# [SOLVED] Computer only starts in Safe Mode



## jkoval1006 (Aug 14, 2011)

Hello, I am a computer novice with a major problem. I have a Dell Inspiron with a Windows 7 OS. About a month ago my computer started having problems. It now only starts in Safe Mode, and when I shut it down and try to start it in Normal Mode, it stays on the "Welcome" screen, then goes black. I have to turn it off and restart in Safe Mode. I tried System Restore, but it said there are no Restore Points. What can I do? I really don't want to reinstall Windows.


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## Smael123 (Jan 2, 2011)

First you should back up your data. Copy important files to an external hard drive or a USB drive. 

Second you should start your computer in safe mode, type cmd at the start menu, and right click cmd and press run as administrator. Then type sfc/ scannow 

Let it run and report what it said after it was finished.


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## aciid (Jul 18, 2008)

*Re: Computer only starts in Safe Mode*

Hi jkoval1006,

As Smael mentioned you should definitely go into safe mode and run the *sfc /scannow* command in an elevated command prompt. If it finds any faults just choose Yes to repair it. 

If the problem still persists after this I would recommend you to boot into Safemode again and uninstall all recently installed Updates and applications yourself, and deactivate all non-Windows services from the startup. To do so:

1. 
Uninstall the recent windows updates (Start > Control panel > Programs and features > Updates in the left column).

2. 
Go to Start > Search > type "msconfig" without the quotes > hit ENTER.
Go to the "Startup"-tab, disable all services but the Microsoft ones.
Press Apply > Reboot.

Please post back with the results.


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## jkoval1006 (Aug 14, 2011)

*Re: Computer only starts in Safe Mode*

Smael, I went in the command prompt mode and did as you said. It said "Beginning Verification Phase", and once it got to 100%, it said something like "No integrity issues were detected", and it stayed on but did no more scanning. Were there any more scans that should have taken place?

Aciid, I did not try your 2nd piece of advice yet because I do not know much about computers, and am hesitant because I am afraid I may uninstall too much. Also, what do you mean by "recent"? In the last year? Month?


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## aciid (Jul 18, 2008)

*Re: Computer only starts in Safe Mode*

By recent I mean about when the problem started. If the problem started one week ago, uninstall everything from like 2 weeks back. You won't loose anything as you can redownload all these updates at a later time, Windows will even download them automatically when it finds out they're missing.

The second advice, just click the "Hide all microsoft services" then unmark all items in that list. Apply > Reboot.


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## jkoval1006 (Aug 14, 2011)

*Re: Computer only starts in Safe Mode*

The last update I had was installing Silverlight in May, and the last update before that was in January, long before I began having problems. I disabled all the non-microsoft services, and booted but it did not help, and it did the same thing it always does.


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## jkoval1006 (Aug 14, 2011)

*Re: Computer only starts in Safe Mode*

Just to let you guys know, I just reinstalled Windows 7. Thanks for trying to help, I really appreciated it.


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## aciid (Jul 18, 2008)

Too bad you had to go with a reinstallation, however I'm glad the issue is now gone.
Have a nice day/evening!


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