In this material I will try to describe everything as detailed and accessible as possible.
Firstly, why is this necessary? Booting your computer in safe mode is often the last way to fix system startup problems; if you cannot boot your computer in this mode, then you need to completely reinstall the OS.
So, if your computer at startup says it doesn’t load completely, freezes halfway, or instead of the desktop it spins an hourglass endlessly, then you need to load safe mode and try to fix the problem. And you will find out how to enter safe mode if you read the article to the end.
The sequence of actions to boot into safe mode for Windows 7 and XP is the same; immediately after the first 2-3 seconds of turning on the computer, without waiting for window 7, press the F8 key repeatedly. If instead of a warning window about loading the OS, the Safe Mode menu appears in the English version, then you did everything correctly. It is also possible that when you press F8, your computer will prompt you to select the device (DVD-ROM, HDD, Network boot) from which it will boot the computer. Then you should wait a couple of seconds longer and start pressing F8 not after 2-3 seconds, but after 4-5, or instead of F8, try pressing the F5 button, if this button does not work, try holding down the Shift button while loading.
But in most cases, the F8 button copes with its duties quite well, and if not the first time, then the second time you can enter safe mode. If you succeed, you will see several boot options that the OS has prepared for you.
Both in 7 and in XP you will be offered a similar set of options, with the command line itself (not recommended), safe mode with network support (if you plan to use the network or the Internet in safe mode, then select this option). If you have a problem not only with how to enter the safe mode of XP or Win7, but you also do not know how to select options in the menu of this mode, do not despair, everything is very simple, you can navigate through the menu items using the arrows on the keyboard.
There is also a boot option with the last known good configuration in the list, but in my memory this option has never helped anyone. To clear your conscience, you can try to load into it, what if luck smiles on you?
What are the main differences between safe mode and normal startup? The main difference is that in safe mode, programs and components that are in autostart are not loaded, but this is where various viruses and other hacker software like to register themselves. This means that by booting into safe mode, you will get a working operating system without the influence of viruses, and you will be able, for example, to
We have more or less figured out the question of how to enter XP safe mode and why this is necessary, so we can move on to Windows 7.
Since this relatively new operating system itself is well protected from viruses, and on most computers now some kind of antivirus is installed almost as the first program, infecting computers on which this OS is installed becomes a non-trivial matter.
Indeed, most often you have to enter safe mode on computers with Win7 after some changes in programs or drivers, and not after a virus attack. In my practice, over the past year, out of ten systems I observed with Windows 7 installed, only two were reset to boot once. In the first case, the reason was in the hardware, and not in the programs, and in the second, the fault lay with the video card driver, which did not work correctly after the update. This is where I had to remember how to enter safe mode in Windows 7.
If you know for sure that the installed driver is the cause of the Win7 boot failure, you should boot into System Recovery mode and select the “Command Prompt” option. When prompted for commands, type devmgmt.msc. A Device Manager window will appear, select the device whose driver is not working correctly and remove it. Now try to reboot, if everything is done correctly, the system will please you with a confident start.
PC users often encounter a problem when the operating system begins to freeze mercilessly. If you have a lot of utilities and drivers installed, it can be quite difficult to figure out what is causing the crashes. Fortunately, the developers have provided a solution to the problem: you will need to run Windows 7 safe mode.
Safe Mode Features
(safe mode) includes loading basic services and drivers, without which Windows will not start at all. All non-essential services and programs will not be launched, which greatly increases the chance of successful loading of the OS. Also, if you switch to safe mode, you can use simpler methods to identify problems related to the incorrect operation of Windows components and perform system diagnostics. Therefore, another name was assigned to it; it is also called the diagnostic mode.
Booting Windows 7 in safe mode will allow you to determine at what level the problem occurred. If after startup there are no failures, then the reason needs to be looked for in the downloaded files. Run the programs one by one to find the culprit.
Entering safe (diagnostic) mode in Windows 7 will help clean your computer from viruses. If the system is heavily infected, the antivirus may not be able to cope with the problem during a normal boot. In safe mode, you can also install an antivirus program if it has not been downloaded.
In particularly critical situations, Windows does not boot in the usual way. Then you can perform a system rollback through safe mode. Select a restore point at which the system functioned without failures. The computer should return to normal operation.
Before starting work
Before you enter Windows 7 Safe Mode, you need to check if USB is supported in the BIOS. If this feature is turned off, you will not be able to use your USB keyboard and mouse, even if the devices work normally without any problems.
Now USB devices will work even before the OS starts.
Login during system startup
Restart your computer. When the BIOS logo appears on the screen, press and hold F8. Sometimes the key may not work. If everything is fine in the BIOS settings, try the combination Ctrl + F8 or Shift + F8.
You need to be in time before the Windows logo appears, otherwise you will have to start the procedure again. If you do everything correctly, a signal will sound and “ Additional boot menu", the opening will take some time. 
Using the navigation keys we can select the appropriate option:
- safe mode- graphical interface with basic programs; - the seven will launch the drivers required to access the Internet;
- with command line support- instead of the usual graphical interface, command line mode will be activated. This download is suitable for IT specialists. Regular users are not recommended to boot Windows this way.
We choose the first or second option, based on the need to access the Internet. But be careful: protection means usually do not work in safe mode and you cannot always enable them manually. So it’s better to opt for the first download method.
A window for downloading files will appear. This will take a few seconds. 
So now our computer is in safe mode. The screen resolution became low, and the screensaver changed to a black background. Help immediately opens, where you can learn about enabling and operating features in diagnostic mode. 
However, there are some disadvantages here. The BIOS logo disappears very quickly, and users simply do not have time to press F8 in time. In addition, on a laptop it is not difficult to immediately go to the additional boot menu. But on a desktop computer it often does not open or will open only once every ten attempts. The exception is when starting after an emergency shutdown.
Therefore, the question arises: what to do in this case, how to enter safe mode in Windows 7. Fortunately, it can be turned on in another way.
Launch from the system
This is an alternative option on how to quickly enable safe mode in Windows 7. The advantage of this method is that it almost always works and there is no need to “catch” the treasured F8.
The PC should now boot into Safe Mode.
We looked at how to start safe mode in Windows 7 without logging out. It is especially important here that the BIOS supports USB. In the first case, safe mode is selected before the system starts. Accordingly, if you are using a USB keyboard, the F8 key simply will not work and the standard startup will begin. But when launched via the command line, the diagnostic mode opens from the Windows environment. If the keyboard and mouse have USB connectors, the user will encounter an unpleasant situation: safe mode is enabled, but the main input devices are not responding. You will have to exit through the emergency shutdown.
How to exit diagnostic mode
As a rule, to exit safe mode, it is enough to reboot the system. This can be done using standard methods.
Via the menu Start 
or via the key combination Alt + F4. 
Windows should return to native mode. But sometimes the reboot stubbornly refuses to start. Then safe or diagnostic mode in Windows 7 can be turned off within the system. Essentially, we will come out of it the same way we entered it.
After rebooting, normal mode will turn on.
Of course, safe mode will not necessarily solve the problem. The computer may slow down due to heavy processor load. If you enable safe mode on Windows 7, the load will be significantly reduced and the system will start working well. But after a normal boot, crashes will appear again. Then you will have to clean the startup. However, this is an indispensable assistant in case of problems or problems starting the system.
Video on the topic
Sometimes it happens that the system refuses to work stably. The reason for such instability may be the activity of virus programs, problems with device drivers, accidental or intentional deletion of system files, and more. Therefore, it’s worth dwelling on the question of how to enter safe mode in Windows XP in a little more detail.
In such cases, as luck would have it, you need to quickly return the computer to normal operation. One of the options for solving this kind of problem is to use safe mode. Because if you go into safe mode, you can troubleshoot problems and enter the Windows system that everyone is familiar with for further work.
Entering Safe Mode
To enter safe mode, you need to turn on the computer by pressing the “Power” button, as we do every day (or restart it if you have already turned it on). But without waiting for Windows to load, when text appears on a black background on the screen and a short beep sounds, you must press the “F8” key.
After some time, you will see a menu with a choice of different modes. The first three modes are varieties of safe. The list begins with a simple “safe mode”. Safe mode is a mode of Windows operation in which only the basic services and device drivers necessary for stable operation of the operating system are loaded. In Safe Mode, you can cure your computer from malware infection, which may not be possible in normal Windows operation.
I have an article on my blog in which I tell you how to remove viruses, read.
If you have one Windows OS installed, in the next window press “Enter” or select the system you want to boot into.
When your operating system boots into Safe Mode, it will ask if you want to continue in Safe Mode or if you want to use System Restore. In this window, you can safely click “Yes”.
If you have a different system, then use the following links: and.
If you can't enter safe mode
You learned how to enter safe mode a little higher, but if suddenly for some reason you are unable to boot into safe mode, do not despair. For such cases, there is a wonderful utility called SafeBootKeyRepair, which you need to download and run. This program works for Windows 2000/Windows XP. To download SafeBootKeyRepai, click .
You can also use the *.reg file (for Windows XP), click to download the file. Open xp-safeboot.reg and click “Yes”, thereby you agree to changes to the registry. After this, a message will appear that all changes to the registry have been successfully made, click “OK”.
If you have Windows Vista/Windows 7 installed on your computer, you need to download the . Open the file and agree to the changes that will be made to the “YES” registry.
After all the steps described in yours, restart your computer and try to enter safe mode.
Next on the list is safe mode with loading network drivers. This mode is advanced and allows you to use the Internet.
Safe mode with command line support - the mode is an MS-DOS emulation. But we will leave MS-DOS alone, since it is very rarely necessary for the user, because it uses commands that you need to know.
I also want to note a very important point in choosing different download options. This is loading the last known known configuration (with working parameters). This mode comes to the rescue very often, for example, the system refuses to boot. In most cases, this boot option will restore Windows and you will be able to continue working without any problems.
Now I’ll briefly talk about the last three modes that may be useful to us. Normal Windows boot is a standard, most ordinary boot of the operating system with all the necessary services and drivers. You will boot in this mode when you fix all the problems.
Return to operating system selection – this mode is used if you have several operating systems installed on your computer. This is sometimes required and is associated with the specifics of working on a computer with various programs. In this mode, you can choose which of the installed operating systems to load into RAM.
Today I told you how to enter safe mode in Windows XP, what problems may arise, and how you can deal with them. I sincerely wish that you have to use safe mode as little as possible.
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Any computer running the Windows operating system can be started in safe mode. In this mode, only the most basic components of the operating system are loaded. This allows you to start your computer even if serious software conflicts or problems occur. From safe mode you can remove programs that block the operation of the operating system or cannot be removed during normal operation.
If you are having problems and need to start your computer in safe mode, then this material should help you. Here you can find out how this is done in the Windows 7 operating system, as well as the new Windows 8 and operating systems.
How to start your computer in safe mode (Windows XP or Windows 7)
If you are using Windows XP or, then starting your computer in safe mode will be quite simple. To do this, you need to restart the computer (if the computer is turned off, just turn it on) and when the computer starts booting, press the F8 key on the keyboard. You need to press the F8 key until a list of ways to boot Windows appears on the computer screen.
In this list we are only interested in the first three items. Let's look at them in more detail:
- Safe mode– standard safe mode. In this mode, the computer will start using only the most necessary components. In most cases, this is the safe mode option that is used.
- Safe mode with loading network drivers– safe mode is similar to the previous one, but with loading of network drivers. When loading in this mode, you will be able to work with the local network and the Internet.
- Safe Mode with Command Line Support– safe mode without GUI. After loading in this mode, a command line appears on the screen with which you can interact with the system.
Please note that the F8 key must be pressed immediately after the computer starts up. If you are a little late, the list of boot methods will not appear and the computer will start in normal mode.
How to start your computer in safe mode (Windows 8 and Windows 10)
If you are using Windows 8 or, then you will not be able to start your computer in safe mode using the method described above. The computer simply won't respond to the F8 key. In this case, you need to start safe mode using the MSCONFIG command or using a Windows boot disk. We'll look at both of these options next.
Option #1: Start the computer in safe mode using the MSCONFIG command.
If your computer is in working order, then you can use the MSCONFIG command. Press the Windows-R key combination and enter the MSCONFIG command in the window that appears.
After this, a window called “System Configuration” will open in front of you. In this window, you need to go to the “Boot” tab and check the box next to “Safe Mode”.
After that, close the window by clicking on the “OK” button and restart the computer. The next time you boot your computer, Safe Mode should start. In order for the computer to boot again in normal mode, you need to go to MSCONFIG again and uncheck the box.
In principle, this option for starting the computer in safe mode works in both Windows XP and Windows 7. But, using it is not as convenient as starting it via the F8 key.
Option #2: Start your computer in safe mode using a Windows boot disk.
The second option is to start safe mode using a Windows boot disk. This option will be useful if your computer does not start at all, and it is not possible to use the MSCONFIG command.
For this download option, you need the version of Windows that is installed on your computer. If it is Windows 8, then you need a boot disk with Windows 8, if it is Windows 10, then Windows 10.
Insert your Windows boot disk and boot from it. At the very beginning, a window will appear in front of you with a choice of language. Here we simply click on the “Next” button.
And open the “Advanced Settings” subsection.
After this, open the command line.
As a result, it should appear in front of you. In this line you need to enter the command “ bcdedit /set (globalsettings) advancedoptions true" After entering this command, simply close the command line by clicking on the button with the red cross.
After closing the command line, the Select Action menu will appear. Here we select the “Continue” option.
After this, the computer should reboot. After rebooting, boot the computer in normal mode (not from the boot disk). As a result, when you start your computer, a list of ways to boot Windows will appear on the screen, with which you can start Safe Mode.
It should be noted that now, every time you start your computer, a list of boot methods will appear. In order to disable it, you need to boot from the disk again, go to the command line and run the command “ bcdedit /deletevalue (globalsettings) advancedoptions».
operating system Windows for personal computers today is the undisputed leader in the world market. One of the main reasons for the popularity of this OS is often cited as the ease of use for ordinary users.
However, in addition, the Windows system also has good built-in administrative diagnostic capabilities, as well as tools that allow you to carry out basic actions to restore the computer. About one of these "secret rooms" in the Windows system and will be discussed further.
Windows Safe Mode
When working with computer programs, various emergency situations may arise. They can be called as instability of the system itself, so errors in the operation of a specific application. In addition, sometimes, due to the specific nature of some computer software, its installation and removal are possible only in a strictly regulated environment. This may be due, for example, to deep integration of the application with the system.
To solve many problems and eliminate system malfunctions, experienced users use Windows Safe Mode.
First, let's define what Safe Mode is.
Windows Safe Mode- this is a method of starting the operating system and the conditions for subsequent work in it, which automatically loads drivers, services and applications exclusively necessary for the functioning of the computer
In simple words, Safe mode- this is loading a computer with a minimum set of programs.
Starting the system in safe mode can be useful in case of unstable operation of the system in normal mode for various reasons. Moreover, often if computer won't turn on in the usual way, that is, it is likely that it will still be possible to start it in safe mode. In addition, this operating system option is excellent for removing some viruses and traces of their existence from the computer.
But, for the same reasons why running in Safe Mode can be very useful, this method of turning on the computer is not suitable for everyday use. The resulting Windows functionality is too stripped down. Although, of course, in an emergency, an exception can be made for undemanding operations.
Start Windows in Safe Mode
Now it would be useful to know how to enter Windows safe mode.
The options and paths to enter safe mode may vary depending on the version of your operating system. Let's look at the main ways to enter Windows Safe Mode.
Ⅰ Enter Safe Mode using hotkeys
This method is only suitable for older versions of the Windows system (in the case of Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10, the method will only work if the system is installed on Legacy BIOS, and not on the new UEFI BIOS). You can use it if you need get into Safe Mode in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, or Windows 8/8.1 And Windows 10 with Legacy BIOS.
Turn off the computer. Press the power button and then tap the key several times F8(or F4, less often - other options, depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard/laptop) on the keyboard. In the case of Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 on UEFI BIOS, you can try to use the key F8 (F10, F4 or others), but we’ll talk about that below.
A menu will appear in front of us with additional download options
By pressing the up/down arrow buttons on the keyboard, we get to the item Safe mode and press the key Enter
Ⅱ Enter Safe Mode via System Configuration
This option is suitable for entering Safe Mode on all existing Windows operating systems.
Run the utility on the computer Execute going to Start - All programs - Standard(in Windows 10 the utility Execute is in the catalog Service), or by holding down the keys on the keyboard Start(on some keyboards this is marked as Win) And R. In the window that opens, enter the command
Msconfig
and press the button Enter.
On Windows XP, in a new window, go to the BOOT.INI tab and in the field Boot Options check the box next to /SAFEBOOT. Click the OK button.
On new versions of the operating system, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 window System Configurations will look a little different
Now we restart the computer. The system will start in Safe Mode.
Just keep in mind that after this, with each reboot, Windows will start in safe mode. To avoid this, you need to go back to System settings and uncheck the box Safe mode
Ⅲ Enter Safe Mode via Recovery Options
This path is suitable for producing running in safe mode Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.
So, first we need to enable System Restore mode. This can be done both from the Windows settings and from the shutdown menu:
After this, you will see an action selection window, where you will need to go to Troubleshooting
Boot Options
And click the Restart button
We wait for the computer to restart and see a window with startup options
F1-F12 F4
Ⅳ Enter Safe Mode from the Command Line
The next method is suitable for users who are not afraid to use Windows command line. It also works on all versions of the operating system, up to the newest one today - Windows 10.
Launch the command line on behalf of the Administrator
In the console that opens, enter the command
And press the key Enter
Next, we reboot the machine, wait for it to turn on and see the window with launch options already familiar to us from the previous method
Here you see the line button correspondence diagram F1-F12 on the keyboard and Windows startup options. To get into Safe Mode we need to press the key F4
To turn off appearance Boot options Every time the system starts, you need to run the command on the command line as Administrator
Ⅴ Enter Safe Mode from the Windows installation disk
This method can also be implemented on any version of the Microsoft OS. But, unlike all those described above, we will need not only an already installed copy of the system, but also Windows installation disk the same version that is installed on the PC, or Windows Recovery Disk
We insert the existing disk into the computer/laptop drive and boot from it (you can also use a USB drive with a bootable copy of Windows). In the first window, select the language and your region and click Next. In the next window you Not click on the Install button and click on System Restore
On the command line we execute the command we now know
Bcdedit /set (globalsettings) advancedoptions true
And click the Continue button. The system will reboot with the startup mode selected.
To disable this option, run on the command line as Administrator
Bcdedit /deletevalue (globalsettings)advancedoptions
Ⅵ Enter Safe Mode through an incorrect system shutdown
This method can also allow you enter Safe Mode on any version and edition of the Windows operating system but we we do not recommend resorting to it
, while you have other options. It can be called unwanted or extreme.
The point is that you need shut down your computer urgently:
- or long press the power button on a PC or laptop case;
- or turn off the computer, unplug the PC power cord or disconnect the laptop from the charger and disconnect the battery from it.
The next system startup after such an abnormal shutdown should begin with suggestions for download options computer.
It only makes sense to resort to such radical measures if, in normal Windows operation, you do not have the opportunity to use one of the methods described above
Working in Windows Safe Mode
We have looked at the main ways that can help you open Windows in safe mode. Next, you need to act depending on the reasons that forced you to start the system in this way.
If you have problems turning on your computer after installing some program or device driver, then you need to remove the problematic software from Windows startup, how to do this is described in detail in the entry:. You may have to completely remove the unstable program from your computer according to the instructions given in the recording
If system failures are caused by a virus attack, then you need to scan your computer with an antivirus utility and get rid of any malware found.
Stable systems to everyone and good luck in mastering the intricacies of Windows
