To use a Safe Boot option, follow these steps:
- Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your
keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple
operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot Menu appears.
- Select an option when the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then press ENTER.
- When the Boot
menu appears again, and the words "Safe Mode" appear in blue at the
bottom, select the installation that you want to start, and then press
ENTER.
Description of Safe Boot options
- Safe Mode (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal): This option uses a minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows.
- Safe
Mode with Networking (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Network): This option uses a
minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows together
with the drivers that you must have to load networking.
- Safe
Mode with Command Prompt (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal(AlternateShell)): This
option is the same as Safe mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of
Windows Explorer.
- Enable VGA Mode: This option starts Windows in
640 x 480 mode by using the current video driver (not Vga.sys). This
mode is useful if the display is configured for a setting that the
monitor cannot display.
Note Safe mode and Safe mode with Networking load the Vga.sys driver instead.
- Last Known Good Configuration: This option starts Windows by using the previous good configuration.
- Directory
Service Restore Mode: This mode is valid only for Windows-based domain
controllers. This mode performs a directory service repair.
- Debugging
Mode: This option turns on debug mode in Windows. Debugging information
can be sent across a serial cable to another computer that is running a
debugger. This mode is configured to use COM2.
- Enable Boot
Logging: This option turns on logging when the computer is started with
any of the Safe Boot options except Last Known Good Configuration. The
Boot Logging text is recorded in the Ntbtlog.txt file in the
%SystemRoot% folder.
- Starts Windows Normally: This option starts Windows in its normal mode.
- Reboot: This option restarts the computer.
- Return
to OS Choices Menu: On a computer that is configured to starting to
more than one operating system, this option returns to the Boot menu.
An environment variable is set when you use one of the Safe Boot
options. The environment variable is SAFEBOOT_OPTION. This variable is
set to either
Network or to
Minimal.
The default Microsoft VGA driver is used for display at 640 x
480 resolution and in 16 colors. You must log on in all modes by a
domain or by the local Security Accounts Manager, depending on which
Safe Boot mode you select.
Use the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to determine which file is
causing the issue, and then replace the file. To do this, follow these
steps:
- Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
- Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannowThe sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.
To determine which files could not be repaired by the System File Checker tool, follow these steps:
- Open an elevated command prompt.
- Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
findstr /C:"[SR] Cannot repair member file" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txtNote
The Sfcdetails.txt file contains details from every time that the
System File Checker tool has been run on the computer. The file
includes information about files that were not repaired by the System
File Checker tool. Verify the date and time entries to determine the
problem files that were found the last time that you ran the System
File Checker tool.
- Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
edit sfcdetails.txtThe Sfcdetails.txt file uses the following format:
Date/Time SFC detail
This information was obtained from Support.microsoft.com
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