# Going into Safe Mode via desktop icon



## grandpaw7 (Aug 19, 2000)

I now have an XP, but when I had Windows 98, I got from somewhere, I know not where, a desktop icon that put me in Safe Mode. But the nice &#$ tech who reformatted my 98 got rid of i and I don't know how to get it back. Does anyone know how to do this? It sure saved me time. grandpaw7


----------



## paddyslammer (Aug 18, 2004)

i dont actually think you can in Windows XP... Anyone??


----------



## grandpaw7 (Aug 19, 2000)

http://tampa-bay.org/BitsAndBytes/Archives/pdf_files/2002_02.pdf

Here is the relevant part:

"If all else fails, or if you just want the convenience of having an icon in Normal Mode that allows
you to boot into Safe Mode, follow these instructions carefully:
1. In Normal Mode, open Notepad:
Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad.
2. Type these lines exactly as shown:
@echo off
cd\
win /d:m
exit
3. Save the file as C:\SafeMode.Bat. Remember to change the Save as Type in the Save
As box to All Files or you'll end up with safemode.bat.txt.
4. Right-click on the desktop, and select New - Shortcut.
5. For the command line,
- Type c:\safemode.bat.
- Title the shortcut Reboot to Safe Mode.
- Select Finish to save the new shortcut.
6. Right-click the new shortcut, and select
Properties -> Programs -> Advanced.
7. Select MS-DOS Mode, and deselect Warn before entering MS-DOS mode.
8. Click OK to exit the Advanced options screen, and click Change Icon.
9. Select a new icon for the shortcut. (I use the dominos, because they vaguely suggest to
me the pretty moving boxes on the Defrag screen, but the icon really doesn't matter).
10. Click OK to return to the Programs screen, and OK again to save all changes.
Now, when you want to boot in Safe Mode, just double-click the shortcut, or single-click it if you
set up your computer to open files with a single-click."

I'm afraid to try it on my XP bcause whenever I do something like that I fall into a deep hole from which I never return. grandpaw


----------



## southernlady (May 6, 2004)

To go to safe mode in XP, you must be in the booting up process and then hit F8. That's all there is to it...you have to catch the right spot to hit F8 cause it goes by quickly but there is NO icon to put on the desktop. You can't do it from the normal menu, you have to be in the boot up process. Liz


----------



## grandpaw7 (Aug 19, 2000)

I don't doubt that. But I was surprised when I posted on the CNET forum that I used to go to Safe Mode from the desktop in Windows 98, and I couldn't remember how because I lost the file in a reformat, the folks replying didn't think that could be done and doubted that I was remembering right. That is why I googled until I found what program I apparenly used. Since, at least for Windows 98, the method is such an improvement over the MS method, if it can be called that, it is strange to me that I didn't find any other evidence of the method than the one I cited. I used it a lot without encountering any problems, and if there are problems, I am the kind of guy that is sure to encounter them. 

It is, of course, ridiculous that MS didn't provide a better way to get to Safe Mode than its old fashioned method of cranking up the car and hoping it works rather than using a starter motor. Using that desktop icon sure did make it an easy way. But, like the auto makers, they are interested in exotic bells and whistles rather than the basics. 

grandpaw7


----------



## moebius (Oct 7, 2003)

grandpaw, because windows xp starts and works in a HUGELY different way from win98, such a shortcut isnt possible.


----------



## moebius (Oct 7, 2003)

besides, why would you want to go into safe mode so often?


----------



## grandpaw7 (Aug 19, 2000)

Gotcha, Mobius. I don't want to go in a lot, I'd just like it easy to go in. I call it efficiency, though my friends call it lazy. Actually, when I see the advice that you have to be careful just when you start pressing the F8 key, I must admit this strikes me as rather strange, like the old buggies where you had to be careful about letting out the clutch and depressing the gas pedal at just the right time. I just want an automatic transmission way. However, nothing I can't live with, though I do think people ought to complain so's MS might listen. If you goolge Safe Mode, you see a large number of posts about how to get there, as though it's some exotic place where you need a secret password. Ought not to be that way. 

And I get tired of MS's terrible job of giving help and support. For example, in XP Help and Support, for getting to Safe Mode it says "when you see the message "please select the operating system to start", press F8"; it says nothing about the need to configure the computer to provide that message. Stupid people. grandpaw7


----------



## eddiedorris (Nov 6, 2004)

grandpaw7
You do not have to configure anything to get to "Safe Mode". Just hit the F8 button just as soon as you boot up. It is very simple. Screen pops up with several "Modes" Safe Mode is "one" of them. I have had a computer for three months and I have done it for many hours trying to get my monitor back up. It is just like the 98 version. Try It, I promise you will like it.
eddie-beginner


----------



## grandpaw7 (Aug 19, 2000)

Yes, I'm wrong. There is a way, at least in Windows 98, to configure the computer to show the startup menu automatically on bootup without having to click F8, though I can't remember how it is configured. I was thinking of that, whereas the MS advice I referred to was about using the F8 key. Note to MS: you're still stupid. grandpaw7


----------



## darkdelta (Oct 5, 2003)

This Works 



1. Open the System Properties dialog box. You can do this from Control Panel (click System) or by pressing the Windows key + the Break key.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.
4. Click the Edit button under System Startup. This opens the boot.ini file in Notepad.
5. One line should end with "/fastdetect" (NOT "/fastdetect /sos"). Copy that line.
6. Paste the line you just copied below the original line. Change "WINDOWS=Microsoft XP Professional" to "WINDOWS="Safe Mode" and add the following text to the end of the line: /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog
7. Save the file and click OK to exit the dialog boxes. Note: If you named the Windows XP installation folder something other than WINDOWS when you installed XP, that name will appear instead of WINDOWS in step 6.


----------



## JohnRoll (Nov 14, 2004)

Start/Run/msconfig/BOOT.INI/ check safemode box,,,networking in safe mode options also available this way.


----------

