Boards Index General discussion Technical Q&A Boot into Safe Mode direct from XP Boot Menu

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  • #6351

    Hi :D
    Windows XP Pro and Home Boot into Safe Mode direct from the XP Boot Menu

    Add safe mode to your Windows XP boot menu and save yourself the trouble of pressing the F8 key at startup

    1) Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
    2) Click on the Advanced tab.
    3) Under the Start Up and Recovery section, click the Settings button.
    4) Click Edit. This will open the boot.ini file in Notepad.
    5) Make a backup of this file by using save as from the file menu.
    6) In the still open original file, copy the line (usually the first entry) that reads as follows:
    0 multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition” /fastdetect
    7) Paste the line you just copied after the same line you just copied. There will now be two identical lines of text.
    8 ) In the line you just pasted, edit the part that says “Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition” to “XP Safe Mode” or something similar.
    9) Add “/safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog” to the line you labeled as safe mode (without the quotes ” “)
    10) Save your changes using save in the file menu
    11) Close Notepad
    12) Close the Properties windows by clicking OK then OK
    13) Reboot your system and the additional line should appear.
    The option I have used will boot into Safe Mode without the xp splash screen, with minimal drivers and bootlogging enabled.
    To use alternative options check the Microsoft Knowledge Base article

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q315222

    The method above does not disable the F8 option. To get the normal safe mode screen if you make the above edit. Press enter when you see the boot options menu and then immediately press the F8 key. This will bring up the normal Safe Mode selection screen, if you decide to use a dual boot setup safe mode option will be seen.

    Fizz :D

    #260801

    thats all great.. but is it not easier just to press F8, its a big key, and i feel sorry for the F keys, they don’t get the use they deserve, i feel sorry for them, they deserve the right to have a need

    #260802

    Hi Matty :D

    I do use F keys and 54 G keys (My Keyboard) but with my dual boot its handy to have the safe mode at the Boot Menu.

    Fizz :D

    #260803

    i bet you never use the “home key” or that key in the top left hand corner,

    #260804

    Sure i do Matty :D i use Esc a lot in games thats my top left

    Fizz :D

    #260805

    i got a funny looking key on mine.. does ¬ and ` and somthing else if you press somthing else with it, but not sure what

    #260806

    `¬ i got that but its second downtop left i do use ` but not ¬

    Fizz :D

    #260807

    i guess its always good to know what buttons to press :)

    i think i’ll stick to the f8 option, though i never have to boot into safe mode, i would’nt know what to do with it if i had too

    #260808

    I run a lot of my security scans in safe mode as very few apps are running

    Fizz :D

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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