Figure 6-3. These recovery tools, available on your Vista setup disc, allow you to repair
your installation in the event that Windows won??™t start
288 | Chapter 6: Troubleshooting
Use the F8 menu
It??™s a pity that the recovery tools on the Vista disc aren??™t available without
the disc itself. If you can??™t find the Windows DVD (or CD disc 1), or your
PC manufacturer was too stingy to give you one, there are some lesser tools
you can use that are already on your hard disk. Just after you power up your
PC (and after it displays its own logo or POST screen), but before you see
the Windows logo, press the F8 key on your keyboard to invoke the
Advanced Boot Options menu shown in Figure 6-4.
If you can??™t get to the F8 menu, then your PC isn??™t even trying
to load Windows. At this point, you should use the
Startup Repair option on your Vista setup disc, followed by
the other choices on the System Recovery Options window.
If those don??™t work, or if you don??™t have the original Vista
disc, then your best bet is to remove your hard disk from
your PC and hook it up to another computer using the special
USB tool extolled in ???Transfer Windows to Another
Hard Disk??? in Chapter 5. There, you should be able to determine
the problem, or??”worst case scenario??”try to recover
whatever data you can, as described in ???Recover Your System
After a Crash,??? later in this chapter.
Figure 6-4. Press F8 just before you see the Windows logo to display this menu, from
which you have access to several tools to help you get into Windows when it won??™t load
normally
Crashes and Error Messages | 289
Troubleshooting
From the F8 menu, you??™ll have these choices:
Safe Mode
This forces Windows to start up in a hobbled, semi-functional mode,
useful for troubleshooting or removing software or hardware drivers
that otherwise prevent Windows from booting normally.
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