Windows' Prophylactic Way is an essential tool. On computers infected with malware or crashing because of buggy drivers, Safe Mode may be the only way to showtime the computer.

Prophylactic Mode starts your PC with a minimal prepare of drivers and services. No third-party software or drivers get loaded, and fifty-fifty the congenital-in Windows stuff is limited to just what'south necessary. Prophylactic Mode is a great style to remove problem-causing software—like malware—without that software getting in the way. It too provides an environment where you may discover it easier to roll dorsum drivers, and apply certain troubleshooting tools.

When Rubber Manner Can Help

When Windows starts normally, it launches startup programs, fires upwardly all the services configured to commencement, and loads the hardware drivers yous have installed. If you commencement in Safe Style, Windows uses a very depression screen resolution with generic video drivers, doesn't initialize much hardware support, starts simply the necessary services, and avoids loading third-political party startup programs.

Sometimes, yous can beginning Windows in Rubber Fashion when you can't start Windows usually, making it a proficient place to start troubleshooting potential problems. If your computer is infected with malware or has unstable hardware drivers that cause blueish screens, Safe Mode can help you lot gear up it because those things aren't loaded the way they are when Windows starts normally.

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If there's a problem with your reckoner and you tin can't seem to ready information technology—or if your computer is unstable and keeps crashing or bluish-screening—you should drop into Prophylactic Mode to prepare information technology.

How to Start Windows In Prophylactic Mode

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Your Windows PC should automatically outset upwardly in Safe Fashion if it crashes more than once while trying to start normally. However, you tin also boot into Safe Manner manually:

  • Windows 7 and earlier: Press the F8 cardinal while the reckoner is booting (afterwards the initial BIOS screen, merely earlier the Windows loading screen), and then select Safe Mode in the menu that appears.
  • Windows 8: Concord Shift while clicking Restart on the Power carte on either the login screen or through the Charms bar menu to begin the process.
  • Windows 10: Agree Shift while clicking Restart on the "Power Options" submenu of the Starting time Menu. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart. Printing the "4" key when you see the Startup Settings screen.

How to Set Your PC in Prophylactic Mode

After starting Windows in Safe Way, you tin can perform most of the regular system maintenance and troubleshooting tasks to fix your computer:

  • Browse for Malware: Use your antivirus application to scan for malware and remove it in Safe Fashion. Malware that may be impossible to remove in normal mode—because information technology's running in the background and interfering with the antivirus—may exist removable in Safe Mode. If you lot don't have an antivirus installed, you should be able to download and install one in Rubber Mode. Of course, if you lot're using Windows Defender in Windows 10, you might be better off performing an offline malware scan.
  • Run System Restore: If your computer was recently working fine merely it'southward now unstable, you tin can utilise Organization Restore to restore its system state to the earlier, known-good configuration. Assuming your computer is unstable and crashing, it may be possible to run System Restore without crashing from Safe Mode.
  • Uninstall Recently Installed Software: If you recently installed software (such as a hardware driver or a programme that includes a driver) and information technology's causing your computer to blue-screen, y'all can uninstall that software from the Control Panel. Your figurer should hopefully first normally after you've uninstalled the interfering software.
  • Update Hardware Drivers: Assuming your hardware drivers are causing system instability, y'all may want to download and install updated drivers from your manufacturer'southward website and install them in Safe Way. If your computer is unstable, you'll have to do this from Safe Way—the hardware drivers won't interfere and brand your computer unstable in Prophylactic Mode.
  • Encounter Whether a Crash Occurs: If your computer is unstable unremarkably but works fine in Prophylactic Mode, it'due south likely that there's a software problem causing your calculator to crash. Still, if the computer continues to crash in Prophylactic Mode, this is ofttimes a sign that in that location's a hardware problem with your reckoner. (Note that stability in Safe Mode doesn't necessarily mean information technology's a hardware problem. For instance, your graphics carte may be faulty and causing crashes under load. Yet, information technology may be stable in Safe Mode because your computer isn't performing enervating operations with it.)

Beyond Prophylactic Way: Reinstalling Windows

If y'all are having reckoner problems, it's often not a skillful utilize of your time to spend hours isolating and fixing them. It may be much faster to reinstall Windows and outset over with a fresh system.

  • Windows 7 and earlier: Check out our guide to reinstalling Windows from a Windows disc or your estimator'south recovery partition.
  • Windows 8 or Windows x: Use the Refresh or Reset your PC feature to restore Windows back to a clean state.

Of course, reinstalling Windows will cause you to lose your personal files, so be sure you lot have a fill-in. On Windows viii or 10, Refreshing your PC volition preserve your personal files while replacing the organisation software.

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If your computer continues to be unstable later on a full Windows reinstall, your computer's hardware may exist faulty. A complete Windows reinstall rules out any software problems, unless at that place's a faulty hardware driver that needs to be updated.