Issues with Safe Mode

I've run into a problem I haven't dealt with before.

I'm running Windows 8.1, and when I booted into Safe Mode, the mouse cursor completely vanished. To make matters worse, I couldn't even exit Safe Mode once I was in. I tried booting from an installation DVD to use the Repair options, but nothing works. I've tried everything—refreshing the system, using a restore point, even attempting a system image recovery—but it’s all useless.

Everything was working perfectly right up until I entered Safe Mode. Now I'm stuck.

The laptop also has Ubuntu installed on it, and everything runs flawlessly there.

Anyone know how to fix this?

Does Windows throw any specific error messages when you try to boot up, or does it just hang at a certain point while you're attempting a Normal startup?

Every time I try to boot Windows, it forces me straight into Safe mode. It’s useless because my mouse doesn't even work in there. To make matters worse, once I'm stuck in Safe mode, I'm totally paralyzed—I can't refresh anything, I can't roll back using a system image, I can't even attempt a reinstall. I don't get why this is happening when everything was working perfectly fine right before it started booting into Safe mode.

I ran some hardware checks in the BIOS and everything looks fine.

Ever tried booting into Safe boot, running msconfig.exe, and checking if you accidentally left "Safe boot" checked under the Boot tab? Just double-check the General options too to make sure "Normal startup" is actually selected. I've spent way too many late nights staring at my screen because of stupid mistakes like that.

If your PC keeps booting straight into Safe boot every single time you turn it on, I'm guessing it isn't a hardware issue.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000597.htm

Maybe try downloading a bootable tool—something like Hiren's or UltimateBootCD—and run a MemTest on your RAM. You should also check the drive's S.M.A.R.T. info; if you were on Windows, I’d probably suggest CrystalDiskInfo, but since there's Linux, maybe GSmartControl http://gsmartcontrol.sourceforge.net/home/ would work better. Check the disk for errors using the manufacturer's utility (that should be on the bootable disc) and maybe run a Prime test or something similar on the CPU.

nimbleskipper5 said:Have you tried booting into Safe boot, opening msconfig.exe, and checking if Safe boot is accidentally checked under Boot options? Also check General to see if Normal startup is selected.

Normal startup isn't sticking. I select it, hit Enter, then Restart—everything stays the same. When I reopen System Configuration, Normal startup is unchecked again. Since the mouse isn't working, I can't really click things properly, so I just hit Apply or OK, but clearly, hitting Enter on that option does nothing.

Safe boot is also unchecked, even though that's how I ended up in Safe boot when this mess started.

George Sanders37 said:If the PC boots straight into Safe boot every single time, I wouldn't bet on it being a hardware issue.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000597.htm

Grab a bootable tool like Hirens or UltimateBootCD. Run MemTest on the RAM, check the drive's S.M.A.R.T. info (I'd usually suggest CrystalDiskInfo for Windows, but there's GSmartControl for Linux http://gsmartcontrol.sourceforge.net/home/), scan the disk for errors using the manufacturer's tool on a bootable disc, and stress test the CPU with Prime or something similar.

I ran the Dell Pre-boot System Assessment and everything hardware-wise passed. Ubuntu on the same laptop works perfectly, just like it did when I first got it.

The laptop is new. I've only had it for a month.

One more thing.

Before all this started, I tried everything to get rid of Driver Genius, but nothing worked. I ran several different uninstaller tools and none of them could touch it. When I tried to manually uninstall it from its own directory, it kept telling me the uninstallation was impossible because the program was currently in use—even though I wasn't even running it.

Who knows, maybe there's a connection here?

Robert Brown2 said:Just wanted to throw one more thing into the ring here.

Before all this mess started, I was going absolutely nuts trying to get rid of Driver Genius, but man, it just wouldn't budge. I tried using a bunch of different uninstaller tools, but none of them could touch it. Even when I went straight into the actual installation folder to try and force an uninstallation, it kept giving me some garbage error saying it was impossible because the program was currently in use—which makes zero sense because I wasn't even running the damn thing at the time.

I don't know, maybe there's some weird connection between that headache and everything else happening right now?

Look, try killing it in the Task Manager first, then see if you can actually uninstall it. If you already started hacking away at the files manually, the uninstaller won't work because it can't access those files through the process... if that's what happened, you might have to try reinstalling it first just so you can run a clean uninstallation afterward...

PS. Did you bother trying that "Last Known Good Configuration" option before you jumped into Safe boot?

Lawrence Barnes64 said:Try killing the process before you uninstall it. If you manually deleted files, they won't clear out because the uninstaller can't touch them while they're locked up. If that's what happened, try a clean reinstall first, then run the uninstaller...

Can't do anything right now. My mouse stops working in Safe boot, and the system keeps booting straight into Safe boot anyway.

Robert Brown2 said:I can't really do anything right now because my mouse isn't working while I'm stuck in Safe boot, and the damn thing just keeps booting straight into Safe boot every single time I turn it on.

Look, if your keyboard is actually functioning, you can probably kick your way out of this mess using the run command while you're sitting in Safe boot:

· Hit the Windows key + R (that'll pop open the run box)

· type in msconfig

· the System Configuration menu will pop up > then just use your keyboard to navigate over to the Boot tab

· uncheck that little box next to Safe boot > hit Apply to save everything

· Give it a Restart

Also, you might want to double-check your BIOS to see if you've got BIOS USB Legacy enabled

Lawrence Barnes64 said:If your keyboard works, you can fix this via Run while in Safe boot:

· Windows key + R (opens Run)

· type msconfig

· System Configuration menu will open > use the keyboard to go to the Boot tab

· uncheck the box for Safe boot > click Apply to save

· Restart

Check your BIOS to see if BIOS USB Legacy is enabled

Safe boot isn't confirmed, and I can't get Normal startup to stick no matter what I do with Apply or OK. I select Normal startup, hit Enter, and it restarts, but when I reopen System Configuration, Normal startup is blank again. I can't figure out how to actually select it and then hit Apply using just the keyboard.

I can't find USB Legacy in my BIOS. My BIOS options are extremely limited and that's not one of them. Could the "Boot list Option (Legacy)" setting be what I'm looking for?

These are the USB settings in my BIOS that are currently Disabled.

USB Debug
Debug USB Wake Support

sa space

Space isn't working.

I hit Tab to confirm, then tried hitting OK or just clicking Apply and restart, but nothing changes. It keeps booting straight into Safe boot every single time, and the Normal startup option stays unchecked even after I've confirmed it with OK or Apply.

There’s another issue, too. Ubuntu boots up fine every time, but Windows won't load after a restart. I have to go into the Boot options via F12, though there's also an F2 for the standard BOOT.

Here’s what the menu looks like when I get in:

Boot Options

Legacy Options

Hard disk
CD/DVD-ROM
Network

UEFI Options

UEFI OS
UEFI OS
UEFI OS

I have to select Hard disk to get Windows to load, and even then, it just drops me right back into Safe boot.

I’m done fighting this. I'm just going to reinstall everything from scratch.

Does anyone actually know why this happened? Hardware is fine.