hey guys and gals, i was just wondering how to boot into safe mode on this rig i just built yesterday (on it right now) on my dell i have to keep pressing f8 then it asks which way to load/boot windows but thats with a dell mobo. this rig here has a gigabyte mobo and i read the manual but nothing about safe mode so if anyone knows what key to press at start up its thanked heavily.

You need to wait till after the initial boot screens and just before windows starts to hit F-8

ive tried but it doesnt work, im tapping f8 like a hundred times a second but it just loads vista normally

might be necessary to select
the System Recover menu first (F11). Then you can highlight the OS and F8
brings up the usual options including safe mode. Might also try the delete keys

ok ill try that after i upgrade my bios to the latest. ill let you know

no F11 doesnt do anything either. when i first turn on pc i see the gigabyte screen with the commands at the bottom the it goes to a black screen and it has a list of i guess parts in the pc or something then when thats done vista boots. idk how to show this to you because i dont have a digital camera. my mobo is GA-EP43-DS3L. if anyone could help find how to boot into safe mode its greatly appreciated.

Press F8 between the boot screen and windows screen.

If you can't figure out when to do it just start tapping F8 as soon as you power on and keep pressing it till you see the advanced boot screen. Doesn't matter if it beeps in the process other than it's annoying.

F8 - safe mode is a function of windows and has nothing to do with your motherboard, although some motherboards do use the F8 key for some other bios function, in which case you select the appropriate option from the bios menu and then resume tapping F8 until you get to the windows menu desired

F8 doesnt work, ive tried tapping it ever since i see the gigabyte screen and that other weird screen comes up and im stil tapping F8 but then after the screen it just boots vista normally

Might be a silly suggestion, but does your keyboard have an F-Lock key?

i dont know why i cant get into safe mode. i really need it. im also having problems with windows update not updating. i guess i could email gigabyte and ask them about safe mode.

Is your keyboard USB or PS2? Sometimes my G15 doesn't work all the time with every bootloader. I don't have vista on that machine, so I don't know. You can try enabling/disabling legacy USB in your BIOS menu.

USB or PS2 keyboard is a good point. If your using USB and can get into the BIOS go to Intergrated Peripherals page and make sure USB Keyboard Support is set to Enabled. But with some USB keyboards with it set to Disabled you may not even be able to get into t he BIOS, I know on my Gigabyte board I couldn't. I always keep a PS2 keyboard on hand for just these situations. Once I made the change I didn't have a problem, also if its USB it should have come with a green converter to change it to a PS2 connection which should work to get you into the BIOS. I know my Microsoft USB keyboard came with one but my Saitek didn't.

ok stoner ill check that out, i do have usb keyboard but i can get into bios fine but ill check