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how to boot into safe-mode for Win ME and XP?

LintMan

LintMan

Senior member
How do you get Win ME (and also WinXP) to bring up the menu that allows you to boot into safe mode? I thought pressing F8 was the trick, but it doesn't seem to be working...

I'm trying to help (over the phone) a friend who has WinME on her laptop. I told her to press and hold F8 during bootup, but it went right into Windows. I only have WinXP on my system, and F8 didn't get me the menu, either, so I don't know if MS changed how to do this, or if I'm remembering incorrectly from my Win98 days.
 
Press F8 (and keep pressing) right after the BIOS detects all the drives and is about to go into the splash screen. I usually just keep pressing it until I get the menu because if you press it a little too late, it will go into Windows.
 
The key bindings for safe mode can be changed by the integrators. *Why* they would use something obscure, I wish I knew. Next bet after f8 is ctrl. Try that.
 
The easiest way is to just hold down the SHIFT key (before the splash screen)

Tried this on my XP system, no luck. I'll try it on my friend's WinME laptop when she arrives tomorrow.

Press F8 (and keep pressing) right after the BIOS detects all the drives and is about to go into the splash screen. I usually just keep pressing it until I get the menu because if you press it a little too late, it will go into Windows.

That's how I tried it - F8 just doesn't seem to work

The key bindings for safe mode can be changed by the integrators. *Why* they would use something obscure, I wish I knew. Next bet after f8 is ctrl. Try that.

Her system is a Gateway laptop, if that's any clue to what the key might be. I put my system together myself, and have the OEM version of Win XP Pro installed. We can boot both systems OK normally, (but still need to get into safe mode to do some other work) so is there any way to find out (or change!) what key it's looking for once you're booted up?

 
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