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I've lately encountered a puzzling situation with safe mode start using the F8 key.
Bluntly, the F8 key press during boot (when the motherboard logo, BIOS entry key notice etc is displayed, and after) has been in-effective. I've tried several times pressing the key earlier in the boot cycle (per help), substituted a brand new keyboard, and tried just holding the F8 key down during that part of the cycle: with no evident effect using either keyboard - the PC boots to windows normally.
It's highly unlikely that both keyboards are broken with the same key, and when booted using Word, pressing F8 causes the next text character to be selected. On both keyboards, the DEL key during motherboard logo display boot gets me into the BIOS. So it's unlikely it is a keyboard issue.
When booted, I can cause a safe mode boot at the next re-start using the msconfig /boot options, so the PC will do a safe mode boot, and the safe mode message at top RH corner of the display is evident in these boots.
It looks very likely that an F8 key signal is being ignored at windows startup. And an F8 safe mode boot has been a life-saver in the past when driver updates went sour and a safe start before the OS loads is essential, so I'm very interested in resolving this. An experienced colleague has suggested that it may be some sort of timer setting that's simply too fast for keyboard sensing: but holding the key down should (??) be sensed. So, I am perplexed and out of ideas of cause and fix.
Help.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
In the Boot Manager section you are missing displaybootmenu (see my example).
To add it, enter the following command followed by the enter key:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
Then run bcdedit again and make sure it shows up and looks like my example.
Restart and report back.
Just holding down the F8 Key to enter Safe Mode does not work on all computers.
On Boot try tapping the F8 Key at 1 second intervals to see if that works for you.
Admittedly some computers today with SSD`s installed and UEFI can boot so rapidly to the Operating System time frame wise that it makes it hard to tap into Safe Mode and or the BIOS.
Check the Timeout as ElderN has mentioned.
Hi Elder and Frank,
1. The system was updated to have a 250gb SSD as the C drive 9 moths ago. This is the 1st safe mode usage since then. There are 3 other 500gb each HDD attached for programs and data.
2. The keyboards I tested with the tower are both USB attached units. PS2 connected keyboards became unavailable as a dodo years ago, which is why the the ones I have are now USB. I am reasonably certain I have used F8 for a safe mode boot using them since then. See also 3.
3. I have another win7 64bit PC, this one an Hp laptop - and it also does not respond to an F8 safe mode start. No separate keyboard involved there.
4. Before I resorted to holding the F8 key down, I tried the tap the key approach several times, each one starting earlier in the cycle, until the tapping started when the BIOS access key advice appeared. Did not work, so I went to holding the key down.
5. The timeout mentioned was checked - screenshot attached. It was set for 30 sec and I haven't changed it - the failed F8 safe mode boots were with this setting
5. Colleague previously mentioned (whom theorised a timeout) has checked all his machines, some new laptops (and all but one are windows 10, the odd-one out is win 7, like mine) since I raised this with him, and none of his PC's will do an F8 safe mode boot.
6. This really does look like a fairly serious multi-version windows issue. If you are right about the keyboard USB drivers, then in a modern scenario a safe mode boot using F8 from such a keyboard would be impossible, as the means to recognise such a key sequence is absent in the time period when it must be applied.
If windows is not properly shut down, a black-and-white old style text menu including safe boot options is displayed at the next start, so it does not seem impossible to do. A change to the windows that program that resides at MBR and starts the whole process off?
Alternatively, other means of fix are...?
How are these keyboard attached - USB (a flat plug) or PS/2 (a round plug) and if USB do you have a PS/2 keyboard you can use to test?
If USB it could be that the keyboard is not being recognized by Windows until after Windows boots and loads the USB drivers.
There will probably be some other ideas but see if making this safe adjustment helps.
If the Timeout is set to zero seconds it could be you are just missing the F8 windows of opportunity so adding a few seconds to the timeout will have the Windows boot process display a menu and give you some seconds to press F8 (or run the memory test):
When you see the menu displayed are you able to navigate back and forth between the Windows boot and the memory test (does the keyboard work at that time)?
You keep saying you press F8.
An experienced colleague has suggested that it may be some sort of timer setting that's simply too fast for keyboard sensing: but holding the key down should (??) be sensed. So, I am perplexed and out of ideas of cause and fix.
Is this what you are doing?
Tap F8 at the rate of about once per second.
And some keyboards have a F-lock function key, which stops you using the F keys unless you toggle between On and Off for what you want those keys to do
