How to Boot into Safe Mode direct from the XP Boot Menu

[mal]

Windows Versions: Windows Xp Pro and Home

Boot into Safe Mode direct from the XP Boot Menu

Description:

Add safe mode to your Windows XP boot menu and save yourself the trouble of pressing the F8 key at startup.

How to:

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Under the Start Up and Recovery section, click the Settings button.
4. Click Edit. This will open the boot.ini file in Notepad.
5. Make a backup of this file by using save as from the file menu.
6. In the still open original file, copy the line (usually the first entry) that reads as follows:
   • multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
7. Paste the line you just copied after the same line you just copied. There will now be two identical lines of text.
8. In the line you just pasted, edit the part that says "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" to "XP Safe Mode" or something similar.
9. Add "/safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog" to the line you labeled as safe mode (without the quotes " ")
10. Save your changes using save in the file menu
11. Close Notepad
12. Close the Properties windows by clicking OK then OK
13. Reboot your system and the additional line should appear.

The option I have used will boot into Safe Mode without the xp splash screen, with minimal drivers and bootlogging enabled.
To use alternative options check the Microsoft Knowledge Base article

A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP

Example of my dual boot setup with the Safe Mode line inserted.

• [boot loader]
  timeout=30
  default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
  [operating systems]
  multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro (C)" /fastdetect /SOS
  multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro Safe Mode (C)" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog
  multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional (D)" /fastdetect

The method above does not disable the F8 option. To get the normal safe mode screen if you make the above edit:-

• Press enter when you see the boot options menu and then immediately press the F8 key. This will bring up the normal Safe Mode selection screen