Safe mode

How do I reboot into safe mode?

thx

 

safe mode

HTH ...

 

I appreciate the quick reply... but my comp is a little messed up right now and that link didnt work. Could you just write out how to reboot in safe mode?

thx

 

What is you OS?

 

windows xp

 

To use the F8 key to start Windows XP in Safe mode:

1. Restart the computer. Some computers have a progress bar that refers to the word BIOS. Others may not let you know what is happening.
2. As soon as the BIOS loads, begin tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. Do so until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard error" message. If this happens, restart the computer and try again.
3. Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, select Safe mode and then press Enter.

HTH ...

 

Hi,

Here is a tip on booting into Safe Mode without pressing the F8 key:

Found another shortcut to get into Safe Mode from Reference:
Steve Bass's Tips & Tweaks at (February 1, 2006):
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/ extracted from Windows XP Inside Out, 2nd Edition [Microsoft Press, Ed Bott, Carl Siechert, and Craig Stinson; ISBN 780735620438] for a shortcut.
...
The Safe Mode Booting Trick

1. Right-click My Computer on the Start menu and choose Properties.

2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section.

3. In the Startup And Recovery dialog box, click the Edit button to open Boot.ini in Notepad.

4. Under [Operating Systems], select the entire line that contains the settings for your default operating system choice and copy it to the bottom of the list.

5. Append the following set of switches to the end of the newly copied line:

/safeboot:minimal

(Replace minimal with network if you want the shortcut to start Windows in Safe Mode with networking.)

6. Change the description in quotation marks to “Windows XP Safe Mode” and then save the file.

The default timeout applies, for example, if you have a dual-boot setup like mine (Linux, WinXP Pro), the dual boot default timeout is set to 10sec, and when that expires, after a moment or two, the Safe Boot selection menu comes up and you must hit Enter to activate it, otherwise, the default timeout kicks you into the remainder of a normal bootup. However, you never have to bother with pressing F8 again.

One drawback is - so, where's the Advanced Options menu when I want it?

In that case, here is another tip that can probably be adapted:
* How to Automate Advanced Restart Options for Dual-Boot Configurations for Windows XP and Windows 2000 (for example) http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=317995

This article describes a method you can use to create a custom Advanced Restart menu on the Start menu. You can use the Advanced Restart menu to preselect advanced restart options before you restart your computer. After you select your restart options, you are prompted to restart, and your computer starts with your preselected options, and does not require that you press any keys during startup.

* Create a shortcut named "Advanced Restart" for following target path:
c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msconfig.exe -4

-- Tom

 

It seems pretty complicated since f8 works so easily with out messing in the registry.

 

I was thinking the same thing . More than likely someone that does not know how to get into safe mode will not feel too comfortable editing his boot.ini file and then you have to go to the trouble to change it back to boot normally. F8 is just the easiest and simplest way.

You can also use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows XP in Safe mode (another way of doing what was in lotuseclat79 post):

1. Close all open programs.
2. Click Start > Run.
3. In the Run dialog box, type msconfig and then click OK.
4. In the System Configuration Utility, on the BOOT.INI tab, check /SAFEBOOT.
5. Click OK.
6. When you are asked to restart the computer, click Restart.
7. The computer restarts in Safe mode. (This can take several minutes.) When you are finished working in Safe mode, use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows XP in normal mode.
8. Repeat steps 1-6, but in step 4, uncheck /SAFEBOOT.

 

bootsafe
download this small utility its free. (just run it no install) and choose the safe mode you require.
http://www.superadblocker.com/bootsafe.html

 

Addendum to post#7 in this thread regarding the first method suggested:

If you press F8 before the default timeout period (If you changed it and forget what it is, just run msconfig and press the Startup tab to see what it is), it will get you the Advanced Options menu. So, no drawback as I thought previously without trying it.

Never having to bother with the F8 key is a big plus to me.

-- Tom