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Windows XP Safe Mode Tips and Tricks

Windows XP Safe Mode was designed to help users troubleshoot boot up and system issues. There are actually three versions of Safe Mode. Depending on your problem, you may choose one over another. Safe Mode essentially boots up your computer with minimal functionality, not loading all the different drivers or system functions to allow you to make changes.

If your computer fails to boot up, gives you an error message, or just hangs, the first step in troubleshooting is to try to get into Safe Mode. When your computer is booting up, if you press the F8 key, you will be shown the Windows Advanced Options Menu. The first three options are your Safe Modes:

Safe Mode -

The most basic version, nothing lodes but the bare minimum processes

Safe Mode With Networking -

This version allows network access and the Internet if connected

Safe Mode With Command Prompt -

This version will put you into the MSDOS mode at a command line

The primary purpose of Safe Mode is to bypass boot issues with startup applications, video or other hardware drivers, and malware or spyware. You can change settings to stop these offending applications or drivers from loading, erase files that would normally be in use (if the file is open it is normally locked and you can’t delete it), or make system changes.

When Windows XP was first released, Safe Mode was designed to deal with video issues and other hardware drivers. Safe Mode uses the most basic video settings (640 X 480 and 16 colors) and a generic VGA.sys driver.
The first choice also loads the minimum system processes which also may eliminate startup application problems. *If you still can’t boot into Safe Mode you probably have issues with your primary boot files, and you should use the Recovery Console to address any file replacement.

If you need to access updated or new versions of hardware drivers, the second Safe Mode option will allow you to connect to the Internet to download and install these files. This may also be a good choice if you have some malware or adware on your system that prevents you (when booting normally and starting the offending program) accessing the anti-virus or malware software to remove these programs. One of the favorite tricks these programs do is to prevent you from accessing any software known to remove them.

The third choice of Safe Mode, which boots you to an MSDOS Prompt, allows you to run utilities in MSDOS mode. Most of the advanced system adjustments and programs designed to run diagnostics will run in this mode. Since many of the major system files are not loaded, you can delete and replace this files in MSDOS.

Warning, if you have a USB mouse and keyboard, Safe Mode will not load USB device drivers. If you have a newer computer (say 2007 and forward), your computer bios may have the ability to mount any USB devices automatically. If your computer came with a USB mouse and keyboard, that’s a good indication your bios will perform the auto-load function for USB devices. You can go into your bios setting make sure USB legacy is enabled. Or you can borrow a standard mouse and keyboard if that option is not available.

You can also access a utility called MSCONFIG from the start menu in Safe Mode using the run command. MSCONFIG has the ability to run in diagnostic startup (only loads minimal processes) or selective startup. This can be helpful to get you to be able to boot up in normal mode. And that means if you have not backed up important data files, do it first. Current backups give you the absolute best fall back position. Make sure you have a current backup of any essential data files before doing anything else. That’s your first priority.

Once you have a current backup, you can try the following methods to get your computer back up and running in normal mode.

If you know where the offending files are of any malware or adware, you can easily delete them to stop the automatic loading when your computer boots up. You need to be careful when deleting files in MSDOS mode, if you accidentally delete a required file for booting or running critical system processes, your computer may not reboot. Always exercise caution and be sure you know that the file you are deleting is not a system file.

Many times if you simply start your computer in Safe Mode and then reboot loading problems can be eliminated. I cannot tell you why, only that it works about 25% of the time. If there is a file that may not have closed properly or got out of the proper boot sequence, Windows XP does a clean boot from Safe Mode and that may be why it corrects minor boot issues.

One of the often over looked quick fixes in Safe Mode is to do a System Restore. System Restore is a utility under System Tools. If you click on start, all programs, Accessories, then System Tools you will see the System Restore selection. You want to pick a Restore Point that is well before the time your current problems started. If some renegade software has been installed, it will restore your computer back to a point before this install.

You should also run any ant-virus, malware or adware, or root kit removal software whenever possible from Safe Mode. This keeps the offending software from preventing or stopping any removal activity. Many of the newer versions of these rogue programs have a self protecting feature that may prevent removal software from running in normal mode.

Windows XP Safe Mode can help you resolve many boot up problems. Always boot up in Safe Mode first and try to determine if your problem is with any boot files or device drivers. It’s the best first step in troubleshooting any boot issues.

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Windows XP Troubleshooting

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