SMBoot v2.00

© Copyright 2003 Paul Bowlay. All rights reserved.
The official web site for SMBoot is www.paulbowlay.com

What is SMBoot?

SMBoot is a program which reboots a Windows 95, 98 (SE), or ME computer into Safe Mode. Safe Mode is a special diagnostic mode of Windows where no drivers are loaded, no programs are run at startup, and so on. SMBoot was written because booting into Safe Mode on these versions of Windows can be a tricky business because it involves pressing a certain key (OS-dependent) at a critical moment during bootup. Many users simply cannot time this keypress and become frustrated that Windows booted into Normal Mode instead of Safe Mode. Alternatively, it's very possible that the required key is faulty or missing. With SMBoot, the entire keypress concept is gone and your PC boots into Safe Mode quickly and effortlessly, every time. (Note: Windows NT, 2000, and XP have easy bootup modes of their own and are therefore not supported by SMBoot).

Legal.

By using SMBoot you agree to all these terms: SMBoot is © Copyright 2003 Paul Bowlay and is free software (although it is not "freeware" or "public domain"). There is no charge to use SMBoot. There is no technical support for SMBoot. Although carefully tested with no faults found, you agree that you will backup all important system data and settings before running SMBoot, and agree that by running it you will hold the author blameless in the event of any unforeseen loss and/or problem(s) incurred to your computer and/or data as a direct or indirect result of its use. You may not disassemble, modify, translate, reverse-engineer, or otherwise alter any part of the SMBoot distribution in any way. SMBoot is not spyware or adware, does not send or receive data over any type of network, does not add, alter or remove anything from your Registry, and does not add, alter or remove any files on your system (other than a single temp file that is deleted by Windows upon reboot). Distribution of SMBoot is only permitted with the version found at www.paulbowlay.com and as long as its zip file is not modified in any way; and note that SMBoot may not be included as part of any third-party product under any circumstances, without the prior written permission of the author.

Requirements.

SMBoot runs on Windows 95, 98 (SE), and ME. SMBoot does not run under Windows NT, 2000, and XP. No other special requirements apply.

Using SMBoot.

SMBoot is started simply by double-clicking its icon (no "setup" installation is required). A prompt will appear that asks if you want to reboot into Safe Mode or quickly. "Quick" is for Windows 95 and 98 only (not ME as it doesn't support this feature) and simply restarts Windows without going through the normal long PC bootup process. Save all open work and then simply click the appropriate option.

Troubleshooting.

If SMBoot fails to boot your PC into Safe Mode then it's a sure bet that something other than SMBoot is causing the boot failure, rather than a fault in SMBoot itself. In such cases, there's nothing SMBoot can do to help, and you'll have to resort to other third-party methods of repairing your PC.

Uninstalling.

If you want to remove SMBoot from your system, simply delete its folder. That's it!