CAN boot to normal Win98SE GUI, CAN'T boot to safe mode!?

[newbee51]

I can boot just fine into normal Win98 GUI mode. No problems at all. Scandisk, Fixit5 DiskFixer, Norton Disk Doctor and Norton WinDoctor all insist that there are no problems anywhere.

BUT: I just can't boot into safe mode! Everything's fine up through the message: "himem.sys... done" and then nothing else ever happens. It just sits there!

I've tried everything: from the above programs to all of TweakUI's "repair" modes, including repairing system files. It doesn't make any difference.

What's going on? What can I do? Please help. TIA!

[808smokey]

If works in full 98 mode who cares if safe mode works.

Other than that I would reinstall windows. It's just easy that way

[newbee51]

That's an unusable response. I not only NEED to boot into Safe Mode right now to fix an uninstall problem, I also NEED to boot into Safe Mode when there are other uninstall-related problems (e.g., file in use during normal mode, etc.), I also NEED to be able to be able to boot into Safe Mode if and when other problems arise.

And there's no way in hell I'm going to re-install Windows and all the 700+ programs I've already installed -- that would take MONTHS!


Does anyone have a serious suggestion?

[808smokey]

Soory but I thought it was fine except for the safe mode I didn't know you had other problems

Try this: or go to here I just typed won't boot to safe mode in dogpile.com and it was half way down page. Hope that helps

If you can't get Windows to boot into safe mode, you may have one of the following problems.

F8 doesn't work in Windows 95 -- This is caused by a manufacturer's setting in the Msdos.sys file. You'll have to contact Microsoft or your manufacturer for instructions on changing it.

Ctrl key doesn't work in Windows 95 -- The Ctrl key may be reprogrammed to do other things, in which case you have two options. GEEK ALERT -- These tips take some familiarity with Windows.
Reboot into DOS. Type "win /d:m" without the quotation marks and then press Enter.
Find System Information under System Tools in your accessories folder. Choose Tools > System Configuration Utility. On the General tab, select Diagnostic Startup - Interactively Load Device Drivers and software. Restart Windows

How to get out of safe mode from the system configuration utility

If you use the system configuration utility to get into safe mMode you'll need to use it to get back out too.

Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information.

Choose Tools > System Configuration Utility.
On the General tab, Select Normal Startup -- Load Device Drivers and Software.
Click OK then restart Windows by clicking Yes in the System Settings Change dialog box.

Nope. Still doesn't work

If you've tried every trick in the book and still can't boot into safe mode check the following things.

Scan for viruses -- See our story on How Antivirus Works.

Check your video driver -- You must have a simple VGA video driver installed for Windows to work in safe mode.

Eliminate hardware conflicts