Loooong delay before first screen

[Claire]

Hello,
Sorry for posting question not Windows related but I do not know
any hardware forum.
On startup it takes 59 seconds for my computer to display the first boot
screen (memory count, entering setup etc).
For all that time the harddrive LED stays solid red (does not flicker at
all).
I have quite modern computer, Pentium 4 dual core 3.2 GHz with 4 GB of
RAM., SATA 500 GB hard drive and 200 GB IDE harddrive.

Why there is such long delay and what should I do to change that?
Thanks,
Claire

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hello,
Sorry for posting question not Windows related but I do
not know any hardware forum.
On startup it takes 59 seconds for my computer to display the first
boot screen (memory count, entering setup etc).
For all that time the harddrive LED stays solid red (does not
flicker at all).
I have quite modern computer, Pentium 4 dual core 3.2 GHz with 4
GB of RAM., SATA 500 GB hard drive and 200 GB IDE harddrive.

Why there is such long delay and what should I do to change that?

What is 'quite modern'? Dual Core or Core2Duo?

BIOS updated to the latest revision from the manufacturer? The operations
you are speaking of would have to do with the operations before the OS - so
visit the manufacturer's web page/support page/download page for your system
and see what BIOS is available and how to install it and do so.

Be sure your backups are current - as things can go wrong wven with the most
mundane operations - and this is not close to mundane. ;-)

Hard disk drive firmware up to date?

 

[Jose]

Hello,
           Sorry for posting question not Windows related butI do not know
any hardware forum.
On startup it takes 59 seconds for my computer to display the first boot
screen (memory count, entering setup etc).
For all that time the harddrive LED stays solid red (does not flicker at
all).
I have quite modern computer, Pentium 4 dual core 3.2 GHz  with 4 GB of
RAM., SATA 500 GB hard drive and 200 GB IDE harddrive.

Why there is such long delay and what should I do to change that?
Thanks,
Claire

You can tell us a lot of information and receive good ideas if you do
this:

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just
delete it from the pasted information.

This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork.

It will look something like this:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model Presario V4000
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1696 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix F.14, 4/27/2006
SMBIOS Version 2.31
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.
080413-2111)"
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 220.24 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.20 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

[Jill]

sounds like it trying to boot from another device (what do you have plugged
into your USB ports) and timing out before booting from the hard drive.

 

[Bob I]

Contact the PC vendors tech support, something is amiss in the hardware
you have. This may be a warranty issue.

 

[Claire]

Bingo!
I have USB modem attached to the computer. When I unplugged it the delay was
reduced to 10 secs (down from 59 secs).
What I do not understand, why that device can influence computer that bad
way?
BIOS is set to boot from DVD (1st) and hard drive (2nd).
I do not have boot from other devices enabled.
Thanks,
Claire

 

[Claire]

Thank you for your time but I think your response is completely out of
merit.
Are you sure you are competent about computer's hardware?
I cannot take your remarks seriously,
Claire

 

[Jose]

Thank you for your time but I think your response is completely out of
merit.
Are you sure you are competent about computer's hardware?
I cannot take your remarks seriously,
Claire

What is 'quite modern'?  Dual Core or Core2Duo?

BIOS updated to the latest revision from the manufacturer?  The operations
you are speaking of would have to do with the operations before the OS -
so visit the manufacturer's web page/support page/download page for your
system and see what BIOS is available and how to install it and do so.

Be sure your backups are current - as things can go wrong wven with the
most mundane operations - and this is not close to mundane. ;-)

Hard disk drive firmware up to date?

If you answer the question from Jose and post your msinfo32
information, none of the other questions will need to be asked or
entertained.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Thank you for your time but I think your response is completely out
of merit.
Are you sure you are competent about computer's hardware?
I cannot take your remarks seriously,

*shrug*

I didn't ask the question or reply like an @$$ when someone tried to help.

 

[Unknown]

Don't know your computer but, do you have the capability to modify your
power on tests?
Example: You can do a fast memory test or an extensive memory test at power
on time
on my computer. Of course, an extensive test takes much more time. Suggest
you investigate
your BIOS settings. With 4 gigs of memory time is required.

Thank you for your time but I think your response is completely out of
merit.
Are you sure you are competent about computer's hardware?
I cannot take your remarks seriously,
Claire

 

[Jill]

see if there is an option in the BIOS about support for legacy devices (and
try turning it off)

 

[Claire]

I do have IDE hard drive as a secondary drive.
Is that a legacy device?
Thanks,
Claire

 

[Jill]

no.
look for something about legacy USB devices

I do have IDE hard drive as a secondary drive.
Is that a legacy device?
Thanks,
Claire