Bring Back the Old "F8" Safe Mode Shortcut in Windows 8

10XTriplet · Jun 27, 2013

Open up the Start menu or screen and type "cmd." Right-click on the Command Prompt selection and choose "Run as Administrator."
Run the following command:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

Restart your computer. You can now press F8 before the blue Windows logo appears to see your advanced boot options.

You can still enter Windows 8's new tiled Repair menu by choosing "Repair Your Computer" at this menu, which is nice. If you want to reverse this process just run:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

Restart your computer and it'll go back to Windows 8's newfangled way of doing things.

SOURCE

Coty0010 · Jun 27, 2013

I just wait for the blue logo than press the hard reset button, at witch point next time windows starts it says it encountered a problem and offers safe mode

But I'll go ahead and plug this into my system anyway, thanks :thup:

JeremyCT · Jun 27, 2013

I tried this in Windows 8.1 yesterday. It doesn't work.

It might be because I did it in "Powershell" insted of at a command prompt. I'll try again later and report back. Until I can get keyboard boot options back, I can't install Windows 8 as my primary OS. I tried it last winter and lost the install to a borked graphics driver install. Windows kept not being able to boot, but since it never realized it wasn't able to boot (for whatever reason) I couldn't get the recovery options to fix it.

Keyboard activated boot options should be on by default in systems still using BIOS instead of UEFI, but that's just MHO.

c627627 · Jun 27, 2013

Is this about Windows 8 not fully shutting down (especially on Laptops) so you can't get into BIOS and Safe Mode, etc.?

If it is, to fully shut Windows 8 down, create this shortcut: Right click > New > Shortcut >
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe /s /f /t 0

This will COMPLETELY shut Windows 8 down, allowing you to press your Esc or F8 key or whichever Function Key on your system is supposed to take you elsewhere before Windows 8 "kicks in".

Regular Shut Down doesn't really shut it down - which is why it boots in quicker.

JeremyCT · Jun 27, 2013

c627627 said:
allowing you to press your Esc or F8 key or whichever Function Key on your system is supposed to take you elsewhere before Windows 8 "kicks in".

The F8 function to activate advanced boot options was completely removed from the Win8 boot process. It doesn't work unless you do something to re-enable it, regardless of whether you do a "full shutdown" or a "quick shutdown".

c627627 · Jun 27, 2013

JeremyCT said:
The F8 function to activate advanced boot options was completely removed from the Win8 boot process.

You made me break out my camera to offer proof. F8 produced this on my Desktop.

On my Laptop however, I am guessing I can only get F8 to work after a full shutdown as described in my post above. Maybe UEFI Bios setting prevents you to do it?

Coty0010 · Jun 27, 2013

^ I was never able to do F8, which is why I always used hard reset... Perhaps it just moves to fast past that point because of it's SSD? :shrug:

I'll see if it does anything when my downloads finish...

c627627 · Jun 27, 2013

If you are not on UEFI Bios, which itself needs settings changed to allow non-Windows access, like from USB or DOS, etc. then it's common for people to think they "missed it" when in fact they need to shut down their machine using a custom made full shut down link *and only then* do they get access when booting.

JeremyCT · Jun 27, 2013

Well that's interesting. Every blog (even those from the Windows team) indicated that the F8 function was flat disabled/gone from a basic install of Windows 8. I had previously turned off fast/hybrid boot under Power Options (you can force a full shutdown every time if you uncheck "turn on fast startup" under the "choose what the power buttons do" section).

Your "full shutdown" link includes a flag that specifically preps the system for fast boot (/hybrid), so that's actually NOT a full shutdown. Maybe you have to be using fast/hybrid boot for F8 to work? That doesn't make much sense ...

c627627 · Jun 27, 2013

You are correct that it doesn't make sense. It should be the other way around. Hybrid is the one that bypasses full shut down? I need to research this more. The big picture is that Windows 8 Laptops in particular may not perform a full shutdown thereby causing people to think they cannot enter BIOS, etc.

JeremyCT · Jun 28, 2013

shutdown /? from a command prompt gives this documentation for that flag:

/hybrid - Performs a shutdown of the computer and prepares it for fast startup. Must be used with /s option.

It appears that shutdown.exe /s /t 0 is a "full shutdown".

So yea, weird. If it works for you I believe you, but things seem to be a bit unpredictable here, which is never fun.

SteveLord · Jun 28, 2013

There is often a nanosecond of a window to press F8 and activate the menu. I've gotten into the habit of mashing it as soon as I see the POST/logo screen.

Bring Back the Old "F8" Safe Mode Shortcut in Windows 8

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