You could boot into a recovery command prompt and manually edit the registry to swap the Default and LastKnownGood control sets, but this is dangerous. It is much safer to use the "Uninstall Updates" tool. While it feels nostalgic to hit F8 and select "Last Known Good Configuration," the new Windows 11 system is objectively safer. Automatic Repair is harder to mess up, and the "Uninstall Updates" workflow handles 90% of the cases where you would have used LKGC.
Technically, the LastKnownGood control set still exists deep in the registry hive ( C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM ). However, there is to activate it in Windows 11. windows 11 last known good configuration
So, where is it in Windows 11?
You’d mash during boot, see the Advanced Boot Options menu, and select "Last Known Good Configuration" to roll back your registry and driver settings to the last time the PC actually started successfully. It saved many a system from a bad driver or a misconfigured registry tweak. You could boot into a recovery command prompt
Stop looking for F8. Next time Windows 11 refuses to boot, hold Shift + Restart or just turn it off mid-boot twice. The blue recovery menu is your new best friend. Automatic Repair is harder to mess up, and
If you really miss the F8 menu, you can re-enable it via bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy in an admin command prompt. However, on NVMe SSDs and UEFI systems, you’ll still blink and miss the window.
But don’t panic. Windows 11 has replaced it with something (arguably) much better. Let’s break down why Microsoft killed it, and how to fix a bad boot in Windows 11 today. The LKGC was a product of a different era. It worked by saving a copy of the registry key HKLM\System\Select (specifically the LastKnownGood control set) after a successful user logon.