Window's Startup Modes for Troubleshooting
By Stephen Bucaro
Troubleshooting a Windows problem is a bit difficult when the system freezes up or
the display becomes unintelligible. You need a way to get Windows to bypass some of
its complexity and bloat so the system can start, allowing you to perform troubleshooting.
Windows provides several alternate startup modes just for that purpose.
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.
More Windows Troubleshooting Articles:
• How to Troubleshoot Your Computer's Mouse
• No Computer Sound
• Can't Unistall A Program, Now What?
• How to Fix iisutil.dll Error
• Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts
• Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts
• How to Fix CD-ROM Redirector Error
• A Required DLL Was Not Found
• Stop Windows Freezing and System Lockups
• How to Resolve Cable, DSL, and Dialup Modem Problems
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