to get into SAFE MODE on the NCR machines, have the user wait until the splash screen is gone, should hear a beep, and F8 immediately – should open an OS choice menu, should see boot options menu at the bottom, press F8 again, choose SAFE MODE (or whatever…)
to change the boot device on the NCR machines, while the splash screen is still open (before the beep) – press F8 and select boot device.