Windows XP THINKS it's in Safe Mode

[Pilgrim]

I have very rarely found it necessary to use Safe Mode and nearly two years ago when I used it on my PC I found that when I rebooted out of Safe Mode although it opened to the Desktop a lot of the programs would not load, they all threw up error messages saying that they would not work in Safe Mode?

To cut a long story short I have tried everything upto and including a Repair Install, yet to this day I only have three options for getting out of Safe Mode; Last Known Good Configuration, System Restore, or restoring an Erunt backup.
As the main reason I have ever had to use Safe Mode has been to edit the registry this defeats the object as they all put it back to where it was.

I do not have the faintest idea what caused it in the first place, it might have been like it for a long time before I found out.
Besides my own efforts several people on different forums have put forward ideas including running various programs to bring up system information, none of which showed anything wrong.
The system is not infected and it has no other ongoing problems.

I posted the above in reply to a thread a while back, it lists a problem that I had long since given up on.

When I had my recent run-in with Avira Antivir I remembered that with the free version you need to access Safe Mode to shut down avnotify.exe, so I took another look into the subject.

When I tried to find an answer in the past I must have used several different search terms but I would never have thought of the title of this thread.

A little while ago, purely by chance, I found THIS, I followed the suggested registry deletions, and for the first time in two years I was able to reboot normally after using Safe Mode.

The people in the link all seem to have had the problem after a virus but I have never been aware of an infection of any sort since I built the PC so I still have no idea of the cause.

Almost everyone I spoke to about this finally suggested a clean install which was never an option, but I never expected to find an answer after all this time although I did have a feeling it would be something simple as there were no other ongoing problems.

[JayCub]

Great to see you found the answer to your problems Pilgrim and also worth looking into if other programs have caused the same problems with XP other than Avira, as a virus would have been a suspect and not necesary the cause.. Worthy read Pilgrim and something to bare in mind should the problem arise when i reinstall XP.. just one of those gems of a post you come across now and again..

Just to add Pilgrim that i enjoy your posts, thank you.

[Boyfriend]

@Pilgrim-online: I am glad to know that your problem is solved now. It is a good tip for AVIRA users, which use NoNotifyAvira to get rid of nagging screen.

[Ande]

It's good that you found the fix. Interesting quandary. I'd move to windows 7 if I were you - you wouldn't have the problem then. Would have taken less time too!

[Pilgrim]

The main reason I started this thread was that I could not believe that I was the only one having that problem with Safe Mode, the link I provided proved that I was right.
If you run a search on Safe Mode you will find a great many links about how to get into it and what it is for but none about having problems with it unless the entire OS is corrupted.

Ande,

Unless I build another PC or buy another portable, both of which are unlikely as I expect what I have will probably last longer than me, I will stick with XP.
Just because no-one has had this problem on 7 yet does not mean it is not possible.
I wonder how many people who have read this thread had ever heard of the problem before on any OS?

[JayCub]

This the first i had heard of it myself and im an avid XP fan, came across many strange problems but at least others had the same problem, if couldn't get the answer i would spend alot of time solving them, Windows 7 is in its infancy and Vista had so many problems at one point it was hard to tell what the reasons where at times,
At the end of the day it's all fun and games, and better than talking about the weather,

[Ande]

Ande,

Unless I build another PC or buy another portable, both of which are unlikely as I expect what I have will probably last longer than me, I will stick with XP.
Just because no-one has had this problem on 7 yet does not mean it is not possible.
I wonder how many people who have read this thread had ever heard of the problem before on any OS?

I had the problem about 4-5 years ago. Went to my last, good, disk image, recovered, and was okay.
XP is a bit tricky, but simple compared to Vista or 7.
I don't know how old you are, Pilgrim, but I'm over 60, been running computers for about 45 years, and am planning to be around for at least 2 more Windows OS versions (Unless I finally give up and just go to Linux).

[johnshaw1917]

Thanks for the info Pilgrim! Although I have never encountered such a problem with XP in all the years I've used it, you never know when the problem could arise.

[Pilgrim]

Ande,

I had the problem about 4-5 years ago.

About the time I bought my first computer, before that I had rarely used one.

I don't know how old you are, Pilgrim, but I'm over 60

That makes two of us.

and am planning to be around for at least 2 more Windows OS versions

Making plans beyond the immediate future is outside my terms of reference.

[johnshaw1917]

[B] Making plans beyond the immediate future is outside my terms of reference.

I hear that!