Hi

Without being at the computer myself, I may not have all the details.

This is what I know:

Computer takes about 12 minutes to boot up. It stalls I believe before the POST is even done. She says she see the first few lines when she starts the computer such as the Energy Star thinks she recalls seeing something about the monitor and maybe the BIOS.....

So I ask, does she hear any beeps when she starts the computer. She told me no. So I assume she is not getting past the POST. Well, she does but it takes a long time. If she leaves the computer, after 12 minutes or so, it will finish booting up. Everything runs fine after the computer does boot.

Could it be the battery?

I'm the aunt. My computer was built in 6/06, could still be battery. Thoughts?

I do not believe anyone who claims to be Lisa's aunt can be dull!

Long boots times are often caused by hardware and or network issues. Do you have any errors listed in Device Manager?

Does it take forever to boot into Safe Mode?

Do you now, or did you have any networked or external drives connected?

_________________
Bill, AFE7Ret
Freedom is NOT Free!

Why Bill, long time no talk! So nice to see you! Thanks to both of you for your help. I got her registered last night here so she would be able to answer questions.

I did not know how old the computer was until last night and since it is not very old, I don't suspect the battery now.

She has no in-home network and I am pretty sure there is no external hard drive hooked up.

Not a laptop. Is a desktop.

I know the problems are coming before the keyboard. During the time it is stalled or whatever it is doing, she can not use the keyboard. It will beep if she pushes any keys so Safe Mode would still take long because she can not get to that point of pushing F8 for quite some time.

I wonder if she started her computer again and wrote down exactly how long it takes to get through the POST and also to write down what it does show on the screen before it stalls.

As for battery, I will get one. It's cheap and easy, then I can eliminate that.

I checked device manager. Nothing is showing up.

I have DSL, no network. No external drive.

I checked and downloaded all updates that were out there, did not help.

As for dust, I will blow out when I change the battery. I opened my case a year ago when I added RAM. I haven't opened it since. When I change the battery, I will check all the connections when I hook back up.

Let me tell you what I have done so far. Defraged and cleaned junk off hard drive. Started up with my start up disk (20 minutes later) found a couple of corrupted or missing files, fixed those. Started up my CD ran chkdsk /p, fixed errors. When booting off CD and floppy still had to wait for it to start. Ran Stinger on drive and even scanned boot area. Nothing there. Downloaded all updates from Microsoft including drivers. Checked scanner connections. After all this got it down to booting in 12 minutes. When my computer starts it zips right along as usual.

Info on my computer P4, 2 gb ram, 80 gb hard drive.

I was wondering if my DVD writer or floppy are failing. Floppy for no good reason has just decide to run in the past, thought it strange but didn't get excited. What is your thoughts on while my computer is open unplugging the DVD writer or Floppy? Maybe to many things to try at one time?

Due to the time span to restart I don't shut down unless I have too.

Hi Lisa's aunt!

If you have any USB devices, such as card readers, cameras, or printers attached, I would disconnect all them and try that first as I would suspect this to be a USB issue before the floppy or an optical device. Certainly, it will not hurt to disconnect those devices while in there and give it a try, as long as you remember to unplug the computer from the wall first, and take care to discharge static from your body by touching bare metal of the case before reaching in, and frequently thereafter.

Have you scanned for rootkits and other malware?

_________________
Bill, AFE7Ret
Freedom is NOT Free!


Last edited by Bill_Bright on Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total

You checked your cables as Bill suggested I trust. A problem there could cause the symptoms you're observing. Maybe borrow a neighbour's keyboard for a few minutes?

Anyway I agree about the floppy/DVD possibility. A failure there can cause that sort of delay. Disabling the floppy and DVD - one at a time - would be good. You should use the BIOS to disable if possible and unplug the ribbon cable in each case ... after powering down each time of coiurse (I could point you to a recent topic where someone fired his system by not doing so).

Speaking of powering down, you could save yourself a trip for the battery if you check the system's clock before and after an overnight poweroff.

I will be going to her house on Friday with new keyboard in hand, so if it was the keyboard, she will have a new one Friday to maybe eliminate that if things are not already figured out by then.

I picked up a battery, I will change it for good luck.

I do use the floppy to back up Quickbooks.

I have not check for Malware, etc. except for what Defender does. Have any suggestions for scanning?

You triggered my thoughts on cables. The company that ran our DSL just came and worked on the wires. I will also check to see if he knocked something around. I am hoping to work on it when I get home tonight. I will let you know how it progresses.

My Daughter has a keyboard I can borrow to check that before the weekend.

Sounds like a plan.

_________________
Bill, AFE7Ret
Freedom is NOT Free!

If you want Auntie Dullster I can run some malware scans for you this weekend if you want.

You can try this one and see what it comes up with. Post the log it produces:

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from http://www.besttechie.net/tools/mbam-setup.exe or http://www.majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html

Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.

* Make sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
* Once the program has loaded, select "Perform Quick Scan", then click Scan.
* The scan may take some time to finish,so please be patient.
* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
* Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
* When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.(See Extra Note)
* The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
* Copy&Paste the entire report in your next reply.

Extra Note:
If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove,you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts, click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process,if asked to restart the computer,please do so immediately.

While waiting for the weekend update...

I have not seen anyone recommend Malwarebytes before now, and have heard little about it since or before the software giveaway. Is it worth checking out? I notice they do not have a free version.

_________________
Bill, AFE7Ret
Freedom is NOT Free!