XP Home - Safe Mode Problem

I'm trying to boot into safe mode by pressing F8 at startup, it takes me to the boot choice screen, but the only choice I have is Windows XP Home, there's no Safe Mode to be found. How can I get Safe Mode to appear as one of the boot choices?

Thank you for any help you can give me!

 

Try again hitting F8 repeatedly, immediately after powering on to make sure it is recognizing the command.

 

It does redirect me to the boot menu, but the only choice is XP Home, safe mode isn't there at all.

 

You can edit the boot.ini file to include a safe mode option. This link is relatively clear.

I would add that after the fourth bullet point where it says: The Boot.ini file opens in Notepad as follows: go ahead and click the File menu and then Save As and save a copy to C:\boot.txt. [This just save a backup copy of the original boot.ini file in the proper directory in case of a problem.] Then continue with the rest of the steps.

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Basically, you are just copying the last line in your boot.ini file that in your case ends with "XP Home" /fastdetect
and pasting the copy at the end of the boot.ini file and editing the quoted part to something informative like "XP Home Safe" and replacing the /fastdetect with /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog

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Ask if you need clarification.

 

Looks pretty clear, I'll give it a shot after work and let you know. Thank you!

 

It should go rather easily. Just make sure the safe mode line is the last line because it boots to the [operating systems] in the order listed. This way the default stays as it is and safe mode just becomes a second choice. (Just an example. Your partition number may be other than (1) but most likely it will look like below: )

 

The safe mode thing worked beautifully (though I had to re-edit the boot file since the copy/paste pasted curly quotes), and I got into safe mode very nicely. My main purpose in getting into safe mode (in XP Home) is to take ownership of a folder on an external drive I pulled from my old laptop. My attempts to take ownership with the security tab isn't taking, so I'm going to create a new thread for that problem.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

Colin

 

Taking ownership is rather confusing. I eventually get it done but rarely on the first try. I'll take a look at your new thread but I hope someone else can get it right the first time.

I think one trick is to use the Edit button on the list of users and add your specific username. Have it check the username and then go with the full name it finds. Then try to give full control.

If that doesn't work and you need to then go to the Advanced tab is where I lose track of the exact sequence of steps. Let's see what happens in the new thread.

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On the boot.ini you may want to go back and edit the timeout from 30 seconds to something in the range from 3 to 7 seconds. That way you can retain the Safe Mode choice but not have to choose which system to boot each time. It will automatically boot to the default normal mode in a few seconds rather than you having to hit enter once you get tired of waiting for the 30 seconds to elapse.

 

Ah yeah, I'm beginning to vaguely remember having to manually add users and then give them permission years ago when I actually got paid to do this sort of thing. Thanks! I'll play with this method first before I start a new thread and let you know how it goes in any case. Awesome, thanks again!

Colin