Is SAFE MODE Useless?

[pawn3d]

on pc, when they get software related issues, i press F8 for Safe Mode and im in 9/10 times.
on Mac, I've never gotten Safe Mode to work when there's a problem.

say i DID get into safe mode, whereas i couldn't get in regularly. what more could I do that I couldn't do from disk than Repair permissions?

I guess what i'm getting at is WHAT IS SAFE MODE GOOD FOR?

 

[Mal]

Safe Mode disables any third party extensions and other types of items that startup with the computer, in addition to a good selection of Apple installed ones that aren't necessary to the operation of the computer. Essentially just pares it down to the basics. Whether it will be useful for you depends entirely on the nature of the problem. Usually, it's a good tool to test the system, find out if you simply have a software problem or if it's a hardware problem, and would also give the chance to deactivate or uninstall whatever might be causing a problem booting up.

It shares very little in common with the "Safe Boot" on Windows PC's, though.

jW

 

[iGrant]

Safe Mode disables any third party extensions and other types of items that startup with the computer, in addition to a good selection of Apple installed ones that aren't necessary to the operation of the computer. Essentially just pares it down to the basics. Whether it will be useful for you depends entirely on the nature of the problem. Usually, it's a good tool to test the system, find out if you simply have a software problem or if it's a hardware problem, and would also give the chance to deactivate or uninstall whatever might be causing a problem booting up.

It shares very little in common with the "Safe Boot" on Windows PC's, though.

jW

Agreed, I have used Safe Mode to remove software that failed to install correctly and couldn't uninstall correctly when booted normally. Also isn't it called single user mode?

-iGrant

 

[Amdahl]

Agreed, I have used Safe Mode to remove software that failed to install correctly and couldn't uninstall correctly when booted normally. Also isn't it called single user mode?

-iGrant

It also disables/regenerates many of the caches OS X has, particularly Extensions. At least it did in 10.4-.

Single user mode is different; there is no GUI. Console only.