Boot into Windows 10 Safe Mode using the F8 key

[MadScientist]

I have not seen this posted before. Mods if a repost please delete.
If you miss being able to get into Windows 7 Safe Mode selections by tapping the F8 key during startup here's how to do it in Windows 10.
To speed up the boot process, Windows 10 has F8 Safe Mode disabled. You can sacrifice a couple of seconds during startup by enabling the F8 menu using the Command Prompt.

Right-click the Start menu and select Command Prompt (Admin). Select Yes in the User Account Control dialogue, if it appears.

Type (or copy/paste) the following command:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

And press Enter.

To undo this legacy command at any time, reopen the elevated Command Prompt as per the above instructions and type:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

This returns startup to its original state.

This also works with the V1511 update.

 

[JackMDS]

How To Boot Into Safe Mode On Windows 8 or 10 (The Easy Way)

http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/

 

[MadScientist]

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 the Advanced 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 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 10.

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 8.1 and Windows 10 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."

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.

 

[vailr]

It's actually not the key downstroke, but the key release (the key un-press) that works for accessing the boot drive selector, or other pre-Windows command environments. If your keyboard has LED lighting, and you're wanting to access the alternate boot menu, hit the power button, then depress the F12 key until the keyboard lights come on, then rapidly release and re-press the F12 key.
Note: that's for Gigabyte boards; MSI boards use F11, etc.
Side note: the free utility "Tweaking.com - Windows Repair 3.xx" includes a feature that can configure a Safe Mode reboot for one time use. Subsequent re-boots are then auto re-set to Normal boot mode; works with all Windows versions.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair.html

 

[JackMDS]

Scroll down the pages that I linked to above and read what is under - Using the Advanced Troubleshooting Tools to Actually Enable Safe Mode.

 

[MadScientist]

Scroll down the pages that I linked to above and read what is under - Using the Advanced Troubleshooting Tools to Actually Enable Safe Mode.

"Using the Advanced Troubleshooting Tools to Actually Enable Safe Mode
Once you get to the troubleshooting screen, either by using the SHIFT + Restart trick on the login screen, or by mashing the F8 key, using a system repair flash drive, or just by clicking the advanced repair options, you’ll be taken to this screen, where you can choose to Troubleshoot your PC."

Have you tried "mashing the F8 key"?

Scroll up one paragraph in your link.
If You Can’t Boot to the Login Screen
"When your PC can’t actually boot to the login screen, you’ll usually be presented with the Recovery screen. If you don’t see this screen, you can try to hold the SHIFT key and then mash on the F8 key, which will sometimes boot you into the new advanced “recovery mode,” where you can choose the advanced repair options button.

The only problem is that a lot of PCs don’t allow you to do this, especially newer PCs."

 

[SparkyJJO]

Usually, I'm not worried about having to access safe mode on my PC (haven't needed it in an extremely long time). It is others' PCs that I'm working on that I need to worry about, and odds are slim that I would have had an option to change that on their PCs.

One way around it - Turn on the PC, crash the boot process by yanking the power cord when you see the windows logo. Do that a couple times and it will go into recovery mode and give you options on the 3rd boot.

Elegant? No. Does it work? Yeah.

 

[MadScientist]

One way around it - Turn on the PC, crash the boot process by yanking the power cord when you see the windows logo. Do that a couple times and it will go into recovery mode and give you options on the 3rd boot.

Elegant? No. Does it work? Yeah.

This will work if your OS can boot up, and you don't have to yank the power cord. Power up your computer, when it gets to the blue Windows screen before the login in screen press the power button. Do this 2 or 3 times until it gets to the Preparing Automatic Repair screen.

 

[PliotronX]

This will work if your OS can boot up, and you don't have to yank the power cord. Power up your computer, when it gets to the blue Windows screen before the login in screen press the power button. Do this 2 or 3 times until it gets to the Preparing Automatic Repair screen.

This can be tricky with a SSD as the system drive, it could boot too quickly for the power button trick but that is usually my go-to solution. I've had to walk a few people through the process over the phone...

 

[jkauff]

If you can boot normally, use the free EasyBCD utility to set Windows to reboot into Safe Mode. For those times that you can't boot normally, have a Rescue disc/flash drive prepared that will allow you to access the Advanced Troubleshooting Tools.

No need to mess with a command prompt, unless you prefer that method.

 

[Puffnstuff]

When my OS gets to the point that it will not boot up I find it easier to just do a clean install and start over again fresh. A week prior to the 1511 update I had to do a clean install of my upgraded 10 and I had everything back usable in 3 hours which I needed because I'm a student.

My other thought is could sfc /scannow be run from the OS dvd to correct corrupt files? I've run into issues with corrupt files in 10 and have run the utility from within windows but if you cannot boot normally can it be run from the repair shell on the dvd?