SOLVED: How to Get Windows Server 2012 and 2016 Into Safe Mode F8

UPDATED: March 2018

If you have worked on Windows 8 or newer, you will know that Microsoft has removed the F8 boot functionality.  They did this to decrease boot times.  What is odd is that they applied this logic to servers; I would not have.  Regardless the F8 Safe Mode functionality is not truly removed, it is just turned off.

To turn F8 boot on in Server 2012 you need to get to an elevated CMD prompt.  If your server is functional that is easy.  If your server won’t boot (hence the need for F8) then you can boot off of a Windows Server install DVD and select REPAIR YOUR COMPUTER option, the Troubleshooting, then Command Prompt.

Once you have a Command Prompt (as an administrator) open enter the following commands which are self explanatory:

1. bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
2. bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 10

Reboot your machine and enjoy pressing F8 and getting back into SAFE MODE or LAST KNOWN GOOD to work out your problem.

This will also work on Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Note that the BCDEDIT commands do NOT work from PowerShell.   They NEED to be run from CMD.EXE :

Thanks to a number of blogs including THIS one.

Thanks