[mellymell]

Hiya!
I have windows XP on a HP pavilion laptop. I'm having problems in that it wont start in safe mode. Normal mode seems to be working fine, but when I try to boot in safe mode it either gets to the log in screen or lets me log in but then shuts itself down, when this happens the machine wont boot at all for the next minute or so. I have had problems with the laptop shutting down intermittently in normal mode but I think I've solved that by suspending the machine on table mats so that the fan is not directly blocked!

Any help appreciated!

 

[Flatiron]

Don't know the answer to your problem but you could try this for the mean time.

BootSafe - Makes rebooting in Safe Mode a Snap!
BootSafe takes the hassle out of rebooting in Safe Mode or back to Normal mode. BootSafe is 100% free and contains no adware, spyware or malware! No more fighting with the F8 key or MSCONFIG!

BootSafe Benefits

* Supports booting into Safe Mode
(Minimal, Networking and Repair)
* Easily boot back to Normal mode
* Supports Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000 and XP
* No installation required, no setup, just download and run - it's that simple!
* Simple to use, fast to download and FREE!

BootSafe - Step by Step

* Download BootSafe and save it to your Desktop (or any location of your choice)
* Double click the BootSafe icon to start the program
* Select which Safe Mode you wish to boot - Minimal, Networking (typical), or Repair
* Click the Reboot button
* Once you have booted into Safe Mode, you can perform any actions needed, such as scanning for viruses, spyware, adware, malware or repairing a system component
* When you have completed your tasks, simply run BootSafe again and select the Normal Restart option and click the Reboot button and your computer will reboot in Normal Mode

http://www.superadblocker.com/bootsafe.html

 

[mellymell]

thanks for that I'll give it a go. Any chance this could be hardware related??

 

[dai]

check the vents and inside is clear of dust

blow it out with a can of air

 

[mellymell]

check the vents and inside is clear of dust

blow it out with a can of air

would dust blocking the vent cause the safe mode issues?

 

[dai]

cause heat issues which would shut the laptop down until it cools off

you need to run it on a hard flat surface

the paste may also need renewing

 

[mellymell]

ah ok, that makes sense! Sorry to be dumb, what is the paste??

 

[mellymell]

I have actually had the laptop repaired a few times because HP have said that there is a manufacturing fault that would cause graphics problems and would also prevent the computer booting insafe mode. The graphics issues I can understand and have been resolved by the repair, but the booting in safe mode issue has persisted. Does it seem probable that this could be caused by hardware, or is it more likel to be software/security issues? I have done several virus scans and they all appear to be clean.

 

[dai]

there were problems with nvidia chips contact hp again if you have this video chip