splash screen, not booting, cannot enter bios setup

[wxiao]

I assembled a PC about 4 years ago. A few months ago it started to have this problem: when I start it, it will stay on the splash screen and won't boot. On the splash screen it says "press Tab to see Post Screen. Press Del to enter setup." If I press Del, nothing happens. So I restart it. Then most likely the same thing will happen. Then I restart it again ... Once is 15 times, the machine will boot successfully, and I get to use it for a while.

I read some posts in the forum, and tried reseting the jumper on the COMS, and also changing the battery. But neither worked for me.

Please point to a new direction for me. Many thanks!

 

[denis280]

When you get to work with it. is it slower lagging.if yes the HDD is starting to give up.run command CHKDSK and see if there is some bad sectors.

 

[paul878]

I just fixed a computer with the same exact problem, turn out to be bad memory.

 

[wxiao]

Thank you both for the two suggestions. I will try both ideas and report back.

 

[wxiao]

I think I accidentally found the answer. I opened up the PC to try the memory hypothesis. Then I noticed there was one unused SATA connector between two used ones. So I unplugged one cable and plugged it in the unused slot, so that the two used SATA slots are now next to each other. This somehow fixed the problem. I guess one SATA connector must be bad. Thanks for helping me find the answer.