For the past couple days, my PC has been taking forever to start up. That's no exaggeration. While waiting for it today, I decided to play Mega Man 6 to pass the time, thinking I'll get through the Robot Masters before it started. Nope, I beat the whole game, and it's still going. Once it gets to the point when XP has actually started, it works normally. The BIOS part beforehand is the part that takes over an hour. Considering I use this computer, it needs to be fixed. Anyone know what the problem is?
Not be skeptical but probably your computer needs a format, maybe something within Windows got corrupted and it's causing that. My computer actually does that sometimes and doing a full format usually helps. I just can recommend you to do that if you want and if you do it and doesn't help probably it's hardware related, not sure...but I guess giving a try doesn't hurt, just my personal recommendation anyways
Odd question but do you have any external drives like EHDDs, USB drives, SD cards, or any CDs in the disk drive? If so, plug them all out and try again. I used to have a stalling problem with my OS taking too long or not starting up at all and it turns out it was a simple USB drive in the back causing all the trouble. after that it started up quick again. Also, tell us the solutions you already tried so we arn't vomiting the info. you already know.
Usually the only things plugged in are keyboard, mouse, USB hub, and USB Wi fi adaptor. So far, the only thing I've tried is "upgrading" the BIOS (I went from 2.5 to 2.3, don't ask why, it didn't help). And if it helps, it's a Dell Dimension DXP061.
I agree with LocalH. A video of the computer starting up would be very helpful. Or at least detailed information about what appears on the screen and at what times.
Since it's before the computer actually starts up, I obviously can't get screen capture. And I don't have some form of external capture device, so the only option would be recording the actual screen, and my cameras suck. So I'll probably just have to type up what comes up.
So I turn on my computer today, and I finally figured out what was taking it so long. It just didn't feel like it. Yep, nothing changed, and it started up perfectly. God I hate PCs.
Where, exactly, does the BIOS hang? While still listing peripherals, or while the Windows loadup animation is going? If it's the former, you could be having a failing HDD (or at the very least a bad sata cable). If it's the latter, I'd check the system logs.
Sometimes, defragging can help with the start up hang when the Windows load up animation is taking forever. Atleast it does with my mom's laptop. (not sure how it happens, but it's weird). A second thing is turn on diagnoise in the BIOS to see if something shows up or turn it off if it's on (quick boot in some BIOS). Run a stress test as well.
It would take really long on both parts. Most time was spent on the black screen with white text (whatever that is). But it would take around 10 minutes on Windows startup. Not to mention, my dad did comment on how loud the computer was, and that it didn't sound good. And since I don't want to make another thread so soon, I just cracked my iPod touch screen earlier. Fell out of my pocket for the hundredth time, and this time it breaks. Touch screen still works, but I want to get the screen replaced. It's too difficult to do myself, so can someone suggest a good place to mail it in for repair for cheap? No, it's not on warranty.
Sounds like a dying hard drive. Check the SMART data with hd tune, chances are it'll have something in red.
I've just decided to change the name of this thread for another problem of mine. My keyboard and mouse have stopped working. I was just trying to get my gamepad working (which used to work, but suddenly stopped), and following Microsoft's help advice. Suddenly, my mouse and keyboard stop responding. I just assumed the computer froze, so I reboot it. Nope, still doesn't work. So I grab another mouse to test it out. Nope, doesn't work.
Sounds like your ports, or something on your motherboard is starting to fail. How old is your PC by the way? And do you frequently dust it, keep the area clean.
I got the PC second hand, but I assume it's around 5 years old. And I don't dust the area it's sitting in, but it's usually pretty clean.
If USB, are you having problem with any other type of USB device (flash disk, camera cable, etc?) If your gamepad is USB and it suddenly stopped at the same time as your mouse and keyboard, this points to your USB controller going bad. If PS/2, you usually have to reboot to be able to unplug and replug a mouse. Keyboards tend to work fine when hot-swapping though.
My gamepad stopped working a while ago, while the computer worked fine. And my USB controller apparently still works, seeing as how the bottom of the mouse still glows red and the gamepad receiver still flashes, but the keyboard doesn't show any lights.
I hate PCs. Besides the fact that I've had more problems with it in 6 months than I've had with Macs in 6 years, at least when the Mac breaks down, there's an explanation. I decided to just open up the side of the PC to look at the USB stuff on the inside (I had no idea what I was doing). I poked the silver boxes on the inside, looked at it, closed it back up, and plugged it back in. Guess what? It works fine now.
Take it to a computer repair shop, ask them to format and reinstall Windows. There's no good reason to hate a PC that hasn't already been fucked up, whoever you got it from secondhand may have fucked it up. If you don't feel like paying for someone to reinstall it, reinstall it yourself using some guides online. Furthermore, I recommend just buying a new computer. 5 years is a bit outdated regardless of the OS you're running. Post your specs here if you want to change my mind. (Start menu -> control panel -> classic view (or view small/large icons) -> system As for dusting the computer, open it up again and take a tire compressor to the fan. Blow out all the dust and crap inside (I recommend doing so outside.) I recommend you defrag at least once every few months, or get a program that will automate that for you. (Start menu -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools -> system defragmentor) Check your machine for any malware. Download MalwareBytes, then run a flash scan and a quick scan, remove any threats. Run CCleaner, remove any junk that shows up.
