Are you struggling to boot into Safe Mode in
Windows 8 or Windows 8.1?
Have you tried pressing both F8 and Shift+F8 and
they don't work? That's because a lot has changed with the boot procedure in
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. The boot has become so fast that it literally cannot
be interrupted by any of your keypresses. Here are 4 ways in which you can boot
into Safe Mode, that don't involve any special hacks or manual
configuration.
Safe Mode in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Safe Mode in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 is not too
different from the Safe Mode found in earlier versions of Windows.
The operating system still loads only the most basic drivers
and services, so that it can display a minimal useful interface. The only
important difference is that the minimum screen resolution used by Safe
Mode has risen from 800x600 pixels to 1024x768 pixels.
1. Use the System Configuration Tool (msconfig.exe) - works in Windows 8 & 8.1
The easiest method for booting into Safe Mode is
to use the System Configuration tool, also known as msconfig.exe.
Go to the Boot tab and, in the Boot options section
check the box that says "Safe boot". Then, click or tap OK.
You are informed that you need to restart your computer.
Click Restart or Exit without restartdepending on whether you
want to restart now or later.
At the next restart, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 start in Safe
Mode.
2. Use Shift + Restart - works in Windows 8 & 8.1
Another method is to press the Power button at the
Windows login screen or in the Settings charm. Then, press and hold the SHIFT key
on your keyboard and click Restart.
Windows asks you to choose an option. Press Troubleshoot.
In the Troubleshoot screen, press Advanced
options.
In the Advanced options screen, press Startup
Settings.
You are informed that you are about to restart in order to
change several Windows options, including enabling Safe Mode. Press Restart.
Your computer or device restarts again and displays nine
startup settings, including Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking and Safe
Mode with Command Prompt.
Press the F4 key on your keyboard, to enable Safe Mode,
F5 to enable Safe Mode with Networking and F6 to enable Safe
Mode with Command Prompt. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 now boot according to the
setting you selected.
3. Boot from a System Recovery CD/DVD - works only in Windows 8
In Windows 8, but not in Windows 8.1, you can create a
system recovery CD or DVD.
Once you have that disc created, boot from it. When asked to
press any key to load its content, do so.
First, you are asked to choose your keyboard layout. Press
the layout you want to use. If you want to browse through the available
options, press "See more keyboard layouts" until you find
the one you want to use.
Then, the Choose an option screen is shown.
From here on, the steps are identical to those shown for
method 2.
If you have modern PC with a UEFI
BIOS and a fast SSD drive, there's no way you can interrupt the boot
procedure with your keypresses. On older PCs, with a classic BIOS and no SSD
drive, pressing these keys might still work though.
4. Use F8 or Shift + F8 (doesn't work when using UEFI BIOS & SSDs)
In Windows 7, you were able to press F8 just before Windows
got loaded, to open theAdvanced Boot Options window, where you could
choose to start Windows 7 in Safe Mode.
Some websites advise you to press Shift+F8, just before
Windows 8 or 8.1 starts loading so that you make it start the recovery
mode, from where you can boot into Safe Mode. The problem is that, most
times, Shift+F8 and F8 don't work, even though they are correct
commands, supported by Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
This official blog post from Microsoft (Designing
for PCs that boot faster than ever before) explains that this behavior is
caused by their work in designing a very fast boot procedure. Both Windows 8
and Windows 8.1 have the fastest boot times ever. To quote Steve Sinofsky:
"Windows 8 has a problem – it really can boot up too
quickly. So quickly, in fact, that there is no longer time for anything to
interrupt boot. When you turn on a Windows 8 PC, there's no longer long enough
to detect keystrokes like F2 or F8, much less time to read a message such as
"Press F2 for Setup." For the first time in decades, you will no
longer be able to interrupt boot and tell your PC to do anything different than
what it was already expecting to do."
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