Xp won't start in Safe Mode

J

John A

My desktop computer boots OK normally and operates with no probems. But it
will not boot in safe mode. It gets to the "Starting Windows" screen then
suddenly reboots with no message.

I wan't to try Diagnostic Mode via MSConfig, but I am concerned that if it
fails to boot in Diagnostic Mode, I may then be locked out from booting
normally.

Any suggestions on how to fix safe mode without resorting to more serious
recovery action would be appreciated?

XP SP3 fully updated, Kaspersky AV, Superantispyware Pro, MalwareBytes, XP
firewall. No malware incidents have been reported, and scans by KAV, SAS &
MB show no problems.
 
D

db

you might try booting
with a windows xp setup
cd and initiating repair
to open the recovery
console.

once you logged into
the disk system you
might try to run the
following commands:

chkdsk /p
fixboot

then "exit" and retry
your safemode.

another option is if
you only have a winxp
sp2 cd,

then you might consider
uninstalling sp3 via
add/remove programs

then once your system
reverts to sp2 you can
initiate a "repair installation"
with your sp2 cd,

the repair installation will
replace missing or corrupted
system files on the disk with
genuine ones from the cd.

then if you think your system
is functional again,

you can re install sp3 if you
choose to.


--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
J

John A

Thanks Kelly, but what if I set Diagnostic mode and it still won't start in
safe mode - I can't then access boot.ini to change it?
 
D

db

you're welcome.

keep us apprised..

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
Y

Young Snodgrass

I fought this problem long ago. In my case it turned out that the system
board's video drivers were not installed. So when going to Safe Mode, it
appeared to die, and eventually would try to re-boot.

So, find out the Motherboard version and bios number(use Belarc Advisor) and
go to the manufacturer's web site and download the drivers for that
Motherboard, etc. (Or, you may have them on a CD from the original
purchase?) After you install those drivers, all should work as normal.

Cordially yours,

Young Snodgrass
 
J

John A

Thanks Young Snodgrass. Interesting, but I don't think that is the problem in
my case - all the basic drivers are correctly installed and up to date, in
fact the video card driver was only updated a few days ago and the safe mode
problem is still there.
 
R

Randem

I have seen this problem many times and in each case it was a file system
problem. RUn chkdsk /f on the drive to see if it fixes anything. You will
need to boot from a CD such as Bart PE to run it. You could also boot from
Linux System Rescue CD then run Gparted and tell it to check the disk.

--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
Disk Read Error Press Ctl+Alt+Del to Restart
http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938
 
J

John A

Thanks to everyone who replied.

I restored a disk image from April 2009 and Safe mode worked OK, so I am now
redoing everything since then one bit at a time to see if any changes I did
might have caused it.

It could well have been caused by a power outage I had a week ago, causing
file orruption a Randem suggested.
 
J

John A

Gerry, I restored my system from a disk image which happened to have
HandyBackup version 5 on it.

I then updated my system one thing at a time, each time testing that safe
mode worked. It was after installing Handybackup 6.2.5 that Safe mode
failed. Simply uninstalling HandyBackup resolved the problem. I don't know
if it is a registry entry or one of HB's drivers that causes the problem.

Yes I have raised the issue with HandyBackup. There are other problems with
version 6 that are annoying, this is the last straw, I will be reverting to
version 5 which I know is OK.

John
 
G

Gerry

John

Was HandyBackup set to load on booting or on demand?

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
G

Gerry

John

That was what I thought it was likely to be. I have no more questions.

Bye.


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

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