Booting the computer and loading only necessary system components. A clean boot eliminates many software services that would otherwise be loaded and run in the background, most of which users are never aware of. Those services can then be loaded one at a time to determine which one is in conflict with another or with an application.
Clean Boot vs. Safe Mode
The terms are used synonymously; however, Microsoft makes a distinction between them. A Windows clean boot disables third-party add-ons that normally load at startup. Windows Safe Mode disables all but the most basic operating system components, presuming that there may be a conflict with one of the Windows services. See
cold boot,
warm boot and
safe mode.