Safe Mode from Command Prompt

[Guest]

A recent A+ question asked how you would start xp in safemode from a command
prompt. Is there a way to do this? I haven't found anyone who knew the
answer to this apart from typing 'shutdown/r' and then hitting F8 on restart.
This was not one of the choices given in the exam. Any help would be very
much appreciated.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

F8/F5 is the only way that I know of to get into Safe Mode - which
necessitates a reboot. The command prompt was in 'Normal' Mode - yes?

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

You can't. The easiest way, if you find that you need to do it frequently is to modify the BOOT.INI file, and copy the line from [operating systems] that loads your XP system. On the copied line, modify the description to indicate Safe Mode and then add the /SAFEBOOT switch to the end of the line. Now it will show up as a Startup menu choice.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

You do *NOT* need the F8 key.

Two ways to do this.

Edit the boot.ini or...

Use the System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe).

The whole purpose of msconfig is troubleshooting.

[[Safe Mode with Command Prompt (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal(AlternateShell)):
This option is the same as Safe mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of
Windows Explorer.]]

Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | Select the following:
/SAFEBOOT
MINIMAL (ALTERNATESHELL)

Those two settings get you this switch >>>

/safeboot:minimal(alternateshell)

/safeboot: = This switch causes Windows to start in Safe Mode.
minimal(alternateshell) = Command Prompt (cmd.exe), if...

This switch starts Windows in Safe Mode with a command prompt...

If these keys have the AlternateShell Value Data listed as cmd.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SafeBoot

and/or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\SafeBoot

and/or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot
Value Name: AlternateShell
Value Type: REG_SZ
Value Data: cmd.exe

[[Note: The /sos, /bootlog, and /noguiboot switches are not required with
any one of these settings, but the switches can help with troubleshooting.
These switches are included if you press F8 and then select one of the
modes. ]]

 

[Wesley Vogel]

I forgot to add...

Edit the boot.ini by adding these switches.
/safeboot:minimal(alternateshell)
===

After making those boot.ini changes using msconfig, you need to click Apply
and Close.

Then click on: Restart.
===

After booting into the Safe Mode with the Command Prompt.

And when you're done using the command prompt...
Close the command prompt by typing:

exit

Hit the Enter key.

Or...

Click on the Close [X].

Also, when done doing whatever, you need to open msconfig again...

Open Task Manager...
Ctrl + Shift + Esc |
File | New Task (Run...) | Type: msconfig | OK |

UNSelect: /SAFEBOOT under the boot.ini tab | Click Apply |
Under the General tab Select: Normal Startup - load all device drivers and
services |
Click Apply and Close

Or...

Open Task Manager...
Ctrl + Shift + Esc |
File | New Task (Run...) | Type: explorer | OK |

And open msconfig from Start | Run

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes

In

You do *NOT* need the F8 key.

Two ways to do this.

Edit the boot.ini or...

Use the System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe).

The whole purpose of msconfig is troubleshooting.

[[Safe Mode with Command Prompt
(SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal(AlternateShell)): This option is the same as
Safe mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of Windows Explorer.]]

Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | Select the following:
/SAFEBOOT
MINIMAL (ALTERNATESHELL)

Those two settings get you this switch >>>

/safeboot:minimal(alternateshell)

/safeboot: = This switch causes Windows to start in Safe Mode.
minimal(alternateshell) = Command Prompt (cmd.exe), if...

This switch starts Windows in Safe Mode with a command prompt...

If these keys have the AlternateShell Value Data listed as cmd.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SafeBoot

and/or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\SafeBoot

and/or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot
Value Name: AlternateShell
Value Type: REG_SZ
Value Data: cmd.exe

[[Note: The /sos, /bootlog, and /noguiboot switches are not required
with any one of these settings, but the switches can help with
troubleshooting. These switches are included if you press F8 and then
select one of the modes. ]]


In

A recent A+ question asked how you would start xp in safemode from a
command prompt. Is there a way to do this? I haven't found anyone
who knew the answer to this apart from typing 'shutdown/r' and then
hitting F8 on restart. This was not one of the choices given in the
exam. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your suggestions guys - unfortunately none of them really satisfy
the requirements of the question - maybe I should try Comptia

 

[Code-Curious Mom]

I'm wondering if we're all misreading the question, and what they really
meant was not how to "start safe mode **with** command prompt only", but
rather how while at a command prompt only startup **from there** enter a
command to start XP in "safe mode". In Win95 this was

win /D:M

In any case it'd be a lot easier to figure out if we knew what the choices
were.

 

[Alex Nichol]

A recent A+ question asked how you would start xp in safemode from a command
prompt. Is there a way to do this? I haven't found anyone who knew the
answer to this apart from typing 'shutdown/r' and then hitting F8 on restart.
This was not one of the choices given in the exam. Any help would be very
much appreciated.

You would need in addition to first edit boot.ini to include the
/safeboot:minimal switch after the /fastdetect in the [Operating
Systems] section; which you could do with an Edit from Command Prompt,
or by just copying over a version of boot.ini with that already in place