When operating your computer and troubles arise, you may find yourself in trouble and needing to troubleshoot your system. If drivers are having problems, your system starts acting erratically, or awkwardly. By booting into Safe Mode into your operating system, like Windows, you can isolate problems, see where issues exist, and fix them as needed. Other operating systems such as Mac OS and Linux also offer this ability for the user. For the sakes of most of computer users, we will only talk about Windows here.

Safe mode in Windows is the safest way to diagnosis what is wrong with your computer. Windows typically boots up into the main operating system for its daily operation but when problems arise, you don’t know typically where the problem is, what’s causing the problem, nor how to fix the problem. So what is the user to do?

First you will want to remove any CD’S, DVD’s or USB memory sticks from your computer. Then you will want to choose the option to restart your system from the main menu of windows. When your computer reboots itself and goes to the blank black screen, press the “F8” key and then pick the advanced boot options selection which then lets you choose the safe boot option. This will boot Windows into a “safe mode” which loads with a minimal amount of drivers. You can then use the Windows diagnostics tools to see which items aren’t working properly and which ones are. Typically the control panel and system screens will let you see your devices and anything that isn’t working properly will be pointed out. Keep in mind that the Windows operating system will be running in a minimal basis where the default settings and the basics will be available to the user. You will want to make sure of what you’re doing when you boot into the safe mode as well since advanced options are there and should only be accessed by advanced users.

The safe mode option of the operating system is not for use on a daily basis but mainly for troubleshooting your system. Its maintenance options allow you fix your problems and get back to your daily work and when you’re done go on with your daily computing needs. Most experts will agree that the ability to boot into safe model is the most important option the end user will have to fix their computer on their own without having to visit a repair shop.