Hello there,
I guess there may be certain advantages when employing safe mode (incidentally) for some pc-maintenance activities, like defragmenting.
Will the same be true  for diskcleaning, registry repair, partition image creation?
I also guess that it may be of little use in case of registry or MFT (Master File Table) defragmenting.
Does somebody know of some disadvantages / risks in these cases?
Regards

   Safe Mode in Windows XP and later is not really much different than regular mode.  The main difference is that extra settings, files, and drivers are not loaded.  If the extra settings, files, and drivers are causing a problem for you, then run it in Safe Mode.  If not, there is no need to use Safe Mode.
   The main purpose of Safe Mode is to diagnose where a problem is coming from.  If the problem does not exist in Safe Mode, then the default settings and the standard drivers are not causing the problem.  If the problem does exist in Safe Mode, something in standard Windows could be causing the problem.
   Running in Safe Mode does not neccessarily mean that things will run faster or better.

Ray,
Thanks for your superfast response.
At least you don't mention potential risks in safe mode.
I have the impression that in some cases the activated processes in 'normal'pc-mode may disturb operations, e.g.:
- A1 U.Cleaner: some files could not be cleaned being probably 'open'
- I had 2 cases that partition imaging was disturbed by a 'writing proces' (could also be some automatic antimalware update running).
- specific non-maintenance case: when attempting to render a fairly big videoproject (with Pinnacle Studio) the proces fairly often is obstructed (I now employ a program called SmartClose to temporary disable most processes).
Regards

   The disadvantage with running in Safe Mode is that not everything is loaded.
   It is normal for A1Click not to be able to clean everything (if the Time Buffer is checked).  They are usually directories that were not empty.  When they get empty, they will be deleted.

O K Ray,
I'll take your word for it.
Some other questions concerning pc-maintenance will be posted separately.
Thanks