How to Disable Auto Restart From the ABO Menu in Windows 7 Using F8

The F8 menu includes an option called 'Disable automatic restart on system failure'

By
Tim Fisher
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Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University

Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.

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Updated on March 8, 2023

What to Know

  • Turn on/restart PC > press F8 before splash screen or just before auto-restart to access ABO menu.
  • Then, from the ABO menu, select Disable automatic restart on system failure, and press Enter to confirm.

This article explains how to disable Automatic Restart on System Failure from the Advanced Boot Options (ABO) menu in Windows 7.

01
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Press F8 Before the Windows 7 Splash Screen

Screenshot of the Windows 7 Splash Screen

To begin, turn on or restart your PC.

Just before the splash screen shown above appears, or just before your PC automatically restarts, press the F8 key to enter Advanced Boot Options.

You do not need to be able to access Windows normally to disable the automatic restart on system failure option via the Advanced Boot Options menu.

If you actually are able to enter Windows successfully before the Blue Screen of Death appears, it's much easier to disable the automatic restart on system failure from within Windows 7 than from the Advanced Boot Options menu, which is the method described in this tutorial.

02
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Choose the Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure Option

Screenshot of the Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options Menu

You should now see the Advanced Boot Options screen shown above.

Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, highlight Disable automatic restart on system failure and press Enter.

If your computer automatically restarted, or you see a different screen, you may have missed the brief window of opportunity to press F8 in the previous step and Windows is probably now continuing (or attempting) to boot normally. If so, just restart your computer and try again.

03
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Wait While Windows 7 Attempts to Start

Screenshot of the Windows 7 Splash Screen

After disabling the automatic restart on system failure option, Windows may or may not continue to load, depending on what kind of Blue Screen of Death or other major system problem Windows is experiencing.

04
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Document the Blue Screen of Death STOP Code

Screenshot of a blue screen of death (BSOD)

Since you disabled the automatic restart on system failure option in Step 2, Windows 7 will no longer force a restart when it encounters a Blue Screen of Death.

Document the hexadecimal number after STOP: plus the four sets of hexadecimal numbers within the parentheses. The most important number is the one listed immediately after STOP:. This is called the STOP Code. In the example shown above, the STOP Code is 0x000000E2.

Now that you have the STOP Code associated with the Blue Screen of Death error, you can troubleshoot the problem.

As of January 2020, Microsoft no longer supports Windows 7. We recommend upgrading to Windows 10 or Windows 11 to continue receiving security updates and technical support.

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