Can I authorize games in safe mode?

[stebbinsd]

I'm currently in "safe mode w/ networking." I'm having some computer issues, which you can read about here (hey, maybe you guys can even offer me a solution! The ingrates who've tried to help me so far have cost me lots of money with useless part-replacements, at best, and at worst, caused me even MORE computer problems).

 

https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/software/f/135088/t/144267.aspx

https://forums.techguy.org/threads/keyboard-mouse-dont-work-outside-safe-mode.1156354/

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f15/keyboard-and-mouse-dont-outside-safe-mode-1045529.html

 

Anyway, I found a youtube video that lets me turn on my sound in safe mode:

 

 

If I can enable sound, is there a way to also make games available in safe mode? I already have the ability to play emulator games (such as ZSNESW) in safe mode, but what about more modern games like Elder Scrolls or Sid Meir's Civilization?

 

For the record, here's the error messages I get when I try to launch Civilization IV, Oblivion, and Skryim respectively:

 

http://s14.postimg.org/d6oyskv1d/Civ4_Safe_Mode_Error_Message.png

http://s14.postimg.org/e6aoajktd/Oblivion_Safe_Mode_Error_Message.png

http://s14.postimg.org/pk1szhkpt/Skyrim_SKSE_Safe_Mode_Error_Message.png

[obobski]

Safe Mode generally won't allow h/w acceleration, so DirectX won't work properly, hence no gaming in SafeMode. Emulation isn't using h/w acceleration so that's why it works. Doing day-to-day stuff in Safe Mode is generally not a great idea, because it bypasses a lot of security features, among other things.

 

I tried to untangle the various forums and posts you linked (this isn't a "you" problem per se - there's a lot of links and ideas from various other posters to unravel). Here's what I'm *guessing* is the problem, but if it sounds entirely off-base feel free to correct my understanding:

 

- You bought a new DVD drive for your computer.

- You tried to install this drive, and once loading the new drive, keyboard and mouse don't work.

- You are having trouble getting a front-panel header re-connected.

 

Random guess: the drive itself is dead/defective, and that's why the keyboard/mouse aren't working, because Windows is hanging up on boot and not loading the HID drivers. Safe Mode "fixes" that because it more selectively loads stuff and bypasses the hardware problem. Unplug the new drive entirely from the system and see if it returns to working, if not, then we're back to step 1, but I'm guessing that's the issue.

 

Source: I've encountered this issue a total of ONE time in over 15 years of working on computers, and it was easily the most frustrating thing I've ever troubleshot. It's also why I'm no longer a huge fan of internal optical drives. I can fully understand why you're being told to replace the CMOS battery, re-install Windows, etc etc too - none of that would make a difference, but it's all very typical "I have no idea what's going on but here throw some nuclear option stuff at it" troubleshooting.

 

Pulling the CMOS battery and/or clearing the CMOS is what reset the clock - that's expected behavior (the battery backs-up the clock and other BIOS settings when the machine has no other power). CMOS batteries rarely ever die though IME - I've got some that are still alive and kicking after 10 years. If/when they fail the machine will throw an error that CMOS/BIOS defaults have been loaded (some BIOSes will prompt you to enter BIOS to confirm, some will let you just F1 to dismiss), and this will happen on *every* boot after the machine loses power, because there's no battery to back-up the settings. Some really slick systems will throw an error that the CMOS battery voltage is low (prior to the battery dying), but I've rarely encountered those. On anything reasonably modern (like post-ISA, post-LPT, post-manual IRQs, post-fully unlocked CPUs, etc) the defaults will auto-configure everything, so the only real "buggabos" about a dead battery are boot order and the clock (and Windows will reset the clock as it syncs to NTP servers, as long as the machine is connected to the Internet). On older machines it can cause more problems (e.g. if you had to manually setup IRQs, non-plug'n'play hardware, etc) because those settings also aren't preserved, and it won't just "auto" them. A modern Dell should have no such problems.

 

On the FP header being disconnected, it would have no bearing on anything but the ports it correspond to, so if you don't need them, you can probably just ignore that, or figure out where it came from and/or what it needs to connect to (might help to use a flashlight if you've got an all-black motherboard with all-black ports lol).

[stebbinsd]

 

Random guess: the drive itself is dead/defective, and that's why the keyboard/mouse aren't working, because Windows is hanging up on boot and not loading the HID drivers. Safe Mode "fixes" that because it more selectively loads stuff and bypasses the hardware problem. Unplug the new drive entirely from the system and see if it returns to working, if not, then we're back to step 1, but I'm guessing that's the issue.

The drive is already unplugged. Remember, I bought it OEM. It's screwed into the rack right now, but there are no cables connected to it.

[Lisnpuppy]

Opps wrong thread

[obobski]

 

The drive is already unplugged. Remember, I bought it OEM. It's screwed into the rack right now, but there are no cables connected to it.

 

 

 

Hrm. That's a head-scratcher then. If you're connected to the MB-mounted USB ports and Windows isn't recognizing the peripherals, but they work outside of Windows, that leads me to believe there's a problem with Windows start-up. If it isn't that drive causing the failure, it may be some other driver, but it's tough to say without hands-on. At this point I'd say call clean slate, nuke the thing from orbit, and go with a fresh Windows install. Back-up whatever important data via Safe Mode where possible. If it still doesn't work with a fresh Windows install ++ driver reload (which seems unlikely), there's likely a hardware problem, but that seems less likely due to the USB ports working outside of Windows.

[stebbinsd]

Don't worry about! I fixed it!

 

And ... not to sound like a six year old boy, but ... I did it all by myself! I'm proud of me! :)

[obobski]

Don't worry about! I fixed it!

 

And ... not to sound like a six year old boy, but ... I did it all by myself! I'm proud of me! :smile:

 

You fixed the larger issue with your system? What was ultimately the problem and solution? (I'm curious now)

[stebbinsd]

Ok, scratch that last post. The problem resurfaced after rebooting, and my previous solution doesn't work this time.

 

Honestly, I'm about ready to throw my hands in the air and say "Screw it, time to do a clean install."

[obobski]

Ok, scratch that last post. The problem resurfaced after rebooting, and my previous solution doesn't work this time.

 

Honestly, I'm about ready to throw my hands in the air and say "Screw it, time to do a clean install."

 

I don't understand why a clean install wasn't done quite a while ago - like I said, this is a puzzler of an issue and it isn't worth the time and energy to troubleshoot if that time and energy will exceed how long a clean install will take.

[stebbinsd]

I don't understand why a clean install wasn't done quite a while ago - like I said, this is a puzzler of an issue and it isn't worth the time and energy to troubleshoot if that time and energy will exceed how long a clean install will take.

 

Two reasons:

 

1. It deletes all my files and programs.

2. I need to buy an installation disc, because one didn't come with my computer.