IT personnel can use the "safe mode" of "Windows 10" to find software and drivers such as problematic applications and updates, delete them one by one, and replace them with other software/drivers. is possible.
Safe mode allows the main components of the OS to work, disabling various software and drivers that can cause boot failures, system crashes, performance problems, and abnormal application behavior. . Safe Mode boots Windows 10 with minimal software/drivers for your mouse, keyboard, and display.
IT personnel can use safe mode to re-enable software/drivers via the user interface (UI) or by operating the registry to find out which one is the problem. If a software or driver causes the system to malfunction, IT staff can boot Windows 10 in safe mode and remove the software or driver. Additionally, you can troubleshoot by installing newer fixes for the software or drivers.
Safe Mode can be manually enabled before or during Windows 10 startup. Windows 10 and the application itself may start in safe mode.
If Windows 10 is running, follow the steps below to boot in safe mode.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) on your desktop, then click the Power icon.
- Hold down the Shift key and click Restart.
If the system fails to boot, take the following steps (some keys and steps may differ depending on the PC used).
- Turn off the PC.
- Power cycle the PC.
- Press F8 as soon as Windows 10 starts to boot. This will open the "Choose an option" screen.
- Click the "Troubleshoot" menu on the Choose an Option screen, then click the "Advanced options" menu on the "Troubleshoot" screen.
- On the Advanced Options screen, click the "Show more repair options" menu at the bottom.
- Click the "Startup Settings" menu on the Advanced Options screen.
- If you click the "Restart" button on the Startup Settings screen, a new Startup Settings screen opens after restarting.
Three safe mode options are displayed on this startup settings screen.
- Enable Safe Mode
- Enable Safe Mode with Networking
- Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Option 1 above starts Windows 10 with a minimal configuration. If the startup succeeds and you can use the basic functions of Windows 10, try booting with option 2, which adds network functions. If Windows 10 crashes or you find problems, it's most likely a network component issue.
Option 3 is for personnel with extensive troubleshooting experience. Personnel using this option should be comfortable with the command line and be able to perform tasks such as modifying the registry or navigating to folders with known bad drivers to replace them.
When Windows 10 starts in safe mode, all personal settings (background, etc.) are not reflected, and "safe mode" is displayed in the four corners of the screen.
The troubleshooting process uses the "Registry Editor" to enable or disable Windows software and drivers. IT personnel should only modify the registry if they have experience modifying it. Modifying the registry can render Windows unusable. Enter "regedit" in the Windows search bar and click "regedit" in the search results to bring up the Registry Editor. To restart Windows 10 in normal mode, just reboot.
The problem with safe mode is that the PC has to be restarted many times in order to boot into safe mode during the troubleshooting process. Starting or restarting the PC to open the Choose an option screen, clicking a few times to get to the startup settings screen, restarting and selecting the safe mode option - it can be tedious to repeat the procedure every time. .
Unless you change the settings, you can also boot Windows 10 in safe mode every time. To do so, type “msconfig” in the Windows 10 search bar and open the “System Configuration” tool. Open the "Boot" tab and check the "Safe Boot" checkbox in the "Boot Options" column. You can choose to boot with minimal configuration (network disabled), network enabled, etc. Other options include generating a boot log.
After completing the necessary settings, click "OK", and then click "Restart" or "Exit without restarting" in the dialog box that opens next. This will force Windows 10 to boot into safe mode every time after reboot or next boot respectively.
Windows 10 may automatically start in safe mode. This is the case when the PC shuts down due to a power failure, crash, etc. The email client Outlook is susceptible to such shutdowns. When the PC restarts and Outlook launches, it will ask if you want to launch Outlook in safe mode if there may be a problem. In response, the extension "Outlook add-in" is disabled and Outlook starts in safe mode.
If there are no obvious problems, the end user can start Outlook in normal mode. When Outlook starts in safe mode, the UI shows that it is running in safe mode. Other Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word can be started in safe mode as well.
On Windows 10, hold down the "Windows logo" key and press the "R" key, and in the "Run" dialog box, for example, "excel /safe" "winword /safe" "outlook /safe" You can start any Microsoft Office application in safe mode by typing You can enable extensions one by one to see which ones are not working or causing problems.
IT personnel can also enable or disable applications in the registry. Some third-party applications cannot start in safe mode. Therefore, IT personnel should first contact the vendor.