Computer always boots into Windows Safe Mode
From troubleshooting driver problems to removing malware, Safe Mode in Windows is quite helpful. However, there are instances where a computer keeps booting to Safe Mode, even after resolving all issues. The following sections help determine if your computer is actually booting to Safe Mode, and how to adjust the setting that's causing it.
Booting into Normal Mode, but looks like Safe Mode
Make sure the computer is really booting to Safe Mode. To confirm, look for a message about Safe Mode on startup and the text "Safe Mode" displayed in one corner of the screen. If you do not see a prompt or the "Safe Mode" text, your computer is probably in normal mode, even though it may not appear that way.
One reason people believe their computer is in Safe Mode when it's not is because of improper video resolution settings. Ensure your computer's video resolution is set correctly to the monitor's native resolution and the proper video card drivers are installed. See the following pages for help with both.
Turning off Safe boot
If your computer repeatedly boots to Safe Mode, it's likely that Safe Boot is enabled. Follow the steps below to disable Safe Boot.
- Press the Windows key, type msconfig, and press Enter.
- In the System Configuration window, click the Boot tab (A).
- Uncheck the box next to Safe boot (B), click Apply (C), then OK (D).
- Restart your computer using the prompt or through the Start menu, and confirm it boots to Windows normal mode.
Computer still boots into Safe Mode
If the computer still doesn't boot normally, ensure it is not rebooting because of an error by disabling the automatic restart on system failure feature. To do this, access the Windows Advanced Options Menu by pressing F8 multiple times as the computer is booting. Then, select the Disable automatic restart on system failure option in the menu, if available.
After disabling the feature, try booting the computer to normal mode and see if it encounters an error when starting. A common type of error is a blue screen error.