I'm stumped - User's PC POSTs slow at his desk but works fine on my table

[Josh T]

Hi,

I have a user's PC that was having issues (slowed down to the point of not
being able to keep network connections up), so I rebooted it and it POSTed
ridiculously slow - it hung on the "blinking cursor" normally on screen
for a split second between the VGA BIOS Splash Screen and the MB BIOS
Splash Screen for like 10 minutes and then slowly booted into Windows XP,
but ran like a snail and not usable. User said for the past couple days
it had been "doing the same thing" for a couple minutes when he turned it
on every morning, but not "that long", and was able to use it when it got
into Windows.

So we replaced the user's PC with a spare and brought the PC to our
workshop and it works perfectly - I cannot reproduce the problems. So to
make sure I run a diagnostic program (Quicktech Pro) and everything passes
except the Keyboard controller test, but the keyboard seems fully
functional under Windows XP.

So we give the user his original PC back at his desk & when we turn it on
it has the same problem as before. The intern who hooked it back up even
tried booting it with nothing but the power and video cable plugged with
the same problem and even tried a new power cable. Same problem.

So we bring it back to the workshop and it is fine again. So I'm stumped
- what could be the difference between the user's desk and my table that
could cause the problems? The spare PC is fine there, and the original PC
had been working fine for months there. Could something there be shorting
it out & how would I prove it?

Original PC has a Intel SE440BX2 MB and a 500MHZ PIII CPU and is in a
desktop style case, not a tower case. The spare PC has an Athlon XP CPU
and a micro-ATX MB with a Via chipset and in a smallish micro-ATX case (so
it is light & easy to move around when we use it).

Thanks for any help,
Josh

 

[badgolferman]

Josh T, 9/6/2005, 2:14:40 PM,

Hi,

I have a user's PC that was having issues (slowed down to the point
of not being able to keep network connections up), so I rebooted it
and it POSTed ridiculously slow - it hung on the "blinking cursor"
normally on screen for a split second between the VGA BIOS Splash
Screen and the MB BIOS Splash Screen for like 10 minutes and then
slowly booted into Windows XP, but ran like a snail and not usable.
User said for the past couple days it had been "doing the same thing"
for a couple minutes when he turned it on every morning, but not
"that long", and was able to use it when it got into Windows.

So we replaced the user's PC with a spare and brought the PC to our
workshop and it works perfectly - I cannot reproduce the problems.
So to make sure I run a diagnostic program (Quicktech Pro) and
everything passes except the Keyboard controller test, but the
keyboard seems fully functional under Windows XP.

So we give the user his original PC back at his desk & when we turn
it on it has the same problem as before. The intern who hooked it
back up even tried booting it with nothing but the power and video
cable plugged with the same problem and even tried a new power cable.
Same problem.

So we bring it back to the workshop and it is fine again. So I'm
stumped - what could be the difference between the user's desk and my
table that could cause the problems? The spare PC is fine there, and
the original PC had been working fine for months there. Could
something there be shorting it out & how would I prove it?

Original PC has a Intel SE440BX2 MB and a 500MHZ PIII CPU and is in a
desktop style case, not a tower case. The spare PC has an Athlon XP
CPU and a micro-ATX MB with a Via chipset and in a smallish micro-ATX
case (so it is light & easy to move around when we use it).

Thanks for any help,
Josh

Have you eliminated all peripherals? That includes power, sound,
printer, and video cables.

 

[Robert Heiling]

Hi,

I have a user's PC that was having issues (slowed down to the point of not
being able to keep network connections up), so I rebooted it and it POSTed
ridiculously slow - it hung on the "blinking cursor" normally on screen
for a split second between the VGA BIOS Splash Screen and the MB BIOS
Splash Screen for like 10 minutes and then slowly booted into Windows XP,
but ran like a snail and not usable. User said for the past couple days
it had been "doing the same thing" for a couple minutes when he turned it
on every morning, but not "that long", and was able to use it when it got
into Windows.

So we replaced the user's PC with a spare and brought the PC to our
workshop and it works perfectly - I cannot reproduce the problems. So to
make sure I run a diagnostic program (Quicktech Pro) and everything passes
except the Keyboard controller test, but the keyboard seems fully
functional under Windows XP.

So we give the user his original PC back at his desk & when we turn it on
it has the same problem as before. The intern who hooked it back up even
tried booting it with nothing but the power and video cable plugged with
the same problem and even tried a new power cable. Same problem.

So we bring it back to the workshop and it is fine again. So I'm stumped
- what could be the difference between the user's desk and my table that
could cause the problems? The spare PC is fine there, and the original PC
had been working fine for months there. Could something there be shorting
it out & how would I prove it?

Original PC has a Intel SE440BX2 MB and a 500MHZ PIII CPU and is in a
desktop style case, not a tower case. The spare PC has an Athlon XP CPU
and a micro-ATX MB with a Via chipset and in a smallish micro-ATX case (so
it is light & easy to move around when we use it).

It sounds like you're all in the same building, so this is less likely,
but there is one obvious difference. Has anyone tested the AC current at
his wall outlet?

Bob

 

[Josh T]

Have you eliminated all peripherals? That includes power, sound,
printer, and video cables.

We tried booting it with just the video and power cable hooked, not even
keyboard/mouse - had the same problem at the user's desk, but no problem
at my table. We tried a new power cable at the user's desk - the only
thing we didn't swap was the monitor - which works fine with the spare PC.
Think it could be the video?

Thanks,
Josh

 

[GT]

Have you checked the CPU fan + heatsink - maybe its an Intel CPU slowing
itself right down to prevent heat damage? Unlikely, but maybe something is
loose and moving it about moves it around fixes it or breaks it!