Prolonged POST

What might possibly cause the POST to start taking a full minute when for years it has always been about 10 sec? Once completed everything is fine, just as normal. Haven't added any new hardware recently :confused

 

Greetings, Earthling (for some reason I get chills saying "Greetings, Earthling" - weird)...

First things that come to mind are any USB peripherals (keyboard, mouse, network adapters, printers, external HDs, etc.) - try unplugging everything non-essential to see if your symptoms change. Printer might be a likely culprit.

Reseat RAM module(s), maybe? Make sure all fans are spinning normally, do a general visual inspection of your motherboard (assuming this is a desktop) for any obvious bulging caps, burn tracks, etc.

Power supply could also be suspect - do you have a PSU tester?

 

Thanks Caliban, I'll check all of that tomorrow. Odd one though - no beeps, everything working normally. Don't have a PSU tester but did have to replace the PSU a few months ago. PC Wizard was reporting about 9.8v on the 12 volt line when I was using Win 7 but no evident problems at all until tonight. It won't run in Win 8.

You aren't the first to find it a bit strange to be saying hi earthling - just like they do on Jupiter and Neptune

 

Have you scaned for any kinda virus or malware lately.These all so could cause an issue.

 

The POST is a BIOS routine, long before any OS is loaded. Malware is not a possibility.

 

Then mostly it is caused bye a hardware issue then.

 

Don't you just hate that stinking, blinking, reeking cursor in the upper left corner of the screen?

Or, will it not get past the BIOS splash screen? Do you have any beep codes?

 

It just sits at the BIOS splash for a full minute, then starts up completely normally. No beep codes.

Intend to work through Caliban's suggestions today but better get some work done first, before anything else strikes!

 

Re: Prolonged POST - update

Next to go was the keyboard so took the lid off and reseated everything inside - memory, graphics card, SATA connectors, and lots of others I haven't any clue about. Reconnected all cables at both ends and rebooted.

Problem solved. Thanks Caliban