Enable or disabled F8 old function permanently
Enable or disabled F8 old function permanently
You can enable it permanently or disabled it from an elevated command prompt –
Windows 10 click on start menu > All Apps > Windows System.
Right click on “Command Prompt” and Run As Administrator
(Or right click on Win 10 Start Menu button, click on “Command Prompt – Admin)
Type or copy & paste the following in the command prompt and then press the enter key –
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy
The above command will enable the F8 key safe mode boot permanently.
If what ever reason you would want to disable the F8 Safe Mode Boot option, type or copy & paste the following in the command prompt and then press the enter key –
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard
I suggest enabling the F8 Safe mode boot early on BEFORE you run into any problems, and leave it enabled. On all Win 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 computers I receive for repair I enable the older style F8 just in case it is needed in the future.
Tapping the “F8” key repeatedly on your keyboard at boot screen will get you to the older Safe Mode options.
Windows 10 offers fantastic boot times compared to some earlier operating systems, but part of the reason for this faster boot is due to removing the window of opportunity to access the F8 boot menu. This boot options menu allows you to enter safe mode or access other recovery tools that would otherwise only be available after booting in to Windows or using recovery media (i.e the install disc).
If you think that you may need to enter safe mode when Windows is no longer able to boot, you can sacrifice a couple of seconds at boot and enable the F8 safe mode menu. If you use UEFI fast boot, you may not have time to press F8 before Windows launches.
To begin, open an elevated command prompt (see this article), then run the following command:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
Once you have done this, restart your PC as normal and then keep pressing F8 during the boot process. You may be prompted to choose an OS and press F8 once more for advanced boot options:
If you'd like to reverse this process in future, run the following command to return to the default faster boot:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no
Need to choose option 5 (safe mode with internet) to get it to accept the normal password