safe mode in WME

I was helping a friend clean up their computer, and wanted to defrag. I could
not get it to restart in safe mode. The help file on the computer (Dell) said
to hold the "ctrl", or sometimes F8 during boot up. Niether worked. Any
clues here? We had to skip the defrag.

Holding the CTRL key or 'repeatedly tapping' the F8 key will normally bring
up the Startup Menu. Item 3 is the choice for the Safe Mode. If this does
not get you to the Startup Menu, try the following:
Click Start, Run, then type (without the quotes) 'MSCONFIG'.
Click OK.
Click the 'Advanced' tab.
Click on the box next to 'Enable Startup Menu'.
Click 'OK' and restart the system.
Choose Safe Mode from the startup menu.
Reverse the procedure (if required) to stop displaying the startup menu.

There are other factors that can prevent the Startup Menu from coming up
and, also, prevent the machine from getting into the Safe Mode, including
viral infection, CMOS settings, registry problems, etc. Post back if the
above does not help and we will go from there.
Heirloom, old and going to bed now


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
I was helping a friend clean up their computer, and wanted to defrag. I
could
not get it to restart in safe mode. The help file on the computer (Dell)
said
to hold the "ctrl", or sometimes F8 during boot up. Niether worked. Any
clues here? We had to skip the defrag.

Thanks, I will not see this person for a while, so I can not try this soon,
but am printing out your instructions and will try it. We did find a virus,
but I don't remember if I tried for safe mode after that or not.

"heirloom" wrote:

Holding the CTRL key or 'repeatedly tapping' the F8 key will normally bring
up the Startup Menu. Item 3 is the choice for the Safe Mode. If this does
not get you to the Startup Menu, try the following:
Click Start, Run, then type (without the quotes) 'MSCONFIG'.
Click OK.
Click the 'Advanced' tab.
Click on the box next to 'Enable Startup Menu'.
Click 'OK' and restart the system.
Choose Safe Mode from the startup menu.
Reverse the procedure (if required) to stop displaying the startup menu.

There are other factors that can prevent the Startup Menu from coming up
and, also, prevent the machine from getting into the Safe Mode, including
viral infection, CMOS settings, registry problems, etc. Post back if the
above does not help and we will go from there.
Heirloom, old and going to bed now


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
I was helping a friend clean up their computer, and wanted to defrag. I
could
not get it to restart in safe mode. The help file on the computer (Dell)
said
to hold the "ctrl", or sometimes F8 during boot up. Niether worked. Any
clues here? We had to skip the defrag.

Keep us posted with the results........
Heirloom, old and four doors to go


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
Thanks, I will not see this person for a while, so I can not try this
soon,
but am printing out your instructions and will try it. We did find a
virus,
but I don't remember if I tried for safe mode after that or not.

"heirloom" wrote:

Holding the CTRL key or 'repeatedly tapping' the F8 key will normally
bring
up the Startup Menu. Item 3 is the choice for the Safe Mode. If this
does
not get you to the Startup Menu, try the following:
Click Start, Run, then type (without the quotes) 'MSCONFIG'.
Click OK.
Click the 'Advanced' tab.
Click on the box next to 'Enable Startup Menu'.
Click 'OK' and restart the system.
Choose Safe Mode from the startup menu.
Reverse the procedure (if required) to stop displaying the startup menu.

There are other factors that can prevent the Startup Menu from coming up
and, also, prevent the machine from getting into the Safe Mode,
including
viral infection, CMOS settings, registry problems, etc. Post back if
the
above does not help and we will go from there.
Heirloom, old and going to bed now


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
I was helping a friend clean up their computer, and wanted to defrag.
I
could
not get it to restart in safe mode. The help file on the computer
(Dell)
said
to hold the "ctrl", or sometimes F8 during boot up. Niether worked.
Any
clues here? We had to skip the defrag.

I tried this on my xp pro machine, and while it has little different look, it
worked nicely. Thanks for your help. I will let you know how it works onl the
ME machine, but it may be a while.

"heirloom" wrote:

Keep us posted with the results........
Heirloom, old and four doors to go


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
Thanks, I will not see this person for a while, so I can not try this
soon,
but am printing out your instructions and will try it. We did find a
virus,
but I don't remember if I tried for safe mode after that or not.

"heirloom" wrote:

Holding the CTRL key or 'repeatedly tapping' the F8 key will normally
bring
up the Startup Menu. Item 3 is the choice for the Safe Mode. If this
does
not get you to the Startup Menu, try the following:
Click Start, Run, then type (without the quotes) 'MSCONFIG'.
Click OK.
Click the 'Advanced' tab.
Click on the box next to 'Enable Startup Menu'.
Click 'OK' and restart the system.
Choose Safe Mode from the startup menu.
Reverse the procedure (if required) to stop displaying the startup menu.

There are other factors that can prevent the Startup Menu from coming up
and, also, prevent the machine from getting into the Safe Mode,
including
viral infection, CMOS settings, registry problems, etc. Post back if
the
above does not help and we will go from there.
Heirloom, old and going to bed now


"Geronimo" wrote in message
...
I was helping a friend clean up their computer, and wanted to defrag.
I
could
not get it to restart in safe mode. The help file on the computer
(Dell)
said
to hold the "ctrl", or sometimes F8 during boot up. Niether worked.
Any
clues here? We had to skip the defrag.