Safe Mode for Windows and Mac

If your computer does not boot, there may be problems with drivers or write permissions. In order fix the computer, you can try to boot the operating system into safe mode. This overcomes many common problems that cause a computer not to boot.

Windows

In Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 98, and Windows 95, you get into safe mode by holding the F8 key at computer startup.

You then choose Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking as shown on this screen.

Mac OS X

Although it is not often used, the Mac has a safe mode too. Hold down the Shift key during computer startup.

For a recent Falls Church, Virginia customer I had to do this because the computer’s file permissions got screwed up. Once into the operating system with safe mode, I was able to use Disk Utility and repair permissions.

USB Drive PC Tools

PC Repair System from Daily Cup of Tech

USB drives can hold a lot of tools needed for PC repair, recovery, and diagnostics. The folks at Daily Cup of Tech put together a PC Repair System that fits on a tiny 32MB flash drive.

What to do

All you have to do is download the files and extract them onto a flash drive. If you put all the files in the root directory of the drive, you will have the option to auto launch the application menu when you insert the USB drive. The menu will appear in the system tray (bottom right). Right click on the system tray application and you will see the menu shown here.

As you can see, there are lots of useful applications for computer help tasks. See the PC Repair System page for more info on the applications, or just run them to see what they do.

It works

I recently used the included Restoration software to recover deleted files from someone’s computer in Alexandria, Virginia.

With a PC Repair System USB drive, you have an easy to use and powerful set of tools.