What to do if F8 is not working for safe mode on Windows 7 or 10?

I. Why can’t F8 enter safe mode?

Safe mode is a special startup mode in Windows system, which can start our computer without loading third-party device drivers. In this mode, you can easily fix some system errors. If your computer has problems such as unstable operation or automatic restart, you can enter safe mode to troubleshoot and repair.

Generally speaking, Windows 7 users can press F8 to enter safe mode when booting, but they may not be able to enter due to various reasons, such as pressing F8 not fast enough, or there is a problem with the system startup program, or it may be Keyboard keys malfunctioning, etc.

As for Windows 10 users, you need to do some settings to use F8 to enter safe mode, click here to learn the specific steps. Because Windows 10 defaults to fast startup, you cannot use the F8 function key to enter safe mode like previous system versions.

So how can Windows 7/10 users enter the security system when the F8 key is invalid? We continue to learn.

II. How to enter safe mode in Windows 7/10 when F8 doesn’t work?

1. How to enter safe mode in Windows 7?

When the Windows 7 computer is accessible and you just want to go into standard safe mode or safe mode with networking, you can enable safe mode through system configuration, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Click the Start menu and enter msconfig into the search box, then press Enter to run the system configuration command.

Step 2: After the system configuration is opened, click the Boot option, select your Windows system, then select Safe boot, then click the Apply and OK buttons .

Note: If you only want to start Windows 7 in standard safe mode, please check (Minimal) (Minimal) under (Safe boot); if you need to start Windows 7 in safe mode with networking, please select ( Check both (Minimal) and (Network) under Safe boot.

Step 3: Then click the Restart button in the pop-up message prompt box to successfully enter the corresponding safe mode.

2. How to enter safe mode in Windows 10?

For Windows 10, we will introduce the method in two different situations.

A. What to do when it cannot be started normally

B. How to start normally

If you can’t start Windows, here’s how to get into Safe Mode. The specific operation steps are as follows:

Step 1: Start the computer. When the Windows 10 startup logo appears, immediately press the power button on the computer to interrupt the startup process, and repeat this 3 times. Then start the computer again, this time allowing the computer to fully start. Select Advanced Options in the Automatic Repair interface. You will then enter the Windows recovery environment.

Step 2: Enter the recovery environment of Windows 10 by force restarting and select Troubleshoot.

Step 3: Then select Advanced Options, and then select Startup Settings.

Step 4: Click the Restart button in the lower right corner to restart the computer.

Step 5: When the computer restarts, press the corresponding number (such as 4/5/6) in the startup setting menu, and select the safe mode you need to start.

If your Windows 10 device can start normally, you can boot into safe mode through Windows settings, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Run the computer and press the (Windows logo + I) keys simultaneously to open the Windows settings panel.

Step 2: Select Update and Security on the Windows Settings page.

Step 3: Then select the Recovery option in the left window, and then click the Restart Now button in the right Advanced Startup column.

Step 4: When Windows 10 restarts, please select the Troubleshoot option.

Step 5: Then navigate to Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart, after the computer restarts, in the Startup Settings menu, press the corresponding number (such as 4/5/6), select the safe mode you want to enter.

The above is an alternative method for Windows 7/10 users to enter Safe Mode when F8 does not work. When your system fails, in order to avoid data loss, you can use professional system rescue tools to transfer or restore important data.

III. Use Renee PassNow to transfer or recover important data when the system is inaccessible

1. What is Renee PassNow?

Renee PassNow is a professional system rescue software, which can help Windows users clear Windows account passwords, create new administrator accounts; restore disk/memory card data, recover data after hard disk formatting; transfer disk files; erase or scan Disk files, etc. In addition, this software also supports repairing Windows system problems, such as: repairing MBR boot records, DBR error parameters, 0xc00000e, Windows system startup failure, and some problems that cause black screen or blue screen, etc. As a system rescue tool with various functions, it is perfectly compatible with multiple systems including Windows 10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista, and can meet the system rescue needs of different users.

2. How to use Renee PassNow to transfer or recover data?

When your system cannot be accessed, you can create a startup disk through Renee PassNow, and then start the computer through the startup disk, and then use the functions provided by the software to transfer or restore data. Specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Download and install Renee PassNow on other computers that can log in and run normally, then connect the U disk to the PC, run Renee PassNow, and then check in “Step 1: Select creation method” (Create a Live USB) option. (Note: Before performing this operation, please make sure that the important files in the U disk have been saved in other locations, because the operation process will delete all the data in the U disk.)

Step 2: Next, select (x64) or (x86) according to the system type, click the (Download Now) button to download the ISO file, click the (Create a Live USB) button after the file is downloaded, and click the (Eject USB) button.

Step 3: Connect the created boot device to the computer that needs to transfer data, turn on the computer, and then the shortcut key to enter the BIOS will be displayed on the computer screen (the display time of this interface is very short, maybe only one or two seconds), click continuously BIOS shortcut key to enter the BIOS setting interface, and then set the boot U disk as the first in the boot sequence in Boot Priority, then save the settings and restart the computer.

Step 4: Wait for a while, after Renee PassNow is loaded, select (Data Transfer). If you need to transfer the data of the entire hard disk, you can select the (Data Backup) option.

Step 5: You can click on each disk drive letter (C/D/E/F, etc.) to check whether important files are lost. If not, it is recommended that you transfer them to an external disk. The operation of transferring data is very simple. For example, if you want to transfer the data in the C drive to the G drive, you can first select the C drive on the upper left, select the G drive on the upper right, and then select the files in the C drive, and click the Copy function button in the middle. Disk data can be easily transferred. If there is a file you want to delete, you can also click the (Delete) button in the middle after selecting the file, but the deletion operation cannot be undone, please operate with caution.

Step 6: If you find that there is data loss, please select the (Undeleter) option on the main interface of the function, and click the (Run) button.

Step 7: Select (Fast Partition Scan) to scan the target hard disk.

Step 8: After the scan is complete, select the file to be recovered, click the (Recover) button to execute the data recovery command, please save the file in another external disk, eject the U disk after the recovery is complete, and then perform other operations on the computer, such as maintenance , replace the hard disk or reinstall the system, etc.