Description of Safe Boot Mode in Windows 2000

ID: Q202485

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SUMMARY

Windows 2000 supports several Safe Boot options that load a minimal set of drivers. You can use these options to to start Windows 2000 so you can modify the registry or load or remove drivers.

MORE INFORMATION

To use a Safe Boot option, restart your computer and then press the F8 key when you see the Boot menu. The Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu appears. Select an option and then press ENTER. The Boot menu is displayed again, with the words "Safe Mode" displayed in red at the bottom. Select the installation you want to start, and then press ENTER.

WARNING: Do not select a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 installation.

Description of Safe Boot Options

Safe Mode (Safeboot_Option=Minimal): A minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows 2000.

Safe Mode with Networking (Safeboot_Option=Network): A minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows 2000 plus the drivers necessary to load networking.

Safe Mode with Command Prompt (Safeboot_Option=Minimal): This is the same as Safe mode, with the exception that Cmd.exe is started rather than Windows Explorer.

Enable VGA Mode: This starts Windows 2000 in VGA mode (using Vga.sys as the driver) for cases in which the display was configured at a setting the monitor cannot display.

Last Known Good Configuration: This starts Windows 2000 using a previous good configuration.

Directory Service Restore Mode: This mode is valid only for Windows 20000 domain controllers. It performs a directory service repair.

Debug Mode: This option enables debug mode in Windows 2000. Debugging information can be sent across a serial cable to another computer running a debugger. This mode is configured to use COM2.

Enable Boot Logging: When the computer is started with any of the Safe Boot options except Last Known Good Configuration, logging is enabled. The Boot Logging text is recorded in the Ntbtlog.txt file in the %systemroot% folder.

An environment variable is set when you use one of the Safe Boot options. The environment variable is "Safeboot_Option." This variable is set to ether Network or Minimal.

The default Microsoft VGA driver is used for display (640 X 480 X 16 colors). You must log on in all modes (either by a domain or the local SAM, depending on which Safe Boot mode you choose).

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo