F8 Need sometimes to complete boot up, but then fine. Why?

[jack]

WindowsXP Home / 1.2m ram / Toshiba Satellite / Celeron Processor / lots of
HD space.

Recently I had to do a full restore with the OEM restore disk on my Toshiba
Satellite. All was fine pretty much. After loading major programs or lots
of Windows Updates I would do a restart from time to time. Then Panic!! The
machine froze at the F2/F12 Setup Window. I forced shutdown. Then switched
on
and immediately began to push F8. It went past and gave a normal startup
without
having to go to the SAFE startup dialog. Since then it has happened several
time, not always. Is this indicative of great problems? Live with it? Or
look for a resolution? Thanks greatly. Jack

 

[Malke]

WindowsXP Home / 1.2m ram / Toshiba Satellite / Celeron Processor / lots
of HD space.

Recently I had to do a full restore with the OEM restore disk on my
Toshiba
Satellite. All was fine pretty much. After loading major programs or
lots
of Windows Updates I would do a restart from time to time. Then Panic!!
The
machine froze at the F2/F12 Setup Window. I forced shutdown. Then
switched on
and immediately began to push F8. It went past and gave a normal startup
without
having to go to the SAFE startup dialog. Since then it has happened
several
time, not always. Is this indicative of great problems? Live with it?
Or
look for a resolution? Thanks greatly. Jack

It's indicative of failing hardware. When a computer locks up before the
operating system is even loaded (the F2/F12 screen), some hardware
component(s) is on its way out.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts with
known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data backed up
before you take the machine into a shop.

Malke

 

[Twayne]

WindowsXP Home / 1.2m ram / Toshiba Satellite / Celeron Processor /
lots of HD space.

Recently I had to do a full restore with the OEM restore disk on my
Toshiba Satellite. All was fine pretty much. After loading major
programs or lots of Windows Updates I would do a restart from time to
time. Then Panic!! The machine froze at the F2/F12 Setup Window. I
forced shutdown. Then switched on
and immediately began to push F8. It went past and gave a normal
startup without
having to go to the SAFE startup dialog. Since then it has happened
several time, not always. Is this indicative of great problems?
Live with it? Or look for a resolution? Thanks greatly. Jack
--

A first guess would be that you're missing the opportune time to be
pressing F8. If you're pressing it as fast as you can, try slowing
down and if you're tapping it slowly, try tapping it a little faster.
IME about twice per second seems to work well for me but ymmv I'm sure.
Personally I've never heard of a problem with using F8 on a normally
functioning machine so I'd give the timing of the taps of F8 a try
before deciding something is amiss.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[SC Tom]

WindowsXP Home / 1.2m ram / Toshiba Satellite / Celeron Processor / lots
of
HD space.

Recently I had to do a full restore with the OEM restore disk on my
Toshiba
Satellite. All was fine pretty much. After loading major programs or
lots
of Windows Updates I would do a restart from time to time. Then Panic!!
The
machine froze at the F2/F12 Setup Window. I forced shutdown. Then
switched
on
and immediately began to push F8. It went past and gave a normal startup
without
having to go to the SAFE startup dialog. Since then it has happened
several
time, not always. Is this indicative of great problems? Live with it?
Or
look for a resolution? Thanks greatly. Jack

What has happened several times, that locks up at the F2/F12 screen, or
won't bring up the F8 dialog screen?
Immediately after the POST (or logo) screen fades, press and hold the F8 key
and see if the dialog screen comes up then.

SC Tom

 

[Brian A.]

WindowsXP Home / 1.2m ram / Toshiba Satellite / Celeron Processor / lots
of
HD space.

Recently I had to do a full restore with the OEM restore disk on my
Toshiba
Satellite. All was fine pretty much. After loading major programs or
lots
of Windows Updates I would do a restart from time to time. Then Panic!!
The
machine froze at the F2/F12 Setup Window. I forced shutdown. Then
switched
on
and immediately began to push F8. It went past and gave a normal startup
without
having to go to the SAFE startup dialog. Since then it has happened
several
time, not always. Is this indicative of great problems? Live with it?
Or
look for a resolution? Thanks greatly. Jack

More detailed information will help others help you in resolving your
issue.
Was it freezing/stopping at the F2/F12 screen before restoring?
What issue(s) and/or problem(s) was the PC presenting, if any, that caused
you to perform a system restore?
Is it truly frozen at the F2/F12 screen or can you press F2 to enter the
BIOS setup?
Can you press F2 before the freeze during boot and enter the BIOS setup?

If you can enter the BIOS, is the Date/Time correct? If not and it
doesn't hold after setting/saving it in the BIOS, the probable cause to
check into is the CMOS battery which may need to be replaced.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375