Safe Mode doesn't work, I can't get there.

Discussion in 'Operating Systems' started by Scief, May 31, 2006.

  1. Scief

    Scief Ancient Guru

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    So, I have tried to search this, from here and with google, but just guess what comes up if you type "Safe mode" and "reboot". I can tell you, nothing that helps me.

    The problem: After I press F8 and select any version of Safe Mode when I start my computer, it loads all the drivers, goes to the screen where I can select users, and after 4-6 seconds it just reboots. It doesn't matter if I select a user or not, it just reboots without a warning.
    I suppose that it has been like this all the time after I reinstalled windows. I found out about it like a month ago but I forgot about it.

    What I was able to found, is that some users had this same thing but it happened during the driver loading section, and that's not my case. Also, it's not the Nero inCD, I'm not sure if I had it but I uninstalled Nero just in case.
    And I don't have the "Automatical restart on system failure"-option on.

    Normal startup works just fine, kinda strange, safe mode doesn't work but normal does. Well, it's better that way. I don't need Safe Mode, but since I found out that it doesn't work, it would be good to get it working before/if I someday need to use it.

    Oh and the OS is Windows XP x86 with SP2 and the latest updates.



    I feel so bad, I'm hardly ever able to give usefull answers to other posters, but I just get new problems. Or maybe I just feel that way, but it happens every time I have to post a thread about some new problem. Anyone else who's noticed this?
     
  2. pmanipole

    pmanipole Guest

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    sorry to say but i had the same problem. the only way i was able to fix it was with a reinstall of xp.
     
  3. bakuryu

    bakuryu Ancient Guru

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    InCD is know to cause that problem sometimes. (latest version should fix it).

    Otherwise, start XP, in normal mode. Then Start->Run->type msconfig.

    Under General Tab, select "Diagnostic startup", and in the boot.ini tab select "Safeboot". Now restart, you should automatically start in Safe mode (no need to press F8 and then select safe mode) and see if you can boot correctly in Safe mode.
     
  4. Scief

    Scief Ancient Guru

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    Thanks for the info pmanipole.

    Ok, I can get to Safe mode that way, thanks. But is this good or bad? I mean, of course it's good that I can get there somehow but is there still a way that I can get there the normal way. Normally it doesn't matter, but if I for some reason couldn't get to the normal mode and I needed safe mode I'd be stuck.
    There is the Win XP repair, but I don't really trust it and it's the last resort.
     

  5. bakuryu

    bakuryu Ancient Guru

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    That means, while booting in safe mode you are having some sort of driver conflicts, which is preventing Windows to start up in safe mode.

    Add the /SOS switch from msconfig (undo previous changes, like select "Normal Boot", and remove the safeboot switch) , and then reboot in safe mode (you have to press F8 this time), and see at which driver it is failing to start in safe mode.

    Or alternatively, have a dual boot between normal and safe boot ... lol :D

    Code:
    [boot loader]
    timeout=5
    default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
    [operating systems]
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safe Mode" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /safeboot:minimal
    
    
     
  6. Scief

    Scief Ancient Guru

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    But how do I know which driver causes it? Like I told, it loads all the drivers, it doesn't reboot during the loading. It reboots at the screen where I can select which user to use (I think it's called "Welcome Screen"), and not immediately, after 4-6 seconds. It does the same thing with the /SOS enabled, except that it does some sort of chkdsk after the reboot, but doesn't say anything about errors/drivers.

    I know, if the reboot happened during the loading I'd just see what driver causes it and skip it with Esc and/or fix the driver, but now I have no clue what causes it.

    Yeah, dualboot, clever...
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2006

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