Cannot Boot to Safe Mode (Even in WinRE)

Anonymous
2021-10-04T12:02:40+00:00

I need help as soon as possible!

How it got started:

I was installing the Microsoft Hyper-V virtual network adapter in Device Manager. It took some time, but eventually it was successfully installed. Then I noticed ntoskrnl.exe CPU usage suddenly gone up. I immediately tried uninstalling the network adapter in Device Manager. But it got stuck on "Uninstalling devices". Then I tried restarting my computer with hope of helping the uninstallation process. My computer was stuck for some time while restarting until finally it got a blue screen of death. Then I tried restarting my computer and it got stuck again in Spinning Circle of Death.

Then I think of entering Safe Mode. But it was very hard. I attempted to enter WinRE mode by pressing F8 button. It was successful. But when I pressed Advanced Startup, my computer got stuck again in Spinning Circle of Death for the second time. I tried another method, which is to enable Legacy Advanced Boot Options, thru the Command Prompt feature built-in with WinRE. Unfortunately after attempting several times, I still couldn't enter the mode with F8 and Windows keep showing the normal boot options instead. Now I don't have idea how to enter Safe Mode to uninstall the problematic network adapter. So I need help from all of you to guide me on how to enter Safe Mode on boot without using Advanced Startup (because it won't work).

My computer is very important. I have so much important data and applications installed and stored inside SATA and NVMe SSDs, so I won't attempting to keep force restarting it. Force restarting it will definitely increase the chance of permanent and irreversible damage to all of my data inside my SSD. I also have an antivirus installed in my computer, which its license cannot be backup in any way, so losing access to my antivirus means I will have to buy a new license. I also need my computer tomorrow, so I really hope I can be assisted today.

In conclusion, please help me to enter Safe Mode or at least reinstalling Windows 10 without deleting programs. It was my mistake to install the wrong driver and I need to fix mybroken Windows 10 installation as soon as possible.

Thank you for all of your assistance. I apologize for my language, because English is my second language. Please reply if you need more information or if you have questions regarding to my issue.

I hope all of you have a great day!

My computer specs:

Computer: Intel NUC8i5BEH

Memory/RAM: 16 GB

SSD: NVMe 250 GB & SATA 240 GB

Windows Version: Windows 10 version 21H1

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2021-10-04T13:16:37+00:00

Unfortunately, there isn't any other way to enter safe mode.

At first, it was difficult to reinstall an OS, but nowadays, it's just a matter of few clicks!

Regards,

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-10-08T15:36:52+00:00

    So what I can do instead? I have some important files inside the C:\Users folder, but not every single file inside it is important (e.g. there are unused program files and temporary files).

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-10-08T17:01:37+00:00

    If you have any personal files, you can copy them to the backup drive.

    Unfortunately, you may not be able to copy the apps as most of them have their installations in various other folders. Some even have registry values.

    So in short, you can copy your personal files, but cannot copy apps and user data.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-10-09T11:59:00+00:00

    Okay so I successfully fixed the issue simply by disabling my SATA SSD drive in my BIOS. I also have backed up all of my important data into my SATA SSD beforehand. The reinstallation process goes successfully and now I get a Windows.old folder containing my program files as well as my user data files after reinstalling Windows 10.

    My question is, is there a way to prevent Windows 10 from automatically deleting the Windows.old folder after 10 days?

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-10-09T12:34:26+00:00

    Now I run into another problem.

    IMPORTANT: First, please read my reply above (about disabling SATA SSD in my BIOS). After reading that, you can then read this reply.

    After reinstalling Windows 10, I reenabled my SATA SSD in my BIOS. Then, my Intel NUC booted to my SATA SSD recovery partition that is no longer used now. Strangely, my BIOS doesn't list my NVMe SSD, where I reinstalled Windows 10 inside it, however my NVMe SSD is detected inside the Drives menu of my BIOS. Then I tried disabling my SATA SSD again and my computer successfully booted into Windows 10 installed in my NVMe SSD. So in conclusion, my NVMe SSD is not detected as bootable (therefore not listed under boot options) unless I disable my SATA SSD.

    What I should do to solve the issue? I need to reenable my SATA SSD without any issues so I can get back to normal as soon as possible.

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