As one does when trying out a new version of Windows, I decided to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to a second hard drive in my computer to test out the operating system natively, rather than using a virtual machine. At first I thought this would be awesome, until I ran in into some problems.
I was trying to get Windows 8 to install the Windows 7 x64 drivers for my internal PCI Wireless N adapter, and on reboot I got to experience the brand new “Blue Screen of Death” for the first time. Obviously something went wrong and I immediately thought to go into Safe Mode to sort out my problem. Oh wait, I couldn't; at first.
Pressing F8 on boot as one normally does returns absolutely nothing, so my BSoD loop continued until I booted my Windows 7 installation (which thankfully I kept). I originally thought that they had disabled Safe Mode, but a commenter has pointed out that they have just changed the hotkey to (holding) Shift+F8 rather than keeping the traditional F8 hotkey.
Alternatively, you could attempt to enable Safe Mode as a startup option using the same method as for the Developer Preview. This is an easier way than holding Shift+F8, because in the short time I tested the new hotkey it often didn't work.
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