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| Thread ID: 78285 | 2007-04-10 05:44:00 | Computer startup problems | Michael8 (7034) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 539699 | 2007-04-10 05:44:00 | Hi, I have an old pentium 3 computer with a CPU speed of 733mHz, ram of 384mb and it runs on windows xp. Just about one month ago the computer began to start up slow. It takes a long time before you hear the beep from the internal computer speaker signalling that the computer is starting up and you start to see bios(or whatever you call the screens with a black background and white writing). The first time I noticed the slow starting up, it took about 5 mins before the beep is heard. The start up progressively became longer and longer. Now it takes about 40 minutes before you hear the beep and everything starts to load. I tried fixing this problem by formatting my hard drive but to no avail. It still takes as long as it did just before I formatted the hard drive. Can someone please suggest a solution to my problem? What is wrong with my computer? Is there a problem with my ram? Thankyou, Michael |
Michael8 (7034) | ||
| 539700 | 2007-04-10 06:10:00 | A bit more ram would help. How old is the hard drive? How old is old? |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 539701 | 2007-04-10 07:40:00 | I'd suspect its taking ages to do its POST checks. Possibly dodgy HDD? | pctek (84) | ||
| 539702 | 2007-04-10 07:53:00 | Try removing any plugged in printers/scanners etc. | Jen (38) | ||
| 539703 | 2007-04-10 08:05:00 | Should I purchase more ram? I've been using my ram for about 6 years now and haven't had a problem with the boot until now. The hard drive that I have is the one that came with the computer when I first purchased it around September 2000. What are post checks? And how do you stop your hard drive from being dodgy? Also, I tried removing the hard drive and replacing it with a 2gb one that came with my 486 but the beep still takes as long to be heard. The computer can work normally with the 2gb hard drive as I have tried it long before the computer ended up like this. There aren't any printers/scanners connected - just the basic components such as monitor, keyboard and mouse. |
Michael8 (7034) | ||
| 539704 | 2007-04-10 08:22:00 | POST is the Power On Self Test where the system does a quick check of itself. The "beep" indicates all is well. Adding more RAM will not help your computer complete POST faster. Try removing the mouse and keyboard and see if it completes POST faster. It will most likely give an error with the missing keyboard, so don't worry about that part. During the POST where the white writing is being displayed, at what point does it seem to hang for ages? What is on the screen at that time? |
Jen (38) | ||
| 539705 | 2007-04-10 08:39:00 | See if the BIOS setup page shows the correct date and time. If that's wrong, replace the backup cell. That would also lose the BIOS configuration settings, and it could be spending a lot of time trying to work out what they should be. It shouldn't ever take 40 minutes, though. ;) That's more likely than a bad disk drive. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 539706 | 2007-04-10 08:41:00 | Set ur bios to default setup, remove any extra added ram stick. use a HDDLife or everest to check ur hard drive condition. | gum digger (6100) | ||
| 539707 | 2007-04-10 08:56:00 | I haven't tried starting up with my mouse and keyboard unplugged but if you really insist I will try it later on . The reason for this is that the computer restarts normally if you've been using it for a long time (you can think of it as being warmed up) . After the computer has booted and the desktop has been loaded, if I restart the computer via the start menu, the beep is heard right after the computer begins to reboot - the computer starts up normally(fast) . However if I turn the computer off via the start menu not too long after the desktop has been loaded and then switch the computer back on, it takes over half an hour before the beep is heard and the computer starts to load . If I use the computer for over half an hour after the desktop has been loaded, turn it off via the start menu and switch it back on again - it starts up normally/quickly . The point when the computer seems to be hanging for ages is before anything is shown on the screen(even before the white writing and black background is shown on the screen) . After the POST first appears on the screen (about 40 minutes after the computer is turned on) everything afterwards happens normally . During the time before the beep is heard there is nothing on the screen . The light at the switch of my monitor (Philips 105S) is yellow instead of green . It is normally yellow when the monitor is not plugged into the computer but green when there is something on the screen(plugged into the computer) . When I switch the computer on, you can hear the fan running but it just seems to hang there until the beep is heard . The computer sometimes restart automatically when I'm using it and before I use it . |
Michael8 (7034) | ||
| 539708 | 2007-04-10 09:05:00 | Graham, the date and time of the bios seems to be correct . What a relief! (Saves me from re-configuring the bios settings :P) Gumdigger, I'll try your suggestion later as the computer starts up normally once it is warmed up . I'll have to wait a while before I turn it back on . Btw, how do I set the bios to default setup? Do I go to advanced bios features and press f7 for standard defaults? Also, what is HDDlife and everest? Are they applications? |
Michael8 (7034) | ||
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