Hi Jeffrey, thanks for the reply!

Setup:
SW 2017-2018 student edition, it's the most recent version available via EAA's student license, I followed the directions on the EAA site and corresponding emails, installed using default options, no deviations. Win 10 64bit, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, Intel i7-7500U CPU, 4k HD 3840x2160 display, *no* the config and graphics card (Intel HD 620) are *not* listed/tested, however people are successful with this graphics card so I don't think that's it: e.g. see https://michaellord.me/2017/04/03/so...60-solidworks/
I assume when running SW in the bypass tools/options safe mode it must be using my graphics card, and it works fine in this mode.
No- the OpenGL safe mode doesn't work for me.

How do I figure out what is being bypassed when running the bypass tools/options settings safe mode compared to running SW normally?
Are there log files or config files or some settings menus that I can compare between the bypass safe mode and a "normal" mode?

If I can figure out what tools/options are bypassed in the safe mode, maybe I can re-run SW in an iterative manner and re-enable (or disable) each tool/option setting, one at at time, until I can find the culprit that crashes SW. As far as SW Rx safe modes go- every forum I've scoured has people blaming graphics cards and the fix is get a different card or use the OpenGL mode (not options for me).
I can't find any useful information on what the bypass tools/options settings safe mode is actually bypassing.