Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Unlock Hidden Windows Startup and Shutdown Details : How to Enable Verbose Startup and Shutdown Messages in Windows 11

WINDOWS TROUBLESHOOTING · FULL GUIDE

Unlock Hidden Windows Startup and Shutdown Details

Enable Verbose Status Messages, Boot Logging and SOS Mode to troubleshoot Windows startup, shutdown and driver issues like a power user.

Windows Troubleshooting Power Users System Diagnostics

Windows startup and shutdown diagnostics tutorial

When Windows starts or shuts down, it performs many operations: loading drivers, starting services, applying policies and preparing the user session. If something goes wrong, the standard loading screen may reveal very little.

Windows includes several diagnostic features that can help investigate these operations. This guide explains how to enable Verbose Status Messages, Boot Logging and SOS Mode, and how to inspect startup performance in Event Viewer.

Before you begin: Some steps require an administrator account. Record your original settings before changing the Windows boot configuration.

1. What Are Verbose Status Messages?

Verbose Status Messages replace certain generic Windows status screens with more detailed information about startup, shutdown, sign-in or sign-out operations.

Instead of seeing only a generic waiting message, you may see additional information about the operation Windows is performing.

Depending on the Windows version and operation, messages may include:

Applying computer settings...
Processing Group Policy...
Starting services...
Preparing the user session...

Exact messages vary. Verbose status messages do not display every driver or service, and they do not automatically identify the root cause of a delay.

2. Why Enable Verbose Startup and Shutdown Messages?

Investigate slow startup or shutdown operations.
Observe lengthy sign-in and sign-out stages.
Help troubleshoot Group Policy processing.
Investigate service-related delays.
Collect additional context before examining diagnostic logs.

Tip: Verbose status messages are especially useful for IT administrators and power users investigating reproducible startup or shutdown problems.

3. Method One: Enable Verbose Messages Using Group Policy

This method is available on Windows editions that include the Local Group Policy Editor, typically Pro, Enterprise and Education.

Step 1: Open Group Policy Editor

Press Windows + R, enter this command, and press Enter:

gpedit.msc

Step 2: Find the Policy

Navigate to:

Computer Configuration
  └─ Administrative Templates
      └─ System
          └─ Display highly detailed status messages

Step 3: Enable the Policy

Open Display highly detailed status messages, select Enabled, then click Apply and OK.

Step 4: Restart Windows

Restart the computer and observe whether additional status messages appear during supported operations.

Important: Organization-managed computers may enforce a different policy. Contact your administrator if the setting cannot be changed.

4. Method Two: Enable Verbose Messages Using Registry

You can configure the corresponding registry value on supported Windows editions, including editions without the Group Policy Editor.

Using an Elevated Command Prompt

Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v VerboseStatus /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

This sets VerboseStatus to 1.

PowerShell Alternative

New-ItemProperty `
  -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" `
  -Name "VerboseStatus" `
  -PropertyType DWord `
  -Value 1 `
  -Force

Restart Windows to test the change.

Disable Verbose Status Messages

To remove the registry value created above, run:

reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v VerboseStatus /f

If Group Policy controls this setting, change the policy back to Not Configured instead. A managed policy may override local settings.

5. Enable Windows Boot Logging

Boot Logging is different from Verbose Status Messages. It records information about drivers loaded or not loaded during a boot attempt.

Important: A driver listed as not loaded is not necessarily faulty. Boot logging is not a complete hardware diagnostic.

Enable Boot Logging

Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

bcdedit /set {current} bootlog Yes

Restart Windows, then inspect the log if it was generated:

C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt

Open the file with Notepad:

notepad C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt

Disable Boot Logging

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} bootlog

Run BCDEdit commands as administrator. On multi-boot systems, verify the selected boot entry before changing its configuration.

6. Enable SOS Boot Mode

SOS mode changes the boot display so Windows can show driver-loading progress instead of the normal graphical boot animation.

Enable SOS Mode

bcdedit /set {current} sos on

Restart Windows to observe the effect.

Disable SOS Mode

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} sos

If the value was already configured before you began, restore its original state instead of blindly deleting it.

7. Analyse Boot and Shutdown Performance

Event Viewer can provide useful evidence when Windows starts slowly or takes too long to shut down.

Open Event Viewer

eventvwr.msc

Navigate to:

Applications and Services Logs
  └─ Microsoft
      └─ Windows
          └─ Diagnostics-Performance
              └─ Operational

Inspect recent Warning and Error events around the time the problem occurred. Event availability and details can vary by version.

Useful Event IDs

Event ID	What to investigate
100	Overall boot performance
101–110	Boot degradation and related components
200	Overall shutdown performance
201–210	Shutdown degradation and related components

Read the event's General and Details tabs rather than assuming that an event ID alone identifies the cause.

8. Useful Windows Diagnostic Commands

View the Current Boot Configuration

bcdedit /enum {current}

View System Information

msinfo32

List Physical Disks Using PowerShell

Get-Disk |
  Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, OperationalStatus, Size -AutoSize

Check Reported Physical Disk Health

Get-PhysicalDisk |
  Format-Table FriendlyName, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus, Size -AutoSize

Reported health depends on hardware and driver support. A healthy status does not rule out every storage problem.

9. Troubleshoot SSD, HDD and SATA Caddy Detection

If Windows does not detect a newly installed SSD, HDD or SATA caddy, begin by checking firmware and Windows device status. Verbose messages alone cannot determine whether a drive is physically connected or receiving power.

Check whether the drive appears in BIOS or UEFI.
Open Device Manager and look for storage-controller errors.
Open Disk Management and check whether the disk is offline or uninitialized.
Review relevant System events in Event Viewer.
Inspect Boot Logging output if you suspect a boot-driver issue.
Check the drive, caddy, connector and firmware compatibility.

Data safety: Do not initialize, format or clean a disk that may contain important data. These operations can make recovery more difficult or destroy existing partition information.

10. Compare Windows Diagnostic Features

Feature	Primary purpose
Verbose Status Messages	Show more detailed Windows status messages
Boot Logging	Record driver-loading information
SOS Mode	Display driver-loading progress during boot
Event Viewer	Inspect recorded startup and shutdown performance events
Device Manager	Inspect detected hardware and device errors

Final Thoughts

Windows provides several built-in diagnostic tools for investigating slow startups, delayed shutdowns, driver problems and hardware detection issues. Each tool reveals a different part of the process.

Start with Verbose Status Messages, inspect Diagnostics-Performance events, and enable Boot Logging or SOS mode only when they can help answer a specific troubleshooting question.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2026