safemode

I am trying to delete a few avi files I made while practicing using xp's movie maker. When I try and just right clicking and deleting them I keep getting the message that they are being used by another program so I rebooted the machine and I get the same message again. I checked in task manager and there is nothing running that should be associated with those files.Then I tried booting into safe mode using F8 on the keyboard and the only options I get are which device do I want to boot from.So is there another way to get into safe mode ?
ty in advance
here are my specs incase you need them

windows xp home with all the patches
intel p4 2.8 ghz
intel 850 emvr mobo.. bios up to date
768 megs pc 1066 rdram\
60 gig wd hdd
liteon dvd rom
sony dru510a dvd burner
gforce 4 ti4600
teac floppy drive

 

try F5, that may work to give you the prompt you need. If not, Im not sure if holding down shift still works in XP, but try that while booting

 

well F5 gets me into safe mode but I still cant delete the files.I even brought up movie maker and tried deleting them thru that and I still get the same message that another program is using the files. Arggg.. I also tried this approach by going to run and typing in cmd and then typing del and the path to the file but it tells me it cant find it.I have no clue as to what program could be using those files. They have a .avi extension and nothing is running that uses that so I am at a total loss here now but atleast I know how to get into safe mode now and ty for that

 

You try this reg edit?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1206650,00.asp

 

thanks for that reg tip.I will have to file that one away for future use. I was able to finally delete them. This makes no sense but after booting into safe mode again with command prompt I could not delete them so then I restarted the machine and then I was able to right click them and delete them normally.

 

can't get into safe mode: xp pro

Hi folks;

I read through this thread hoping it would give me a clue, but to no avail. I'm just a pseudo-geek, so maybe I'm doing something wrong, but F5 is not getting me anything but a "stuck key" message during boot up. Feh. This is a two month old machine and I don't want to screw it up...!

I have xp pro, updated
mobile pentium 4
2.2 GHz
496 MB of RAM

Thanks in advance,

Peel

 

The key I use is F8. Your manual should tell you what key to use.

 

F8 gets me into that "setup" screen. I'll see what the little book has to say...

Thanks!

 

if f8 doesn't work try control.