Computer can take hours to boot...

[dme92189]

A friends computer has lately been taking one hour or more to boot, it will turn on, everything runs, and the monitor is black, there are no mobo beeps, nothing to show any life besides fans spinning and hdd running etc. I have tried the bare minimun boot, to no avail, cleaning out dust, also to no avail. It does turn on eventually but it takes anywhere from 30 mins to one and one-half hours. I have narrowed down the possible faulty components to the mobo or cpu but am not sure if either of these are the actual problem.

Thanks for any help or intelligence i can gain in this matter!
Thanks!
Dan

 

[meltdown75]

Hi Dan. Might not be here when you respond, but just to get things rolling:

List the specs of the system in question. Also, what is the status of the OS install, and what OS is installed on the system?

Assuming it is Windows XP...

How far does the boot go before it begins acting strange? Does the Windows logo pop up?

Could be any number of things... bad device driver, borked Windows / OS issue (needing reinstall - it happens especially when people do not properly protect / update their systems, etc.)....

Also, did your friend add any new hardware or software recently?

- Melty

 

[dme92189]

Hey there,
He has a Pentium 4 of some kind, socket 478, dont know the core or clock offhand.
some gengeric mobo (sorry i just dont have it with me and he is not on now
1 120GB sata hdd
400W PSU Some generic brand
1 GB of RAM PC3200
Soundblaster Audigy 2 card
pci NIC
1 dvd rom and one CD-RW
One floppy
Geforce 5900

It is Win Xp
Also, it does not even get to the bios screen, it does not get to any screen lol, and no beeps are made, videa hardware has been tested on other comps to be working.
I don't know that it could be a Windowas problem since the bios does not even come up. My friend did not add any new hardware, it only started happening after a LAN in which temps in the room were a bit warm but not near enough to do damage.

 

[acole1]

Are the fans in the case spinning?

 

[RKS]

I had this issue a while back. I got to the scrolling bar XP window then the monitor would go black for about 45 minutes then just boot up.

For ME I believe it was either a hanging app or a driver. I would just re-install Windows and optical drives.

 

[meltdown75]

You might want to try checking for upgraded BIOS for that mobo.

Keep us posted.

 

[Fardringle]

Originally posted by: dme92189
It is Win Xp
Also, it does not even get to the bios screen, it does not get to any screen lol, and no beeps are made, videa hardware has been tested on other comps to be working.
I don't know that it could be a Windowas problem since the bios does not even come up. My friend did not add any new hardware, it only started happening after a LAN in which temps in the room were a bit warm but not near enough to do damage.

I have a PC at home that does almost exactly the same thing. It usually doesn't take 30 minutes to get running from a cold boot but otherwise it's the same symptoms. In my case it is caused by a faulty power supply. The PSU simply doesn't provide enough power for the system to boot while it is cold. It will run the fans but nothing else until it gets warm. As soon as the power supply warms up sufficiently, the whole system will run flawlessly until it is turned off again. In testing, I was actually able to make the system boot properly once directly from a cold boot by pointing an electric hair dryer at the PSU intake fan for about 5 minutes to get the thing good and hot (I did it just to see what would happen) but I wouldn't recommend that on a regular basis.

I usually leave my computer on all the time any way since I run a distributed computing project that I like to have going 24/7 so I haven't bothered replacing the PSU yet, but in your friend's case I'd suggest trying a known good power supply to see what happens.

 

[dme92189]

Wow you are right, it is the psu, we were pointing a high rpm cooling fan at it thinking it was an overheating problem, but when we turn the fan off, it boots with much better boot times!!! Time for a new psu! Thanks for all the help guys!