PC hangs before boot

[labist]

My problem is that when I start my PC it hangs on first screen before booting and goes on boot screen after 5 to 10
minutes. And if I go to bios options it works very slow to move on bios options. Please help me to resolve this issue.

[PCdoc]

Assuming the PC is a desktop, open the side panel of the case.

1) Ensure the inside of the computer case is dust free including the power supply/PSU/SMPS. Use an air blower or air can to blow out the dust. NEVER use a vacuum cleaner.

2) On the motherboard look for blown capacitors. Example: http://archive.siliconchip.com.au/static/images/articles/i303/30328_4lo.jpg

The red arrows shows blown/bad capacitors (caps). And first three from left (without red arrow) show normal/good capacitors.

Post back results.

[labist]

PC is dust free and all capacitors are in good condition.

[Allan]

Did this just start or has it been going on for a while? And when you say it hangs on the first screen do you mean the P.O.S.T.? One possibility is that the battery on the MOBO needs to be replaced. It's easy enough to do so let's rule that out (or in) before we go further.

[labist]

Yes It hangs on POST. I have replaced the battery but still problem exists.

[PCdoc]

Does this pc have a graphics card installed?? if yes, remove it. Infact, remove all addon cards installed(if any). Check only with ram and hdd. If problem still persists, unplug hdd from motherboard and check. Also check heatsink paste.

[Allan]

Let's check the ram and the hd:

To check the ram, download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.


Hard Drive Diagnostics:
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 

Make sure you select the tool which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), to make the CD bootable.
For Toshiba drives, see here: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

[labist]

Done all described steps but no luck. I have replaced PSU and RAM of same model but still problem exists.

[PCdoc]

Done all described steps but no luck. I have replaced PSU and RAM of same model but still problem exists.

I doubt on your motherboard now. Either can be on-board graphics chipset problem or BIOS needs re-program. Which is a shop job. I suggest you take your comp to a computer shop who can do complete diagnostic.

[labist]

Here I want to pointout one thing that somehow slow movement problem in bios has gone but still having delay in POST.
And strange thing is that sometimes it does not delay on POST and I can go to bios or boot quickly without any delay.

[PCdoc]

Did you try with only PSU, Motherboard & Processor and RAM ?
If yes, still did not work, I would still suggest to let a comp repair shop diagnose the motherboard.

[patio]

You have a flakey PSU...
To test this borrow not buy a known good unit of the same or greater wattage and swap it in there overnite...
Run the PC thru the most demanding tasks you use it for and you will know by morning.