Stuck in safe mode xp...help!

HI, I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY SATELLITE MODEM, SO WHILE SAT SUPPORT WAS "HELPING", WHEN I TRIED TO EXIT SAFE MODE w/NETWORKING, WHEN I RESTARTED, I'M STILL IN SAFE MODE? WHAT THE?:confused

 

WHY ARE WE YELLING?
After the name of the company shows up, press F8. Then select normal.

 

not yelling, just lazy, caps lock
thanks, but been there done that,
not as easy as that, don't know why, hence, the ?

 

Start with the obvious - do you have the restore disk in the CD drive?

OR...

The problem might be with your boot.ini file. The file's content should normally look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

You can find the boot.ini file on the drive where you Windows 2000/XP/Vista (whatever version you have) is installed (most likely the C:\ drive). Just make sure you select Show hidden files and folders from the Folder options because the file is hidden and you cannot see it otherwise.

So the content of the file should look just like the one above. However if it does not look like listed above it might have the following option just after the /fastdetect parameter at the end of the file:

/safeboot:minimal

This option forces your computer into going into Safe Mode and since you have only one operating system installed (at least that's what I suppose), the timeout=30 option on the second line of the file is not taken into account.
So, if there is a /safeboot:minimal option in your file just remove it and your problems should be solved. If you're not sure what to remove from the file or the file does not correspond to any of the descriptions above, post the content of the file here so we can have a look over it.

 

hi lev,
thanks for the great reply. as it happens, i'm using an xps dell, and the system disk is proprietary, so the only allow resident system recovery utility, i hate that.
apparently, i inadvertently opened a virus email.
luckily after running pctools registry, and disk cleanup, the problem has resolved itself. i think it was a germ that attached itself to a startup ling in code, but registry mechanic spotted it and wiped it out..
your note is still useful, and i'll save it for future reference.
i have looked at boot.ini before, but i have never found out how to remove anything from that window. how ?
again, thanks a bunch. for the data, and your time.
sgt.pepper :major