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Whether you love or hate Microsoft, you do have to give them credit for at least one thing. They've built a gigantic and powerful operating system that can work even though there are thousands of different manufacturers installing new pieces into the operating system all the time. When you buy a new device driver or a new application and install it in Windows, chances are it'll work, and that is
pretty amazing. But while Windows is a versatile empower a full operating system, there are times when it can be frustrating. This frustration is particularly evident when you install a new software application or ad drivers for some new hardware and the whole thing seems to blow up in your face. Suddenly, the computer crashes or locks up. You reboot the computer and it loads this strange looking Windows Desktop with the words safe mode in the four corners. What is this
and how does it help you? Safe Mode is a special way for Windows to load when there's a system critical problem that interferes with the normal operation of the operating system. The purpose of safe mode is to allow you to troubleshoot Windows and try to figure out what's causing it not to function correctly. Once you've corrected the problem, you can then reboot Windows and it will load normally. There are several things that happen when Windows boots and
safe mode that differ from a standard boot. First, safe mode does not run several special files that help customize the system. Next, most device drivers aren't loaded. A device driver is the software that Windows uses to interact with a piece of hardware like a printer or a scanner or a graphics card. Instead of the normal graphics device driver, Safe mode uses the standard v g A graphics mode. This mode is supported by all Windows compatible graphics cards.
The Windows Desktop loads up in sixteen colors and at a resolution of six forty by four eighty, and the words safe mode appear in each corner of the screen. There are a number of other protective steps taken under the hood. The basic idea is that you're going to have this very very simple installation of Windows come up that's certain to work and allow you to do some troubleshooting. Then once you get it fixed, you can load up the whole system. Safe mode starts up automatically if Windows
does not boot on a previous attempt. You can also invoke safe mode by pressing F five or by pressing F eight and selecting it from the boot menu. So what should you do when your computer boots the safe mode? First, try to determine what's changed on your system that could have caused Windows to fail to boot properly. If you've added any kind of hardware, go to the control panel and remove it and uninstalled the device driver software for
that device, Then attempt to reboot. If Windows boots properly, you can be reasonably certain that there was some kind of conflict with that device, and you can try to resolve it, probably by getting better drivers. Use this same method. If you've loaded a new game or applications sometime recently, go to the control panel, click on ad removed programs and remove the software. Try a reboot, and hopefully you'll
get a normal Windows boot. If the problem is definitely not new hardware or software, then you most likely have corrupted the registry or picked up a virus or something like that. Look into a feature called system restore, which takes the operating system back in time several days. You should be able to get back to a previous date and a version that operates correctly to eliminate the problem.
For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com and don't forget to check out the brain stuff blog on the how stuff works dot com home page. You can also follow brain stuff on Facebook or Twitter at brain stuff hs W. Brain Stuff is sponsored by Harry's dot Com. Get a great shaving experience for a fraction of the price. The quality of the shave is so important that Harry's purchased the
factory that makes their blades. Fifteen dollars gets you a set that includes a handle, three blades, and shave cream. Go to Harry's dot com use the code brain stuff to save five dollars off your first purchase.