f8
 |
Ever crash your computer? If you say no you are a liar. Ever crash your computer and then it refuses to load into Windows? One of the most common causes of.
f8
Home Freebies Best Free Android Apps Reviews Tips 'n Tricks Downloads Forums « Free Paragon Disk Wiper 10 Personal! [24-hours only]Microsoft Security Essentials vs Avira vs avast! vs AVG: Best free anti-virus/anti-malware program for Windows [3rd Edition] »Share/Save:
Ever crash your computer? If you say "no" you are a liar. Ever crash your computer and then it refuses to load into Windows? One of the most common causes of computer crashes is a new software change you made. One of the easiest ways to undo crash-causing software changes is booting into Windows Safe Mode and undoing what you (foolishly, in retrospect) did.
Safe Mode is when Windows runs only with its basic/critical components. Thus if the crash is being caused by a software modification you made, Windows (typically) is able to load into Safe Mode because everything except basic/critical components are disabled.
When your computer is booting, keep tapping F8 on your keyboard. This tapping needs to occur at the initial screen that shows your manufacturer's logo -- not the Windows screen.
The issue with conventional techie wisdom is it isn't so wise. If tapping F8 a few times at computer boot doesn't bring you to the Safe Mode selection screen, then tapping F8 a few more times won't either. As it turns out, for some computers you must hold F8 at computer boot (the same initial screen where your manufacturer's logo shows) instead of tap it.
I wish all dotTechies the best in regards to avoiding computer crashes. However, when crashes do happen, keep Safe Mode in mind. And remember: If tapping F8 doesn't work, try holding F8. It may sound like simple advice but it seems like not too many people know the hold-F8 trick. For the past three years I was one of those people, never being able to figure out why my laptop refused to go into Safe Mode when I tapped F8. Now I know: I need to hold F8. Duh.
Unless stated otherwise, you may redistribute the content of this post in accordance with the guidelines set by the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. Please view the Fair Use Policy for more detail.
Did you find this article helpful? Please consider donating; thank you! This entry was posted on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 at 10:29 PM and is filed under Tips 'n Tricks, Windows World. This article abides by the Clean Blog Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
2AshrafPosted December 17, 2011 at 11:59 PM | Permalink@Stephen Bennett and @jan: Really? I didn?t know that. What do you need to press on ASUS?
3Rob (Down Under)Posted December 18, 2011 at 12:09 AM | PermalinkI am one of those types that does not care how things look. I prefer them to be practical/useful instead.
I had the pretty Logo switched off, so I was able to see the trail of what was happening up to the point where it would stop loading.
I investigated what PreFetch was, and realized it was one of MS?s BS unnecessary complications that they included in the boot process.
(My memory is frail. Possibly I did use Safe Mode to do the deletions, but without the ?No Logo? trick, I would not have known what needed fixing.)
4Stephen BennettPosted December 18, 2011 at 12:24 AM | Permalink@jan: So Jan how do you get to the safe mode screen ? which key? My F11 doesn?t do it on the ASUS board. I?ve been there but don?t how I got there. It wasn?t intential on my part. :-)
6Stephen BennettPosted December 18, 2011 at 12:49 AM | Permalink@Ashraf: Ashraf and Jan, this is how it is done on some, if not all, ASUS boards? When the boot device menu appears, from having held the F8 key, select the boot device, and as soon as doing so, hold the F8 again. The safe mode option screen appears or at least that was my experience, for each of the three times I tried it a moment ago.
7hal9000Posted December 18, 2011 at 1:39 AM | PermalinkWhy Asus (and some other manufacturers) chose to put some BIOS options on f8 when they know safe mode is on that key is beyond me.
?Stephen Bennett? is correct in the way to do it, or even easier, just start pressing f8 as soon as the ?press f8 for boot options? screen disappears.
9EdPosted December 18, 2011 at 12:42 PM | PermalinkI don?t think it would be so far fetched for someone to say they have never crashed their computer. In the years I have had mine I have only crashed it twice and I do a lot of things that aren?t advisable.
12cmpmPosted December 18, 2011 at 4:32 PM | PermalinkYou can turn the power off with the power button as soon as the logo appears, before your desktop shows up, and then power it up again to get to the safe mode options.
Another thing is that most multimedia keyboards don?t recognize the ?F? buttons when booting up, so keep a standard keyboard around and plug it in if your keyboard is multimedia, such as Logitech and many others with extra keys for music, email and other extras.
13ElroyPosted December 19, 2011 at 11:57 AM | Permalink@cmpm: You can turn the power off with the power button as soon as the logo appears, before your desktop shows up, and then power it up again to get to the safe mode options. ?.INTERESTING?.I did not know that, thanks!
15janPosted December 20, 2011 at 1:05 AM | Permalink@Stephen and Ashraf, what a fool i am for Asus and maybe others ones you press F5 to become in the safe mode.
But when your OS is getting old and dodgy, and your hardware is covering up(living with) a few problems, I would not be ?poking the bear?.
You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
The Hidden Stash (aka Categories) Select Category Announcements (76) Ask dotTechies (31) Community Content (38) dotTech Favorites (20) Editorials (5) Rants (4) Featured (5) Freebies (364) dotTech Promotions (65) Freeware Reviews (210) Giveaway of the Day Reviews (374) Hardware Reviews (4) Headline (1) I suck at spellings (46) Linux (3) Mac OS X (3) Miscellaneous (19) Mobile Mania (92) Android Articles (74) Best Free Android Apps (30) Free Android App Reviews (11) Paid Android App Reviews (3) iOS Articles (20) Free iOS App Reviews (3) Symbian (1) Windows Phone (3) Shareware Reviews (147) Rapid (Shareware) Reviews (9) Software Updates (8) Sponsored Content (3) Tech News (42) Tips ?n Tricks (398) Computer Programming (3) Keeping Them Honest (30) Video Game Reviews (4) Website Reviews (46) Windows World (19)