I cannot seem to get my computer to boot into safe mode. I tried hitting f8 and then f5 but it just won't work. The screen should look different in safe mode right? When it was defragmenting it wouldn't go beyond ten percent.

Windows 98/Me
We recommend that you use the System Configuration Utility to get into Safe mode, however, the F8 key can also be used.

To use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows 98/Me in Safe mode
Close all open programs.
Click Start > Run.
In the Run dialog box, type msconfig and then click OK.




On the General tab, click Advanced



In the Advanced Troubleshooting Settings dialog box, check Enable Startup Menu, and then click OK.



Click OK again when the System Configuration Utility reappears.
When you are asked to restart the computer, click Yes.
When the Windows 98 (or Me) Startup Menu appears, select Safe Mode and press Enter.
The computer restarts with Windows in Safe mode. (This can take several minutes.) When you are finished working in Safe mode, use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows 98/Me in normal mode.

To use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows Me in normal mode
Finish what you need to do in Safe mode.
In the section "To use the System Configuration Utility to start Windows 98/Me" above, repeat 1-6, but in step 5, uncheck Enable Start-up Menu.
Close all programs, and restart the computer.

To use the F8 key to start Windows 98/Me in Safe mode
Restart the computer.
As the computer restarts, press and hold down the F8 key until the Windows 98/Me Startup menu appears.
When the Windows 98 (or Me) Startup Menu appears, select Safe Mode and press Enter.
Windows starts in Safe mode. (This can take several minutes.)

You can also start in Safe mode by pressing and holding down the control key while the computer boots.This will bring up a menu in which Safe mode will be an option.

Check in your c:\msdos.sys file for a "BootMenu=0" entry. Theoretically, the procedure outlined by Bear should enable ( "BootMenu=1" ) this setting. If the msdos.sys file needs to be changed, the attributes must be set first to allow editing.

You can open the file in any text only editor (Notepad) and save it as c:\winboot.ini. If this file is present, it will be run instead of msdos.sys. This new file will have no system etc attribs so it can be edited as required.