Question from Jenna T.: I need your help Rick.
I turned my computer on this morning and it booted up into Safe Mode instead of the normal mode.
I tried restarting the computer several times and it always boots into Safe Mode. It’s an HP laptop with Windows 10. How can I make it boot up normally like it should?
Rick’s answer: Jenna, it sounds like your system’s boot settings have been changed somehow. If that’s the case, it should be easy to reverse it and make your PC boot up in Normal mode. Try this:
1 – Press the Windows+R key combination to open a “Run” dialog box.
2 – Type msconfig into the “Open” field, then click OK.
3 – Select the Boot tab.
4 – Uncheck the box beside Safe Boot, then click OK.
5 – Restart the computer.
That’s all there is to it Jenna. Your computer should boot up into Windows normally from now on. If not, let me know and I’ll tell you what to try next.
By the way, Safe Mode is a special troubleshooting mode that you can use to help diagnose and fix a wide variety of Windows issues and general computer problems. It can really come in handy, especially when you can’t get Windows to boot up into regular mode.
But there’s a problem: By default Windows 10 doesn’t respond to the F8 key when you press it during startup. That can make it difficult at best to get the system booted into Safe Mode so you can find out what’s going on.
Luckily, you can easily tweak Windows 10 to make it recognize the F8 key at startup and display the “Advanced Startup Options” menu. This post explains how.
Update from Jenna: That worked Rick. Thanks a lot!
Bonus tip #1: Click here to learn how to create a System Image backup in Windows 10.
Bonus tip #2: Want to make sure you never miss one of my tips? Click here to join my Rick’s Tech Tips Facebook Group!
If Facebook isn’t your cup of tea, I invite you to sign up for my Rick’s Daily Tips Daily Update Newsletter.
Want to ask Rick a tech question? Click here and send it in!
If you found this post useful, would you mind helping me out by sharing it? Just click one of the handy social media sharing buttons below.