safe mode boot problems!!! please help

A

ahouse86

New Member
Hello,

I let my brother borrow my computer and he gave it back with some malware that caused it to run very slow. Best-buy did the scan and found that some of the system32 files got screwed up. I cannot boot into safe mode by pressing F8 and its driving me crazy. I had the files backup and reformatted the HDD instead of paying the $130 for best buy. Even after the reformat i still cannot boot into safe mode. Nothing is found by my kaspersky, webroot, or adaware software. I can boot into safe mode by turning the power key off. I also did the sfc but it said "98% verified with corrupt files found" but when i went to the log it said that all the files were verified and no files were repaired. I'm really just worried that the problem is still there even after using the recovery disk. I'm not really sure where to go from this point.
My computer is a Toshiba Qosmio with vista ultimate

Thanks,
 

My Computer

System One

Hi Andy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I'm a bit confused. You say "Even after the reformat i still cannot boot into safe mode." , but also say "I can boot into safe mode by turning the power key off.". I'm not sure what you mean by this since the statements conflict with each other. Could you please explain this a little more.

Since you have backups, you might try doing another clean reinstall of Vista to see if it was just something that went wrong during installation last time.

Do you also have a recovery partition instead of just the recovery DVD? If so, you might try reinstalling Vista from the recovery partition instead.
 

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    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
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    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    512 GB M.2 SSD
If your Windows System files got messed up, you need to reinstall Vista (90% sure). If your willing to pay to get rid of the malware, you may want to look into McAfee's virus removal service. They control your computer remotely and you get to watch them kill off all the malware from your seat (Fun as heck to wave bye to the viruses :)) You also may consider wanting to buy McAfee, its one of the best antiviruses out there.

Computer infected? Let McAfee remove that for you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Dual Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0 GHz
    Motherboard
    ACPI x86
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 8800 GT
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster 2493HM Digital 24" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Dual Western Digital 500GB Disk Drives
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6k KB/s DL, 700 KB/s UP
Is you keyboard USB?
 

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System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
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    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
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    Ryzen 9 5950X
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    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
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    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
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    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
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    Creative
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    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
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    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
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    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
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    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
I fail to see what that has to do with his virus?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Dual Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0 GHz
    Motherboard
    ACPI x86
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 8800 GT
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster 2493HM Digital 24" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Dual Western Digital 500GB Disk Drives
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6k KB/s DL, 700 KB/s UP
How do you know his problem is caused by a Virus? not being able to get safemode from F8 could be a USB keyboard without legacy mode enabled in the bios.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
ahouse86 said:

I cannot boot into safe mode by pressing F8... I had the files backup and reformatted the HDD... Even after the reformat i still cannot boot into safe mode. Nothing is found by my kaspersky, webroot, or adaware software. I can boot into safe mode by turning the power key off. I also did the sfc but it said "98% verified with corrupt files found" but when i went to the log it said that all the files were verified and no files were repaired.
Click to expand...

well, are you sure you formatted the partition properly? if you just installed windows again without formatting the partition, the previous windows installation gets saved in folders like windows.old

by pressing F8 you do get the "windows advanced options" right?

what power key are you referring to?

you might want to try a checkdisk to look for HDD malfunctions.

did you try a different keyboard, as you were suggested?
 

My Computer

System One

when I power on the computer and press F8 all that happens is that I get an blinking "_" then windows starts up normally. I've reformatted a couple of times to try and figure this out but I'm afraid that if I choose the option from the toshiba recovery disk "erase all partions and data from the hard drice. this make take a couple of hours," that the recovery disks are going to be no good. Also I dont have a USB keyboard.

I forgot, I can go into safe mode if I hold down the power key to turn off the computer incorrectly then boot it up. I then get "safe mode", "with networking or cmd prompt"
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

Okay, so you can get into Safe Mode with networking. From there I still recommend McAfee or AVG Free
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Dual Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0 GHz
    Motherboard
    ACPI x86
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 8800 GT
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster 2493HM Digital 24" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Dual Western Digital 500GB Disk Drives
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6k KB/s DL, 700 KB/s UP
ahouse86 are you using a laptop? I am asking this because you mentioned a recovery disk. If you are not using a laptop please do not format the drive again you are just waisting time. If you have formatted the drive and reinstalled the OS there will be no malware on the system (I know microsoft are bad but not that bad).
If you are using a laptop then just reinstall from the backup as will be discribed in the manual.

Hope this helps the ambigous question.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
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    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
To everyone posting: A little bit of reading and a simple Google search would have prevented *half* of these questions.

Toshiba Qosmio Laptop Computers

Yes - it is a laptop. No, it is not a USB KB. Yes - it will have a recovery partition.

ahouse86 - I just wanted to verify - you have used Safe Mode on *this* laptop before, and know *when* to press the F8 key, correct? The reason I ask is that if you press it too early (which is before that blinking underscore cursor) the Windows system is not going to recognize that you are trying to get to your advanced options.
 

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    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
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    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
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    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
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    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
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    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
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    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
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    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
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    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
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    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
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    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
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    Logitech MX Master (shared)
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    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
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    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
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    AMD A6-5350M APU
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    Lenovo
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    8 GB
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    Radeon HD (Embedded)
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    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
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    Lenovo 15" Matte
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    Lenovo
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    Lenovo
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    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
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    Lenovo
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    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
I've been into the safe mode by pressing F8 before. I'm really just not sure as to why i cant get into it now, and how to fix the files that the scd found that were incorrect
 

My Computer

System One

If I do delete all of the partions from the laptop computer wont that also delete the recovery partions and render those disks useless. If thats not the case will that correct the problem that I'm having
 

My Computer

System One

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