BootSafe Utility

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Unless I am missing something, the BootSafe utility, described in the Freeware Spotlight section of the newsletter is confined to operating within Windows 10.  I.e., one must already be booted into Windows 10 to be able to execute the utility and proceed into Safe Mode.  This capability is already built into Windows 10 in the Settings -> Update & Security -> Recovery module.  Was hoping for a self-booting flash drive that would allow booting into Safe Mode.  Did I miss something?

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[Al Taylor]

Bob Blum wrote:

Unless I am missing something, the BootSafe utility, described in the Freeware Spotlight section of the newsletter is confined to operating within Windows 10.

It works in all version of Windows down to XP, however you do have to be “running” Windows to use it.

FWIW, I tested it on an HP G6 laptop running Windows 8.1 and when I enabled the “F8” function it permanently disabled the BIOS message “Press esc for boot options”.

The laptop has an AMD processor and Insyde BIOS.  There is no BIOS setting that deals with boot screens, splash screens, or “quiet boot”.  It only has a setting for “Boot Delay” time and it has has no affect on “fixing” the change.  (I even tried re-flashing the BIOS.)

As well, I re-ran the BootSafe program again and changed\undid the settings to attempt to get things back to normal, but it also was no help.

I can live with this but it’s frustrating to have changes made automatically without warning, and no way to undo them.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Al Taylor.

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Al,

See if this works, although it will disable your F8 capability:

Go to the command prompt with administrative privileges;

At the prompt, enter the following statement:
BCDEDIT /SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY STANDARD

Depending upon the computer, the BIOS options may only appear when booting from a complete shutdown, not during a re-start.

Hope this helps.

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If you use the BCDEdit codes, it has not simplified the access to Safe Mode, which I viewed as the purpose of the BootSafe utility.  What is needed is to access Safe Mode from a computer that will not complete the full boot into Windows.  The triple restart process is one option, but doesn’t always work on all computers.

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[Al Taylor]

Bob Blum wrote:

Go to the command prompt with administrative privileges; At the prompt, enter the following statement: BCDEDIT /SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY STANDARD

Thank you for your suggestion.

Unfortunately when I run the recommended command I receive the following messages:

“The boot configuration data store could not be opened.”

“The requested system device cannot be found.”

Google research suggests this might be because I have a UEFI system.  (But I will keep looking further.)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Al Taylor.

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Al,

Not sure why that is happening. I did a Google search using the following search term: “Windows 10: The boot configuration data store could not be opened.”
At least one of the results suggests that you are on the right track in suspecting that it is a UEFI issue. It suggests changing to a “Legacy” boot mode to resolve the problem. Might be worth a try.

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[Al Taylor]

Bob Blum wrote:

I did a Google search using the following search term: “Windows 10: The boot configuration data store could not be opened.”

OOPS!  I may have misled you by leaving some information out of the earlier post..

I  mentioned in my first post that I’m running Windows 8.1. (if I understand the forum organization correctly it’s #2331739).

FWIW some of the google searches I’ve done indicate the message I’m getting is the same for both 8.1 & 10.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Al Taylor.

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Al Taylor wrote:

FWIW, I tested it on an HP G6 laptop running Windows 8.1 and when I enabled the “F8” function it permanently disabled the BIOS message “Press esc for boot options”

That will likely be a coincidence. BootSafe changes the Windows F8 behaviour, not your BIOS.

Go into your BIOS and check the boot settings again.

cheers, Paul

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[Al Taylor]

Paul T wrote:

That will likely be a coincidence. BootSafe changes the Windows F8 behaviour, not your BIOS. Go into your BIOS and check the boot settings again.

Thank you for your suggestions.

The disappearing BIOS message (“Press esc for boot options”) had just began appearing a few weeks ago after I flashed the BIOS to the latest version.  It’s possible that it coincidently went back away at exactly the time I used BootSafe, but it seems unlikely it would go away right then.

I do have two other identical HP G6-2235 computers whose BIOS I flashed at the same time, and the ‘new’ BIOS message has remained on them.  I could “test” if BootSafe was the culprit by installing it on one of these machines, but I’m reluctant to do so because I don’t want to lose the message on either of them.

I will comb through the BIOS settings and see if changing something restores the message.  Interestingly, the “Insyde” BIOS in my machines presents some very bare-bones selections.  On-line searches indicate that it supposedly has an ‘enhanced’/’advanced’ mode that can be accessed, and (while this might provide the settings I need), I am not able to get my BIOS to enter that mode using the recommended methods.  So I might just be stuck with things the way they are.  (Which is OK, since my machine is operating great and the disappearance of this particular BIOS message isn’t affecting anything except what I see at boot up.)

FWIW, I did try to re-flash my BIOS but the utility doesn’t allow it.

Thank you again for your suggestions, I’ll keep hunting.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Al Taylor.

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