windows boot problems
- Microsoft Learn: Secure the Windows boot process
- Microsoft Learn: Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE)
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.