What are effective software conflict resolution strategies?

[Ethan99]

Software conflicts can cause all sorts of weird issues. What software conflict resolution strategies have you found most effective? I'm talking about everything from DLL conflicts to service conflicts to antivirus interference. How do you systematically approach software conflict resolution? Are there specific tools that help with software conflict resolution better than others?

[ZoeyNL]

For software conflict resolution, clean boot is my first approach. This starts Windows with minimal drivers and startup programs. If the problem disappears, you know it's a software conflict. Then you systematically re-enable services and startup items to find the culprit. This method works for many types of software conflict resolution, from crashes to performance issues to weird behavior.

[TimothyYP]

DLL conflicts are common in software conflict resolution. Process Explorer can show you which DLLs are loaded by each process. Look for multiple versions of the same DLL or DLLs in unusual locations. Also, check Windows Event Viewer for application errors. Sometimes one program crashes because another program modified a shared resource. Antivirus software is a frequent source of software conflicts too.

[Ethan99]

I've found that many software conflict resolution cases involve security software. Multiple antivirus programs, firewalls, or other security tools can conflict. Also, some software installs drivers or services that conflict with others. Checking Services (services.msc) for recently added services can help. Sometimes simply changing the order of installation (install A before B instead of B before A) resolves software conflicts.