15 minutes boot time

prinsipe

Not Too eXPerienced
Joined
21 Jun 2002
Messages
208
when I open my computer it takes 15 minutes before I can see the Windows XP logo and progress bar, upon reaching desktop the computer shuts off, monitor goes to standby and still everything has power. I know its a hardware failure but im having a hardtime pinpointing which one, I have discounted the memory because I have replaced it already, Its must be either between the motherboard or processor or maybe the power supply unit.

Im stuck, please help........any suggestions and possible fixes are very well appreciated..
 
Sounds like it could be a harddrive problem, Run the manufacturers diagnostic utilities on the drive.
 
bush dogg said:
Sounds like it could be a harddrive problem, Run the manufacturers diagnostic utilities on the drive.

I think not because when I press F2 or del to enter the cmos/bios setup it still takes 15 minutes or so, with or without the hard drive
 
It still could be a drive optical or harddrive. If the drive is going bad then the Bios may be sticking on that drive trying to figure out what it is or what’s going on with it before post can finish.

I would still run the utilities on the harddrive if it passes the tests then disconnect each optical drive one at a time and boot the system to see if any one of them is the problem.

(I’ve had a similar thing happen when a drive was on its way out, it was a harddrive and after I replaced it everything was fine)

What size power supply do you have and how old, more specs would be nice to?
 
It is a bad HDD.
Take the drive out and put in a new one. After you have your OS up and running slave the other and grab what you need then toss. If the drive is really fudged up then go to Gibson research web page. The man has a handy app you can order for retrieving HDD data but for a fee.
 
if u have another hard disk, try to ghost it over and see if it still takes 15minutes to boot up.

If it does, then the previous HD is gone!

Else, could be something else.. probably the RAM
 
Nismo, if you read his original post, he said the RAM was already replaced. I would say that is pretty much ruled out :)

I would also suspect the HD, but it could be another culprit. The best way to go about problems like this is to disconnect everything from your system leaving ONLY the following:

CPU
HD (only boot, disconnect any others)
RAM
Video Card

Use the BARE minimum that your PC needs to operate. Disconnect all floppy drives, optical drives and other add-in cards. If the problem still persists, it may also be the CMOS battery. If the system is stalling on finding your devices, it could be having trouble remembering from the previous boot. I know you said "with or without the HD", but have you done much troubleshooting in the BIOS?

Do you overclock any of your settings? You could try restoring BIOS settings to default as well.
 
As I have said, I am very sure its not an HD problem because everything is unplugged all that remain is the mboard, processor, ram, powersupply, and video card....as i enter the bios/cmos setup is does still take 15 minutes, how could it be that the problem is the HD whereas it is already disconnected?
 
kcnychief said:
Nismo, if you read his original post, he said the RAM was already replaced. I would say that is pretty much ruled out :)

I would also suspect the HD, but it could be another culprit. The best way to go about problems like this is to disconnect everything from your system leaving ONLY the following:

CPU
HD (only boot, disconnect any others)
RAM
Video Card

Use the BARE minimum that your PC needs to operate. Disconnect all floppy drives, optical drives and other add-in cards. If the problem still persists, it may also be the CMOS battery. If the system is stalling on finding your devices, it could be having trouble remembering from the previous boot. I know you said "with or without the HD", but have you done much troubleshooting in the BIOS?

Do you overclock any of your settings? You could try restoring BIOS settings to default as well.

Even before posting this thread, I have already reverted back to default setup, also replaced the cmos battery with a new one...,when entering the cmos/bios it still takes too long and as always resets the time and date, set it up restart then same thing happens, It also says I have to replace the baterry even if it is already replaced with a new one....[this is done with and without the HD]
 
1rst off don't argue with the diagnostics. If it says the battery is dead it is either dead or the connections are broken (bad MB or battery is in upside down). New batteries can be dead too so don't assume it is good because it is new. Check it with a voltmeter if you have one.

Most likely a MB problem. It could also be the power supply making the MB malfunction. But since you pulled all the non-essential parts which reduces the power supply load it's most likely the MB.

CPU Check out
If you have a Pentium CPU it could be throttling the clock down from an overheat. Get into the bios and check the CPU temperature if it's less than 65 deg C it is not an overheat. If it's more than 65 deg C check the CPU fan is spinning and air is blowing in towards the CPU. If the fan is spinning shut down and make sure the heatsink is sitting flat on the CPU and has not been bumped so it sits at an angle. If the CPU uses a thermal pad instead of paste or if the system is over a year old pull the CPU and clean the CPU and HSF and apply fresh paste evernly. About a 1/8 inch diameter bead is all you need.

Make sure the bios indicates the correct CPU clock speed on the POST window or in Bios.

MB Checkout
If the IDE, Sound, PCI interfaces are damaged they could be causing excessive interrupts that are preventing the processor from completing tasks.
-Pull all cards (including video), ram and drives.
-Boot the computer. You should see the kybd lights flash and hear some POST failure beeps. These should happen very fast after power on.
--If they do, put the RAM and video in, enter the bios setup and diable sound, lan, ide, sata and anything else that can be disabled.
--Boot again. If boot time speeds up the MB is damaged.

If none of the above isolates the problem it is most likely in the MB. CPU's generally don't fail slow. If they work well enough to post the system they are ok.

If you had flashed the bios prior to the problems it could be the wrong bios. Go back to the old bios version or find and download the correct version for your MB.

Last MB check.
If the computer got bumped hard or the monitor cable yanked the MB could shift on its mounting screws and short a signal trace. Unscrew the MB and set it on an insualting surface (wood or card board) or just make sure all the screws are centered in there holes and re-tighten them. See if it will boot normally that way. I prefer to pull the MB so I can see if anything conductive got wedged under it (screw, metal shaving etc). Besides at this point I'm looking at pulling it to replace it anyway.
 
I just had to post my astonishment at your agonizingly long bootup time.. my friend, it is time for a new computer.
 

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