Boot Into.safe Mode

[Giovanni Sealy]

SafeMode starts Windows in a basic state, and uses a limited set of files and drivers. If a problem does not happen in Safe Mode, it means that the default settings and basic device drivers do not cause the problem. Observing Windows in Safe Mode enables you to narrow down the source of a problem, and can help you troubleshoot problems on your computer.

In Safe Mode, Windows has reduced functionality. The task of isolating problems is easier since many nonessential components are disabled, such as sound, third-party drivers and services, nonessential Windows services, and more. Corrupt software, drivers, or the installation of poorly configured software prevents Windows from successfully booting into normal mode.

I have a Proliant Microserver Gen8 running Windows Server 2012 R2. Our Anti-malware installed an update that causes the server to not boot correctly. In other Proliant Servers (DL380 Gen8 and 9, DL360 Gen8 and 9) I was able to get into safe mode (all through iLO) because the recovery utilites presented the option to restart in safe mode, however the Microserver does not present the same choices despite it having the same operating system.

I also have a DL160 Gen9 that had the same issue but I was able to spam F8 once the HPE screen with the green rectangle came up. I have instruced the on site tech to do the same with this Microsoerver but he is un able to get it in Safe Mode.

OK, I was able to do this eventually through the similar method I used on the Proliant DL160 Gen8. After the initial BIOS screen, there will of course be the HP Proliant screen that goes through the HP SMart Array config (F5) and the iLO 4 advanced config (F8). On the bottom are the choices F9 system Utilities F10 Intelligent Provisioning and F12 (or is it 11..I forgot already) for Network boot. The second it leaves this screen start spamming F8. It will enter the next screen with the choices stacked up, F9 RBSU, F10 Intelligent Provisioning...and so on. Keep spamming F8. It may continue onto "Attempting to boot to CD-Rom depending on your boot options. Keep spamming F8. It will eventually get to the Safe Mode choice screen.

- If you keep trying and fail to get to Safe Mode, try pulling the power once Windows starts to load. I know this is not recommended, but I think it helped it into getting into Safe mode the next reboot.

As for the safe boot, you might consider reinstalling the OS to see if that will fix the problem. This can be done without need to erase, format, partition or otherwise change your current drive configuration or alter your user data and files.

Even with a Bluetooth keyboard I can safe-boot by doing a cold start by holding Shift and then pressing the power button (I can stop pressing Shift when the progress bar is shown or at least when the login-screen with the red Safe-boot text at upper right is shown). Or just by rebooting and pressing Shift when the startup sound is played (I very much like that the startup sound is now back!).

So at least cmd-R boot into Recovery mode works (is external boot enabled there? Did you let Disk First Aid examine all devices, containers and volumes -- in my setup most of them take more than 5 seconds?). Does Option-boot show the startup disks?

In trying to use a new Canon printer, I could never, ever get it to print anything. Under Printers & Scanners -> Canon -> Options & Supplies -> Supply Levels, there was always a "Spool Area Full" message. Canon immediately blamed Apple, and Apple wanted me to try booting into safe mode. Well. Here I am. The good news (sort of), is that the printer didn't work on a friend's PC, and I can print to a recently shared network printer, so I'm 99.9% certain it is NOT Mac's fault.

Not being able to boot into safe mode isn't a big deal...right now. But much like heading out on a road trip with a funny knocking noise coming from the engine, there may come a time when everything comes to a halt until I can boot into Safe Mode. It's also a burr under the saddle, a scab I can't stop picking at until I know what in the heck is going on. It seems like a strange problem for a Mac. It's been absolutely trouble free and rock solid since purchase.

I know you can remotely shutdown a Windows machine with the "shutdown" command line. But I think it's impossible to remotely get a machine into safe mode (with networking). Does anyone know of a way to do this?

If you have the option to interactively connect to Windows on the machine, though, you can use MSCONFIG to set the /SAFEBOOT switch in boot.ini, then reboot the machine. Do Start -> Run and type in MSCONFIG, then on the boot.ini tab check /SAFEBOOT under Boot Options and choose which safe mode you want to boot into (in this scenario, NETWORK).

This is exactly what HP's integrated lights-out option is for. Editing the boot.ini file won't be much help, since you won't be able to log into the machine, as the RDP service won't run. In case that's an HP server though you can connect directly to it's console via https portal, and also have access to virtual "power button".

Not an answer to the question, but hopefully useful to anyone who's hit issues when trying this. I found that despite rebooting in safe mode with networking, various services including Remote Desktop Services and Server (i.e. providing SMB access to boot.ini) failed to start, giving error code 1084 when started via MMC > Services.

Note: You can just run the 3 lines below; the function above is just there as a convenience wrapper. I've not tested the above cmdlet; though I have used this method without the wrapper so can say that all individual parts work.

That answer above about edit the boot.ini , is nice and all -- EXCEPT....you can't change the boot.ini file...if you follow "Mark's" directions step by step - you hit a brick wall because the boot.ini is read only.

If you hastily chose to modify the BOOT.ini to restart in safe mode with networking, and then restart, you will find that you cannot remotely log in at all. You WILL likely be able to view the boot file \\machinename\C$\boot.ini, but won't be able to modify it because it is read only. You will also not be able to "right-click and uncheck 'read-only' " because you won't be able to navigate to the C$ directory at all. I now have to physically login to this virtual workstation in order to change the boot.ini back. I will never make that mistake again!

In earlier versions of Windows, boot.ini was a system file that contained information about the Windows operating systems installed on a computer. This information was displayed during the startup process when you turned on your computer. It was most useful in multiboot configurations, or for advanced users or administrators who needed to customize how Windows started.

In this version of Windows, the boot.ini file has been replaced with Boot Configuration Data (BCD). This file is more versatile than boot.ini, and it can apply to computer platforms that use means other than basic input/output system (BIOS) to start the computer.

If you need to make changes to BCD, such as removing entries from the list of displayed operating systems, use the command-line tool Bcdedit, an advanced tool intended for administrators and IT professionals. For technical information about Bcdedit, go to the Microsoft website for IT professionals.

If your computer is a multiboot configuration, you can still change which Windows operating system opens by default, and how long to display the list of operating systems, by using System in Control Panel.

If you should make this mistake, you will likely be able to navigate to the boot.ini file via File Explorer, so \hostname\C$\boot.ini, and there is a chance you will also be able to remove "/safeboot:network" and save.

After attempting setting up Raspberry Pi bluetooth to be bluetooth receiver for stereo, now whenever I start it up I can't SSH at all, I can't use the desktop at all or CTRL+ALT+Fnumber key to get to a terminal.

I see a failed message on booting so I think last tweak broke bluetooth... but how can I possibly get to a root console to fix it again? Even in Shift recovery mode, Ctrl+Alt+F1 does not let me log in as it rejects the password. This is on up-to-date Pi3.

Instead of bypassing all the system can do, this tells init the runlevel is "S", and it can then do special things to support this case. I just tested this with my semi-ancient installation of Jessie.

I am in an VMWare environment & have a 2016 Server that seems to be having issues with some 3rd party SW that is keeping me from being able to login to the Server correctly. I would like to Boot the VM to Safe Mode. My understanding is that if I get the VM rebooting, click in the Window to get the Focus on the VM & hit F8 during the VM Post mode it will bring me to Safe mode Menu. What I actually get when I follow this procedure is Booting to Boot Manager, which does not help at all!!

I know this may be out there a bit, but when the vm is up, can you connect to it using PSTools via command line? Then possibly uninstalling the application via command line as per: -to-uninstall-a-program-on-windows-10-from-command-prompt/

When I rebooted the computer, my monitor gives a "signal out of range" error because I believe the video is being detected at a higher resolution than the monitor supports. How can I force Ubuntu to start up in a lower resolution so that I can adjust display properties. I've already tried editing the /etc/default/grub and un-commenting #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 line. I know in Windows, you can press F8 on boot to go into a safe video mode so I'm looking for the equivalent in Ubuntu.

To start Ubuntu into safe mode (Recovery Mode) hold down the left Shift key as the computer starts to boot. If holding the Shift key doesn't display the menu press the Esc key repeatedly to display the GRUB 2 menu. From there you can choose the recovery option.

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