Setup cannot run in safe mode...

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

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" wrote in message
...
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

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" wrote in message
...
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

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

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

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" wrote in message
...
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

"MSy" wrote in message
...
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.

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

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

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" wrote in message
...
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

Oh no!

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


"MSy" wrote in message
news
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

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

"MSy" wrote in message
...
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

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" wrote in message
m...
| "MSy" wrote in message
| ...
| 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
|
|