Cannot get into safe mode

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  1. Posts : 9
    Windows 10
       #1

    Cannot get into safe mode


    Hey everyone,

    I'm trying to get into safe mode as a last resort for solving a 'boot to black screen' problem, but it's been impossible for 7 hours of attempts now. I can't login--I can't even get past the blinking cursor screen (it just goes black infinitely), so only things during the bootup sequence can be options.

    What I tried (and did not work):

    • Pressing F8 repeatedly. Only the BSS came up, not the "Advanced Startup Options" screen.
    • Pressing F8 repeatedly after the prompt to get the BSS up (on the blinking cursor screen). This only got me a black screen as normal.
    • Doing the above with the shift key.
    • Using repair media (Win10 installation thing running from my USB, created from the Media Creation Tool)--there was no "Windows Startup Settings" option to select how I want to boot my computer.
    • Running a command prompt from the repair media and executing bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy, then rebooting and pressing F8 repeatedly--still just the BSS screen
    • Pressing F5 repeatedly instead. This brought me to a menu where there was a link to the Advanced Startup Options (it told me to press F8 to get there). This got my hopes up so bad--but when I pressed F8, it went into a black screen!!! I waited for a long time but nothing showed up.
    • Pressing F12 repeatedly instead. This does the exact same thing as above.


    So basically, I think I've exhausted all the available options. The only thing I couldn't try was choosing "Windows Startup Settings" in the repair media, because that option didn't exist. How can I make that option show up? Is there any other way I missed that could possibly get me into safe mode?

    This isn't a new install so there are a lot of programs and settings I want to keep--I was one click away from resetting my computer before I decided to ask here. I really, really hope I won't have to reset.

    Thanks for any help!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    Hold down the power key until the computer turns off when you see the Windows icon with the rotating circles. Repeat the 3 times (I think, maybe 5) and the computer will boot into safe mode automatically.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 9
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    NavyLCDR said:
    Hold down the power key until the computer turns off when you see the Windows icon with the rotating circles. Repeat the 3 times (I think, maybe 5) and the computer will boot into safe mode automatically.
    I can't get to the screen with the Windows icon. Just to be safe I tried this anyway (assuming that what comes up after the blinking cursor screen is said Windows icon), doing it 7 times when the fifth repeat did not read that it was booting into safe mode--however, it doesn't seem to be working.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #4

    You are booting to a black screen with a flashing cursor in upper left top corner ????

    a black screen pretty much means you are not even getting to windows

    Dowmload my rescue disk - boot from that media - so we all can see what is going on inside..
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 9
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Kyhi said:
    You are booting to a black screen with a flashing cursor in upper left top corner ????

    a black screen pretty much means you are not even getting to windows
    After the flashing cursor in the upper corner disappears, the screen becomes black.

    If I'm not getting to windows then is there anything I can do without resetting it? I'm thinking it's a problem with the video card driver, which is why I'm trying to get into safe mode, but if it's not...
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #6

    boot from the setup media and on first screen _ Press SHIFT+F10 to get a commed prompt

    To GET the "F8" Boot Menu Option back in Windows 8/8.1, 10

    You already did this one > From an elevated command prompt type> bcdedit /set bootmenupolicy legacy

    From an elevated command prompt type> bcdedit /set displaybootmenu 1

    never mind you already said F8 gets you back to a black scrrenn..

    download my rescue disk - link in sig below
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 9
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Kyhi said:
    From an elevated command prompt type> bcdedit /set displaybootmenu 1
    When I try this I get an error saying something like "this command couldn't be found".

    Kyhi said:
    download my rescue disk - link in sig below
    Unfortunately I can't seem to get this working. I burnt the image onto a bootable disc but windows continues displaying a black screen after the blinking cursor part. Then I tried making it a bootable USB--same thing. Finally I tried replacing the boot.wim file in the repair media with your boot.wim file, but it gets stuck at the windows logo screen (usually this would take a while to get into the actual troubleshooting options screen, but I've been waiting for over an hour now with no change).
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #8

    When you boot your PC you have to enter the Boot Menu Options (usually F12) to select the Media Device to Boot the PC from...

    As you are constantly trying to boot into windows - not the media
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 9
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Kyhi said:
    When you boot your PC you have to enter the Boot Menu Options (usually F12) to select the Media Device to Boot the PC from...

    As you are constantly trying to boot into windows - not the media
    I have gone into the bios to set it to automatically boot up from CD/USB by giving them the highest boot priorities. This has indeed automatically run the windows repair media off my USB several times without fail. To just be sure, I tried the both the CD and USB again with F12 pressed this time, and the same things happened.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #10

    so you are saying that you can not even boot into the normal setup media ??

    your problem goes much deeper then....

    As the media first boots and loads into memory...

    Has nothing to do with disk then..

    And since you can see bios screens and logo's then not video either..

    remove memory, clean pins with alcohol swab and swap out and around memory sticks
      My Computer


 

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