How do you enter safe mode?

To guarantee a boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8, access the msconfig utility, and alter the boot settings. Booting into Safe Mode was once accomplished by pressing F8 at boot, but this doesn't always work with newer systems. The settings can be altered in the msconfig menu.

1. Open msconfig

   Move the mouse cursor to the right edge of the screen and click the Search icon, represented by a magnifying glass. Then, type "msconfig" into the search filed, and press Enter. The configuration utility opens.

2. Click the Boot tab

   The Boot tab contains options that affect how the computer loads the files and operating system. The radio button on the left side reads Safe Boot, and boots the computer into Safe Mode, which is used for diagnostics.

3. Select the specific settings

   After clicking Safe Boot, a group of several sub-options becomes available. Minimal Boot loads only the basic files needed for Windows to run. Network boot adds networking functionality to Windows; normally, it is disabled in Safe Mode.

4. Save any work and restart the system

   After you restart the system, it should boot into Safe Mode according to your settings. To get out of Safe Mode, open msconfig again, and uncheck the Safe Boot option.