Computer Hangs for Five Minutes

[S.N.]

Hello,

I have a desktop computer which hangs for five minutes everytime I start it.
I just formatted and reinstalled everything and it was working fine. The
last thing I installed was the HP software for my DVD writer.

I don't think it's that though as I hit the delete button during a boot to
get into the BIOS and it took five minutes just to bring it up. So
something is hanging it before the BIOS even loads.

Opened the box and tired disconnecting the DVD drive with the same results.
Checked that the RAM didn't pop out, check all the cables etc. Ran a virus
scan and spyware scan. Still no idea.

No conficts in my Device Manger either.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Here is my sys info:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
System Manufacturer ECS
System Model P4VMM2
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~1999 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T, 4/2/2001
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)"
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 201.03 MB
Total Virtual Memory 1.56 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.11 GB
Page File Space 1.10 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

[kony]

Hello,

I have a desktop computer which hangs for five minutes everytime I start it.
I just formatted and reinstalled everything and it was working fine. The
last thing I installed was the HP software for my DVD writer.

I don't think it's that though as I hit the delete button during a boot to
get into the BIOS and it took five minutes just to bring it up. So
something is hanging it before the BIOS even loads.

Opened the box and tired disconnecting the DVD drive with the same results.
Checked that the RAM didn't pop out, check all the cables etc. Ran a virus
scan and spyware scan. Still no idea.

No conficts in my Device Manger either.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Here is my sys info:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
System Manufacturer ECS
System Model P4VMM2
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~1999 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T, 4/2/2001
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)"
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 201.03 MB
Total Virtual Memory 1.56 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.11 GB
Page File Space 1.10 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

When was the very first time it paused for 5 minutes?
Did it do this previously or is it a newly built system?

Did it do so the first time it was powered on (by you, in
your presence)? Did it do so only after adding some
hardware, or maybe changing BIOS settings?

Strip system down to only bare essentials. CPU,
heatsink/fan, video card, 1 memory module. Power on and see
if it hangs, if you can enter bios and navigate around
without it hanging. If it doesn't hang, proceed to add back
hardware a piece at a time.

If it does hang, recheck jumpers, and/or clear the CMOS. At
this point it'd be useful for us to know the prior history
of the system and when problem started, but you might also
check the power supply voltages, and swap in different
memory if you have any available. If bios (or jumpers) can
be set to lower FSB, (underclocked) try that too,
temporarily. Since the pause occurs long before windows
begins to boot, it is not windows related.

Check the battery, replace if low voltage. Look around the
board for failed capacitors... vented top, domed/bulged,
leaking or residue on top or bottom, especially around the
CPU socket, memory slots, or AGP slot.

Motherboards with integrated video are often more picky
about memory, if you have a spare AGP video card, install
it, which will disable the onboard video automatically.
Likewise, memory that is incompatible with your board's
integrated video might test OK on a different motherboard,
partly why i suggested underclocking it temporarily, and
also set the memory bus clock synchronous to the FSB.

You made no mention of the power supply. If it's a junky
generic, suspect it. The motherboard isn't too great
either, but without a lot of additional parts to swap in/out
it's difficult to speculate that it's a problem in itself...
but ideally, a better board would be used to build a system.

 

[S.N.]

Thanks for the quick reply. My answers to your questions are below. Thx!

When was the very first time it paused for 5 minutes?
Did it do this previously or is it a newly built system?

Last night was the first time. It has never done this before.

Did it do so the first time it was powered on (by you, in
your presence)? Did it do so only after adding some
hardware, or maybe changing BIOS settings?

After a complete format and reinstall, everything was running well. I have
tried loading the "optimal" and "best performance" settings in the BIOS but
that did not work either.
I did notice through further reading that SP2 causes problems. I let
windows update load that just yesterday so I'm suspecting that now.....but
seeing as this is not a windows issue I'm not sure that is correct either.
Nevertheless, I uninstalled SP2 using the "Add/Remove Programs" tool and did
a system restore to Friday of last week which, at that time, everything was
good. Still didn't work.

Strip system down to only bare essentials. CPU,
heatsink/fan, video card, 1 memory module. Power on and see
if it hangs, if you can enter bios and navigate around
without it hanging. If it doesn't hang, proceed to add back
hardware a piece at a time.

If it does hang, recheck jumpers, and/or clear the CMOS. At
this point it'd be useful for us to know the prior history
of the system and when problem started, but you might also
check the power supply voltages, and swap in different
memory if you have any available. If bios (or jumpers) can
be set to lower FSB, (underclocked) try that too,
temporarily. Since the pause occurs long before windows
begins to boot, it is not windows related.

Check the battery, replace if low voltage. Look around the
board for failed capacitors... vented top, domed/bulged,
leaking or residue on top or bottom, especially around the
CPU socket, memory slots, or AGP slot.

Motherboards with integrated video are often more picky
about memory, if you have a spare AGP video card, install
it, which will disable the onboard video automatically.
Likewise, memory that is incompatible with your board's
integrated video might test OK on a different motherboard,
partly why i suggested underclocking it temporarily, and
also set the memory bus clock synchronous to the FSB.

You made no mention of the power supply. If it's a junky
generic, suspect it. The motherboard isn't too great
either, but without a lot of additional parts to swap in/out
it's difficult to speculate that it's a problem in itself...
but ideally, a better board would be used to build a system.

My power supply is a Cyberzone Model KC-350
Input 115v/230v AC 60/50Hz
Output 350 Max

Thanks again for your reply. I'll try the steps you have mentioned and
hopefully have some good luck!

Cheers

 

[David Wang]

It could be a software driver issue. Try to get the latest drivers for all
your devices.

 

[S.N.]

I'd love to but I can't even get to Windows in Safe Mode.

 

[kony]

I'd love to but I can't even get to Windows in Safe Mode.

According to your account, that this hang even occurs
hitting delete on cold boot trying to get into the bios, it
cannot be a driver problem. Perhaps you have driver
problems too, anyone could, but it would be impossible for
drivers/software/operating system to cause this.

 

[S.N.]

According to your account, that this hang even occurs
hitting delete on cold boot trying to get into the bios, it
cannot be a driver problem. Perhaps you have driver
problems too, anyone could, but it would be impossible for
drivers/software/operating system to cause this.

I totally agree but at this point I would try anything.

At the time of this writting, I have reformated my hard drive (which is a
real peach when you have to wait 5-10 min with every boot), I installed my
OS all over again.

Before that I removed my CMOS battery to clear it, changed the jumper
setting on my mobe as well as my documentation stated. Tried each one of my
2 RAM cards on their own as well as changing hard drives.

Nothing......right now I'm running some windows updates that pertain to some
hardware I have. One is for my graphics card.....I'm hoping for the best.

I will post the results.

 

[kony]

I totally agree but at this point I would try anything.

At the time of this writting, I have reformated my hard drive (which is a
real peach when you have to wait 5-10 min with every boot), I installed my
OS all over again.

Before that I removed my CMOS battery to clear it, changed the jumper
setting on my mobe as well as my documentation stated. Tried each one of my
2 RAM cards on their own as well as changing hard drives.

Nothing......right now I'm running some windows updates that pertain to some
hardware I have. One is for my graphics card.....I'm hoping for the best.

I will post the results.

Clearing CMOS is a good idea, but check the battery voltage
too.

Strip system down to minimal components if necessary... NOT
minimal to running windows, minimal to POSTing at all,
meaning do not leave any drives connected, and only 1 memory
module. Often this problem occurs as result of
drive-related issue.

 

[S.N.]

Clearing CMOS is a good idea, but check the battery voltage
too.

Strip system down to minimal components if necessary... NOT
minimal to running windows, minimal to POSTing at all,
meaning do not leave any drives connected, and only 1 memory
module. Often this problem occurs as result of
drive-related issue.

Yeah....I did all that. Unplugged everything inside except my hard drive.
Unplugged everything (printers, sound etc) except my keyboard. Tried to
boot with each RAM on its own. Changed to a different hard drive. I don't
know how to check the voltage of my CMOS battery. This computer is
approximately 6 months old though so if things are dying now I'm feeling a
bit ripped off.

To answer an earlier question, it did at one point hang before the BIOS but
I got further after I cleared the CMOS. I was then able to boot to safe mod
e. I ended up formatting and reinstalling my OS.

I've managed to get back to my OS and am writting from my machine now. It
works great otherwise.......it's just the boot up.
The only thing I haven't tried is completely changing the RAM as well as
getting a better power supply. Might try the power supply thing today if I
have time.

Thx again!

 

[S.N.]

Clearing CMOS is a good idea, but check the battery voltage
too.

Strip system down to minimal components if necessary... NOT
minimal to running windows, minimal to POSTing at all,
meaning do not leave any drives connected, and only 1 memory
module. Often this problem occurs as result of
drive-related issue.

Running a memory check now using Memtest-86.
Bought a new power supply. If the Mem checks out I will install the power
supply tommorow.

 

[S.N.]

Clearing CMOS is a good idea, but check the battery voltage
too.

Strip system down to minimal components if necessary... NOT
minimal to running windows, minimal to POSTing at all,
meaning do not leave any drives connected, and only 1 memory
module. Often this problem occurs as result of
drive-related issue.

Well...tested the memory with Memtest-86.....tested ok.
Bought a new power supply and put it in......still no luck.
The only thing left is the Mobo itself.

Sign me confused..........