PCI Bus Driver Service Defaults in Windows 8

NT Plug and Play PCI Enumerator by Microsoft Corporation.

Default Settings

Startup type: Boot
Display name:PCI Bus Driver
Service name:pci
Service type:kernel
Error control:critical
Group:Boot Bus Extender
Path:%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\pci.sys
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pci

Default Behavior

The PCI Bus Driver service is a kernel device driver. In Windows 8 it is being loaded by Boot Loader before Kernel initialization. If PCI Bus Driver fails to load or initialize, the error details should be automatically logged. Then Windows 8 is restarting the PC and attempting to use the Last Known Good configuration. If the Last Known Good configuration isn't working properly, Windows 8 startup ends with a Stop error. If you disable the pci service, Windows 8 will fail to start.

Restore Default Startup Configuration of PCI Bus Driver

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:

sc config pci start= boot
sc start pci

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The pci service is using the pci.sys file that is located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 8 installation media.