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Window's Startup Modes for Troubleshooting

by Stephen Bucaro    

To access these alternate startup modes, start your computer and immediately after the startup beep, press the [F8] key. The startup menu will display as shown below.

1. Normal

2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)

3. Safe mode

4. Step-by-step confirmation

Enter a choice: 1

Press the number key for your choice and then press the [Enter] key.

1. Normal allows you to get out of the startup menu and resume starting Windows normally if you pressed the [F8] key accidentally.

2. Logged causes Windows to log its startup activity in a file named bootlog.txt in the drives root directory. Bootlog.txt will be a very long file. Open bootlog.txt with Windows Notepad or DOS Edit and search for a line that contains the word "failure".

If Windows freezes before completing startup, the last line in bootlog.txt might give you a clue to the cause of the problem. You may find that one or more steps fail during the startup process. Don't assume those are the cause of your current problem. Those steps may have been failing all along and you didn't know it.

3. Safe mode. This mode bypasses most startup configuration files, including most of the registry. It starts windows without most of the drivers. It loads only generic mouse and keyboard drivers and a standard VGA video driver.

Safe mode lets you work with "bare bones" Windows. You have access to your drives, so you can copy or delete files. You can use the Registry Editor to inspect or edit the Registry. But Control Panel | System | Device Manager will return the message "Status is not available when Windows is running in Safe Mode" for the properties of every device, so you can't troubleshoot the area that causes the majority of Windows problems.

4. Step-by-step confirmation performs the startup process one step at a time. Before each step a message is displayed on the screen letting you select to run or bypass the step. This lets you bypass the steps that returned "failure" in the bootlog.

Windows 95 and 98 may provide you with several additional startup options, for example "Command prompt only", "Previous version of MS-DOS", or "Safe Mode with Network Support". Windows Me does not contain an independent DOS command processor so these modes are not available.

Windows 2000 and XP also provide you with several additional startup options, for example "Enable VGA mode", "Last Known Good Configuration", and "Debugging mode",which can be used for specific troubleshooting purposes.

If Windows freezes up or the display becomes unintelligible, you can bypass some of Windows complexity and bloat by choosing an alternate startup mode. One of these alternate startup modes may provide you some clues as to the source of the problem, or permit you to troubleshoot.