Boot In Safe Mode Without Pressing F8 Key [How To]

You have to press F8 to boot your computer in safe mode. But there are cases when your F8 button does not work or you have not pressed F8 key at the right time and then you just can’t reboot it in safe mode. And few times our computer does not recognize this key, after all it’s a computer. But this is possible to reboot your computer in safe mode without pressing F8 key. Lets learn how to do this.

But before learning this trick, we should know the meaning of safe mode. Read the following.

what is safe mode?

We treat safe mode as the trouble shooting mode. If we face any problems during software installation or if there are any problems related to windows, we can use this safe mode to log into the system in a trouble shooting mode and repair the system. In safe mode  most of the autoexec.bat and config.sys files does not get activated as well as your computer stops many drivers from getting loaded. Hence you can easily uninstall the programs causing the problem and also can unload the drivers if you want.

Here today, I will guide you with the computer trick where you can reboot your computer in safe mode without pressing F8 on your keyboard during the restart process. We can do this in two ways. As always, we can do some system tweaks using MSCONFIG and the another method is by using a third party freeware tool.

Lets begin with the MSCONFIG process. There are two different process for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Choose your process accordingly.

Boot In Safe Mode Via Msconfig ( Windows XP )

1. Start your computer in normal mode.
2. Go to Start >> Run
3. Type msconfig and hit Enter.
4. Now click the BOOT.INI tab and select the check box /SAFEBOOT
5. Just check if MINIMAL is checked or not. If it’s not checked, check it.
6. Click on Apply and then OK.
7. Now you are done. Next time you reboot your computer, it will start running in Safe Mode.

Now after finishing your work in the safe mode, follow the above procedure to Uncheck /SAFEBOOT and you are done. Next time you reboot your system, it will start running in normal mode.

Boot In Safe Mode Via msconfig ( Windows Vista )

1. Start your computer in normal mode.
2. Go to Start >> Run and type MSCONFIG. Hit enter.

3. Hit the Boot tab and then check the Safe Boot box.
4. Check if Minimal is selected or not. If it’s not selected, select it.
5. Now click Apply and then OK.
6. You are done now.

From the next time you reboot your computer, your system will get started in the safe mode. Now after getting your job done, you can uncheck the Safe Boot option to start your computer in normal mode.

Boot In Safe Mode Using BootSafe

You can use a third party freeware tool called BootSafe to restart your computer in either way. It will show you various options like if you want to reboot your computer in safe mode or normal mode. Now you don’t have to make those edits in msconfig. Even you don’t have to press F8 on your key board. BootSafe will take care of everything.

BootSafe is a self executable file. You don’t have to get it installed on your computer. Simply download, open and run. Lets know how to use this booting software tool.

1. Open your computer in normal mode
2. Double click on BootSafe to start it
3. Check the Safe Mode – Minimal option
4. Click on Reboot

Now your computer will reboot in safe mode. If you want to start your computer in normal mode again double click on BootSafe and check the option Normal Restart. From now on your computer will start running in normal mode.

These are the options available to reboot your computer safely without pressing F8 key on Windows Xp or Vista. BootSafe works on both XP and Vista.