I figured someone else might need this information if you don't:
This will take some setup beforehand, so if your PC won't boot into safe or normal... then these won't work. ALSO THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS IS, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK:
I'm assuming you would just like to have it come up and ask you whether you want to start in safe or normal without you have to press f8 or anything like that. The easiest way to do this is to edit the boot.ini (Windows XP and before) or the BCD Store (Vista & 7).
Windows 7/Vista:
Code:
I could go through a long drawn out description of the commands necessary to make the changes using the built-in bcdedit, but I'm all about simplicity.
1) Download & Install EasyBCD from [URL="http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1"]here.[/URL]
2) Run BCD & Click "Add entry" on the left side.
3) In the TOP SECTION (Operating Systems) name it something Meaningful Like "Windows Safe Mode" or "Windows Safe Networking" and click "Add Entry"
4) Click Advanced Settings on the left side and Select THE ENTRY WE JUST CREATED from the drop down list.
5) Click the Advanced TAB below the entry we just selected, then where it says
"Safe Mode: Normal"
Change it to Safe Mode or Safe Mode With Networking (depending on what you need. Then click "Save Settings"
Code:
Phase 2: configure timing
6) Click "Edit Boot Menu" on the left side
7) Make sure that our entry is NOT default (UNLESS you want it automatically starting in safe all the time)
8) Adjust the "Boot default OS after XX seconds" to something like 3 to 5 seconds and click "Save settings"
You are now done. Everytime you start the computer you will have XX seconds to choose safe mode or it will start Windows normally.
Windows XP:
This is a little trickier since there's no nifty utility and it requires some know-how. I'll outline what I consider to be the easiest way:
Code:
Phase 1: Unlocking the boot.ini
1) Click the Start button and select Run.
2) Paste or type the following into the Run box and click OK:
attrib c:\boot.ini -r -h -s
Code:
Phase 2: Modifying the boot.ini
3) Click the Start button and select Run.
4) Paste or type the following into the Run box and click OK:
c:\boot.ini
5) Copy everything in the boot.ini file AFTER:
[[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
(I don't mean to be mean, but if you don't know how to copy and paste you probably shouldn't be modifying this file at all.)
What you WANT to copy will look something like this:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="microsoft windows xp professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
6) Paste what you've copied at the end of the boot.ini file, and add /Safeboot:minimal (for regular safe mode) OR /Safeboot:network (for safe mode w/ networking)
7) Change the name from "microsoft windows XP ..." to "Windows XP Safe"
8) Change the "timeout=30" to something like "timeout=5" and save your boot.ini file.
Your boot.ini will now look something like this
Code:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="microsoft windows xp professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Safe" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect [B]/safeboot:network[/B]
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT WARNING:
Under the [operating systems] tag, you
MUST match the "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\" to whatever is already in the boot.ini or it will NOT boot correctly. So if your boot.ini has "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\" you can NOT put in "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\" it just won't boot.
Again, this is intended to be a guide on how to do this... use it at your own risk, and happy shortcutting.
