Can no longer start windows in safe mode using F8 at startup

I cannot start windows in safe mode using the F8 command at startup. It worked before but now it will not bring up the options when pressing F8 at startup.

I have run SFC, Trendmicro Housecall, TrendMicro Antispy, Spybot, Adaware, Avast, HiJack This and recently uninstalled NIS 2005 because the .msi was corrupt.

The computer reboots on it's own, but the above scans find no spyware, trogans or viruses. I ran these in safe mode by using msconfig to boot into safe mode.

But I am wondering why 1st of all I cannot boot into safe mode using the F8 command and 2nd why is my computer rebooting on it's own, which normally indicates some type of spyware but I do not see anything running in task manager that is unreconizable.

The Event Viewer does not show an event for the times that the computer reboots on it's own. I have it set to NOT restart when there is an error hoping that it would give me a message of what happened but that hasn't worked either. No error messages, just reboot.

I am running Wndows XP (all updates), Gigabyte MB, Nivida display, Creative Sound Card. 2G RAM, 160G HD and a 250G HD.

What would prevent me from booting using F8 and how do I fix that? And since there is no spyware found how can I determine why my comptuer keeps rebooting on it's own?

This is getting very frustrating. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated as always.

Thanks!!!!

 

For the rebooting issue I would suspect overheating or hardware problem. Check for dust buildup in the fan/heatsink. Pull and reseat the memory plus run Memtest to check it. Check all of your connections and test the power supply. As to the Safe Mode glitch try going to Start > Run and type msconfig then press <Enter>. Under the Boot.ini tab place a checkmark next to /Safeboot, click Apply > OK then restart.

 

The memory was taken to shop and tested. It doesn't appear to be overheating but I will check that as well. I know that parts can go bad at anytime, but this system was built about 6 months ago. Dust could be an issue. When I check the temp in BIOS nothing looks abnomal.

I understand I can boot to safe mode through msconfig, I'm just confused why all of a sudden I am unable to use the F8 command to boot into safe mode.

 

These may be happening because of a bad uninstall if NIS. Many issues have occurred due to NIS.

 

i avoided this problem by installing the recovery console to the system.
i have plenty of time to choose if i want to use the startup options, multi-boot OS.

 

Second aPod! Been multibooting and it's a great way to pause. Might also try increasing the wait in boot.ini if you've decreased it. And of course, try another keyboard, just to be complete.

 

Try removing update 908531 and rebooting. The April 17th version impacted this and although it was subsequently corrected April 25th, I've been running into this a bit lately so its more than an isolated incident. Throws a verclsid.exe into services that acts up big time - you can always restore the original, but me thinks this could be adding to your woes.