Solution: When you can’t boot into safe mode, but normal boot works fine

November 2nd, 2007

You can start Windows normally, but your computer can't / won't / doesn't boot into safe mode - either the computer reboots itself after listing the drivers, or you get a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) with a STOP 0x0000007B error - generally after a virus or trojan infection. To confirm this solution might work, in Registry Editor go to HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/SafeBoot. If it's not there, or there are only a few empty keys, then something has wiped/corrupted your safe mode configuration to prevent you from entering safe mode where you can run a more thorough malware disinfection.

I'm assuming that:

  1. You've already tried (unsuccessfully) Last Known Good and/or System Restore to revert the registry to a state prior to the problem; or
  2. You can't / don't want to use LKG or SR to revert the registry due to other changes that will be undone.

In either case, to repair, you'll need access to another computer with Windows - preferably the same release (XP Pro for XP Pro, etc.), as this hasn't been tested between disparate Windows versions. Find the abovementioned registry branch and export it to a .REG file. Then import this file to the afflicted computer, and try rebooting into safe mode to confirm the problem is fixed.

If you don't have access to another working system, here is a working exported SafeBoot .REG file for XP Pro SP2. This worked for me, but be aware that your mileage may vary.

Posted by acat Filed in Windows

One Comment

  1. A Ok Pc Says:
    June 29th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Thanks for the tip. It's something to look for if this problem crops up on a PC I'm trying to troubleshoot. I had a similar problem on a computer running Windows XP. After a bit of researching, I found it had something to do with the Nero CD burning programs that was bundled with the install. Here's how I fixed it so the computer would be able to boot into Safe mode again when / if required:
    -------------------
    File: "InCDrec.sys" located at:

    C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers

    Was preventing Windows from being able to boot into Safe Mode.

    ReNamed the file to "InCDrec.sys.old", and am now able to boot into Safe Mode okay.
    ----------------------------------
    Was still able to run the Nero program fine without problems as well.

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