How do I get a detailed vista bootlog?

Question

How can I get a detailed report of what/when things are getting loaded during vista boot?

The basic reports found in the event viewer are @ too high of a level. Someone must've needed more information before.

Answer 1

Press F8 during the Vista boot, choose "Enable Boot Logging" from the menu, and then boot Vista. You'll find, in the %SystemRoot% directory (normally C:\WINDOWS) a boot log file "ntbtlog.txt".

Answer 2

The way Microsoft wants you to inspect the boot process in full detail:
http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/speed-up-boot-time-in-windows-vista/

You can get those tools from your Windows SDK or in the bottom right at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/performance/default.aspx

Using these tools, you can capture and analyze a wide array of performance problems such as boot issues, start up times, DPCs and ISRs, application resource usage, and system responsiveness.

The reason why you can get so much detailed information about the boot up process using these tools is because they are built using the Event Tracing for Windows infrastructure.

Hopefully these tools will help you figure out why your computer is booting up slowly, shutting down slowly, or having problems with Standby and Hibernate. Enjoy!