Setup cannot run in safe mode...

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I've read some other posts with this problem, but I haven't seen a solution
that will work for me.

I set my xp to safeboot through msconfig per instructions from symantec for
spyware removal.

It never booted in safemode, just was stuck in a loop.

I decided to try to boot from the cd. It was going okay as a repair until
it told me it was going to restart and finish setup. When it restarted it
said setup cannot run in safe mode.

I can't reinstall (at least I don't think so) because everytime you start it
up it says setup is restarting..... and then you get the error message again.

I'm beside myself and my sons are not exactly looking at me favorably. LOL

Please help!

MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

So it sounds like you cannot boot in Safe Mode so that you can reenter
MSCONFIG and change from booting in Safe Mode back to booting in Normal
Mode. Apparently you have reached a point where you are part way through a
Repair Install.

So if Will Denny's suggestion to try F8 does not work why don't you try
Recovery Console. In other words, when you boot from your Win XP CD-ROM
press "R" when prompted for boot options.

Michael


"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:759FC1D8-B2A9-4DA1-8193-563375AFF73E@microsoft.com...
> I've read some other posts with this problem, but I haven't seen a
> solution
> that will work for me.
>
> I set my XP to safeboot through msconfig per instructions from symantec
> for
> spyware removal.
>
> It never booted in safemode, just was stuck in a loop.
>
> I decided to try to boot from the cd. It was going okay as a repair until
> it told me it was going to restart and finish setup. When it restarted it
> said setup cannot run in safe mode.
>
> I can't reinstall (at least I don't think so) because everytime you start
> it
> up it says setup is restarting..... and then you get the error message
> again.
>
> I'm beside myself and my sons are not exactly looking at me favorably.
> LOL
>
> Please help!
>
> MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Hi

Did you try to access Safe Mode by using the F8 key or just using the
/safeboot option? Why did you attempt a 'Repair' install of XP - couldn't
you access Windows in 'Normal' mode.

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups


"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:759FC1D8-B2A9-4DA1-8193-563375AFF73E@microsoft.com...
> I've read some other posts with this problem, but I haven't seen a
> solution
> that will work for me.
>
> I set my xp to safeboot through msconfig per instructions from symantec
> for
> spyware removal.
>
> It never booted in safemode, just was stuck in a loop.
>
> I decided to try to boot from the cd. It was going okay as a repair until
> it told me it was going to restart and finish setup. When it restarted it
> said setup cannot run in safe mode.
>
> I can't reinstall (at least I don't think so) because everytime you start
> it
> up it says setup is restarting..... and then you get the error message
> again.
>
> I'm beside myself and my sons are not exactly looking at me favorably.
> LOL
>
> Please help!
>
> MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Will and Michael... Thank you for your responses.

I had tried using F8. The computer will not start in any mode: any of the
safe options, normal, or last config. That is why I tried the repair thing.

As for the recovery console... okay I'm there. I chose number 1 (the only
choice) and hit return for the password and I'm now at a prompt. I have
printed article 307654, so I have a list of the commands and rules, but I
don't have a clue what to do with them.

Help me please and explain it like you're talking to an idiot because
basically you are.

Thanks!
MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I did some more research and typed bootcfg /list at the prompt:

[1] "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /safeboot:minimal
OS Location: C:\WINNT

So I'm pretty sure that the safeboot:minimal is my problem, but how do I fix
it? Should I type in bootcfg /rebuild? If, yes, can you give me step by
steps for what to look for and do?

I'm starting to spaz...

MSy

"MSy" wrote:

> Will and Michael... Thank you for your responses.
>
> I had tried using F8. The computer will not start in any mode: any of the
> safe options, normal, or last config. That is why I tried the repair thing.
>
> As for the recovery console... okay I'm there. I chose number 1 (the only
> choice) and hit return for the password and I'm now at a prompt. I have
> printed article 307654, so I have a list of the commands and rules, but I
> don't have a clue what to do with them.
>
> Help me please and explain it like you're talking to an idiot because
> basically you are.
>
> Thanks!
> MSy
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I am not 100% certain since I have never encountered the point your at now.

But it seems what is necessary is to find a way to modify your "OS Load
Options" and delete "/safeboot:minimal".

Or to say it another way.

Replace
OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /safeboot:minimal

With
OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Effectively what your are doing is attempting to modify a line (probably the
last line) in the C:\BOOT.INI file which is normally only a few lines long -
and get rid of "/safeboot:minimal".


Keep us posted.

P.S.
To learn more type bootcfg /?
Perhaps there is a "bootcfg /edit".
I know there is a "bootcfg /add", but I have no experience using it.

"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2A5BA028-ECD9-452A-B2A7-F034AAF615C6@microsoft.com...
>I did some more research and typed bootcfg /list at the prompt:
>
> [1] "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
> OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /safeboot:minimal
> OS Location: C:\WINNT
>
> So I'm pretty sure that the safeboot:minimal is my problem, but how do I
> fix
> it? Should I type in bootcfg /rebuild? If, yes, can you give me step by
> steps for what to look for and do?
>
> I'm starting to spaz...
>
> MSy
>
> "MSy" wrote:
>
>> Will and Michael... Thank you for your responses.
>>
>> I had tried using F8. The computer will not start in any mode: any of
>> the
>> safe options, normal, or last config. That is why I tried the repair
>> thing.
>>
>> As for the recovery console... okay I'm there. I chose number 1 (the
>> only
>> choice) and hit return for the password and I'm now at a prompt. I have
>> printed article 307654, so I have a list of the commands and rules, but I
>> don't have a clue what to do with them.
>>
>> Help me please and explain it like you're talking to an idiot because
>> basically you are.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> MSy
>>
>>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2A5BA028-ECD9-452A-B2A7-F034AAF615C6@microsoft.com...
>I did some more research and typed bootcfg /list at the prompt:
>
> [1] "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
> OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /safeboot:minimal
> OS Location: C:\WINNT
>

Launch Recovery Console again and try this.

Step 1)
Type bootcfg /ADD
When prompted to Enter Load Identifier type something like
New Windows XP Home Edition
Press ENTER
When prompted to Load Options type the following (might be case sensitive)
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Press ENTER

Step 2
Type bootcfg /DEFAULT
Now select the new configuration you just added and press enter
Note: The list of configs should be on your screen with numbers - e.g. "1"
and "2".

Step 3
Type exit.

Now I suppose you will want to see if you can boot in Normal Mode. Or
perhaps you will need to shutdown and resume your attempt to perform a
Repair Install with your XP CD-ROM inserted.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Michael...

I came back to let you know that I think I'm okay and I saw your last
response. Thank you so much for your time. I am printing it incase I'm
wrong about being okay.

I found some instructions that I followed and the system did come up with
setup continuing, so I am hopeful. I don't know what kind of mess I'll have
after, because the cd was prior to sp2. Anyway, what I tried was:

In the recovery console, I typed bootcfg /rebuild.

I was prompted (yes,no) for C:WINNT. I typed y.

I was prompted to enter the load identifier. I typed Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition.

I was prompted to enter load options. I typed /fastdetect.

Then I typed exit.

The system rebooted and setup continued. Imagine that!

I had talked to Gateway today and told them about what I found and they said
"Oh, you don't want to do that!" and had me do a chkdsk /r. Well, that
finally finished and it had no effect. I called back and got someone else
who had no clue what to do, so I told them about what I had found. They said
to try it and stayed on the line. So far, so good.

Thanks again and I'll keep your post incase this crashes on me!

MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I'm not okay... I'm out of safe mode (I think), but I'm in an endless loop
for startup. We apologize for the inconvenience... blah... blah... blah...
Because of the repair (I think), there's two Home Edition options, but
neither starts Windows.

Ready to puke...

MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Thank you for getting back to us.

Glad you're making such good progress.

When things stabilize be sure to install the latest updates by running
Windows Update. Of course installing Service Pack 2 is also strongly
advised.

SP2 will (or should) add the switch "/NoExecute=OptIn" to your BOOT.INI file
that I referenced in my previous post.
This setting is the default configuration. On systems with processors that
can implement hardware-enforced DEP.

DEP is enabled by default for limited system binaries and programs that
"opt-in." With this option, only Windows system binaries are covered by DEP
as a default.

Once SP2 is installed you can check whether your processor supports DEP (not
sure this can be done w/o SP2).

After you install SP2 right-click My Computer and select Properties. Then
select the Advanced tab - followed by clicking the Settings button for
Performance. You will see a tab named Data Execution Prevention (or DEP).
If your processor does not support DEP, a message is displayed to this
effect at the bottom of the dialog.

Keep havin' fun.

Michael






"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1E3134B4-DF6A-4973-9EC2-51C0EF7B0F84@microsoft.com...
> Michael...
>
> I came back to let you know that I think I'm okay and I saw your last
> response. Thank you so much for your time. I am printing it incase I'm
> wrong about being okay.
>
> I found some instructions that I followed and the system did come up with
> setup continuing, so I am hopeful. I don't know what kind of mess I'll
> have
> after, because the CD was prior to SP2. Anyway, what I tried was:
>
> In the recovery console, I typed bootcfg /rebuild.
>
> I was prompted (yes,no) for C:WINNT. I typed y.
>
> I was prompted to enter the load identifier. I typed Microsoft Windows XP
> Home Edition.
>
> I was prompted to enter load options. I typed /fastdetect.
>
> Then I typed exit.
>
> The system rebooted and setup continued. Imagine that!
>
> I had talked to Gateway today and told them about what I found and they
> said
> "Oh, you don't want to do that!" and had me do a chkdsk /r. Well, that
> finally finished and it had no effect. I called back and got someone else
> who had no clue what to do, so I told them about what I had found. They
> said
> to try it and stayed on the line. So far, so good.
>
> Thanks again and I'll keep your post incase this crashes on me!
>
> MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Oh no!

Now I am beginning to suspect hardware (e.g., CD drive, hard drive or
memory).


"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D6F3F5C8-2E8B-4AD7-BD7C-E2CAF3D69A0B@microsoft.com...
> I'm not okay... I'm out of safe mode (I think), but I'm in an endless
> loop
> for startup. We apologize for the inconvenience... blah... blah...
> blah...
> Because of the repair (I think), there's two Home Edition options, but
> neither starts Windows.
>
> Ready to puke...
>
> MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Well, Michael...

I'm giving it up for tonight... still in the endless loop for startup. I
tried doing what was in your post for the bootcfg /add, but that didn't work
either.

Gateway says I'll have to reformat and reinstall and lose all my files
unless I can remove the hard drive and save the files on another computer. I
have a service contract until 01/06, but they have closed all of their
stores... that's convenient! They asked me if I had any friends that knew
about computers... I said if I did, I wouldn't be talking to you!

Getting a little testy...

MSy
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4A05EC89-1ED4-4D0A-8807-30A5958DFF4A@microsoft.com...
> They asked me if I had any friends that knew
> about computers... I said if I did, I wouldn't be talking to you!
>
> Getting a little testy...
>
> MSy

Now that's funny!

Here's an interesting link for Gateway titled "Computer Stuck in Restart
Loop After Installing Windows XP Service Pack 2"
http://support.gateway.com/s/issues/2-1750701561.shtml
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

This is a Microsoft article which came out soon after SP2 was release. I
found it equally unhelpful. However, I did find that chkdsk /r cured
some of the laptops that suffered this problem. The rest had to be
reformatted.

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to dot)


"Michael T" <anonymous@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:%AHze.7840$Tc6.3519@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
| "MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| news:4A05EC89-1ED4-4D0A-8807-30A5958DFF4A@microsoft.com...
| > They asked me if I had any friends that knew
| > about computers... I said if I did, I wouldn't be talking to you!
| >
| > Getting a little testy...
| >
| > MSy
|
| Now that's funny!
|
| Here's an interesting link for Gateway titled "Computer Stuck in
Restart
| Loop After Installing Windows XP Service Pack 2"
| http://support.gateway.com/s/issues/2-1750701561.shtml
|
|
 

onewayflight

Distinguished
Mar 1, 2008
7
0
18,510
Bumping this to see if there are any new cases of this matter, and if there was ever a solid fix to it as well.

After trying to repair a "missing or corrupt" NTFS.sys file, I've been stuck in "windows cannot finish setup in safe mode" loop also.
 

rhiebert

Distinguished
Jun 2, 2008
1
0
18,510
XP Setup cannot run in 'Safe-Mode'

Problem: I did a significant HW upgrade afterwhich XP was flakey. I generally try to do SW changes in safemode so without due consideration I set boot to 'safemode=minimal' using 'msconfig'.
I proceeded with the repair from the XP CD and got stuck in 'the loop'.
Basically setup cannot proceed in safemode so I rebooted and landed up in the same spot.
The FIX:
1. Booted from XP CD
2. Enter 'R' for the Recovery Console
3. In the recovery console, I typed bootcfg /rebuild.
4. I was prompted (yes,no,all) for C:WINDOWS. Enter 'y'
5. I was prompted to enter the load identifier. Enter 'XP SP3' or whatever
6. Enter load options: /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
7. Enter: exit

The system rebooted and setup continued without the dreaded 'Safe Mode loop'. My XP repairs continued without problems.

Thank you for the information. It saved me doing a new install.



 

OEM_Tech

Distinguished
Aug 10, 2008
2
0
18,510
Well I to ran into this dilemma. However I was able to find a solution and I remembered to come back and post it. I have another copy of XP on one of my other partitions so I used it, however the same technique can be done using a dos boot disk provided your running fat 32. If your running NTFS I believe you can use the second copy of windows to pull this off. Windows XP system restore backs up copies of your registry under 'C:\System Volume Information' For example the link to one of mine is 'C:\System Volume Information\_restore{DC77F990-5C5C-46CE-8F93-5A8E65F44A1D}\RP10\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM' In each snapshots RP[#] \snapshot\ directory you will find backup copies of your registry. The file names are '_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY, _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE' These files will need to be copied and renamed to your 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\config' directory. They will need to be renamed in the copies to 'sam, securety, default, system, software'. These files do not have an extension. I would use the restore point with the highest number first for that will be your most recent restore point. This is the only way to pull out of this loop that I have found. Good luck and happy browsing !
 

OEM_Tech

Distinguished
Aug 10, 2008
2
0
18,510
When I finally got back into my system I found out what caused my problem. Since it is just as bad as the first dilemma I figured I had better include it to. I wrote an article on my website about the whole experience. Here it is: Warning: SpyBot S&D has a weakness that is exploitable by viruses and can result in major registry system corruption in NT based windows operating systems. I nearly lost a lot of my work today because it allowed me to block 3 critical registry entrees caused by viruses that intern caused my memory not to be accessible by my programs. Its kind of hard to detect and remove a virus if your antivirus program will not run. I couldn't even restore my operating system afterwards. I was forced into some kind of mode that even caused the windows CD installer to think in normal mode my computer was running in safe mode. Which would not allow the windows repair installer to complete. I finally used a second install of windows on another partition to copy a restore points registry files over the existing ones and got back into windows which SpyBot again blocked the same 3 virus entrees over and over and I couldn't even remove the SpyBot blocks from the registry or else where's. let alone export them to use in this document. I finally had to restore the registry again and remove SpyBot and restore my registry afterwards yet again so my antivirus program could do its job. Which now I'm in the process of cleaning up my system finally. I wouldn't have taken the time to post this warning if it wasn't for the fact most people would have and have wound up having to either do a full restore or had to rerun their whole OS because of it. I really have liked SpyBot over the years its a real shame this is happening ! At the same time their are a lot of people out their wondering what the heck really happened that they encountered these sets of circumstances. I feel they deserve an answer an now they have it !!!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

"MSy" <MSy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2A5BA028-ECD9-452A-B2A7-F034AAF615C6@microsoft.com...
>I did some more research and typed bootcfg /list at the prompt:
>
> [1] "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
> OS Load Options: /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /safeboot:minimal
> OS Location: C:\WINNT
>

Launch Recovery Console again and try this.

Step 1)
Type bootcfg /ADD
When prompted to Enter Load Identifier type something like
New Windows XP Home Edition
Press ENTER
When prompted to Load Options type the following (might be case sensitive)
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Press ENTER

Step 2
Type bootcfg /DEFAULT
Now select the new configuration you just added and press enter
Note: The list of configs should be on your screen with numbers - e.g. "1"
and "2".

Step 3
Type exit.

Now I suppose you will want to see if you can boot in Normal Mode. Or
perhaps you will need to shutdown and resume your attempt to perform a
Repair Install with your XP CD-ROM inserted.


my question is...
after that.... all my files inside... c part... wil be deleted?

HOPE u say.. not... coz.... its work.. and... set-up... already running.....
 

misha80

Distinguished
Oct 4, 2009
2
0
18,510
I have the same problem as the original poster, but my problem is that I can't do rhiebert's solution because the recovery console will not allow me to do the bootcfg /rebuild or /add option. I had gotten this error message when playing around in the recovery console:

"Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt system, which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any errors. NOTE: This operation must be completed successfully in order for the /add or /rebuild commands to to be utilized"

I've executed the chkdsk /p and /r commands a bunch of times, but it doesn't seem to have done much to solve anything. I believe that the problem is that my boot.ini file has a default safemode command that needs to be changed. Can I copy the boot.ini file from another computer with the same OS and transfer it onto my hard drive?

-Mike T
 

misha80

Distinguished
Oct 4, 2009
2
0
18,510
Hi aford10. I had previously modified my boot.ini in msconfig so that it starts in safe mode upon start up. Since my computer doesn't run in safe mode and I had tried to reinstall Windows XP which won't setup in safe mode, I had to modify it. I copied it over from my work computer, modifying the "Windows XP Professional" to "Windows XP Home Edition" within the file's text. This allows the computer to start up in the normal mode, and I have subsequently modified the boot.ini file in msconfig to run in normal boot from now on. However, i now have a problem where the program "proquota.exe" runs, which results in a red circle with a white X in my tool bar (reminds me of a virus) and tells me that I have exceeded my memory, which isn't true. I'll do some research.

But anyways, looks like I can finally run my computer. Thanks for your quick response aford10. I appreciate it.
 
Why doesn't your computer run in safe mode? What does it do when you try to access safe mode?

When you boot up, tapping f8 should bring up the menu to access safe mode. Booting into safe mode with networking you can download malwarebytes. If you update it, and do a full system scan it should clean any infection.