Intel 865GBF - SLOW boot...

[therealnickdanger]

I have a Raptor RAID setup on a SIL RAID controller card, would that be why it takes so long? I've been dealing with it for a long time, but it should be this way. It takes about 4X longer to get the the XP screen than it takes for XP to load. It's so DUMB!

 

[montag451]

What process start at boot?
START
RUN
type MSCONFIG
goto STARTUP tab.
Untick as many as you dare - make a note of what you are unticking.

Also - I trust you have been updating your antivirus and done the obligatory sweeps with spybot/adaware/spysweeper etc etc

 

[therealnickdanger]

I thought I had clarified well enough, Windows loads normally - no issues there. This is on the motherboard side of things. The system hangs on the POST screen, where it counts system RAM and all that jazz. It just sits there for a good 45 seconds, then Windows loads in under 10 seconds. There was a time when it all booted very quickly, but I really can't remember what changes, if any, began this problem.

 

[montag451]

Sorry - misunderstood.

What psu have you got - might need a warming up period?
have you memtested?
Have you tried booting up with less periphs attached/enabled/connected? - as a troubleshoot

 

[therealnickdanger]

Originally posted by: montag451
What psu have you got - might need a warming up period?
have you memtested?
Have you tried booting up with less periphs attached/enabled/connected? - as a troubleshoot

1. I just replaced my stock Ahanix 350W with an Athena 450W last night - no change.
2. Memtested? The RAM tests OK on every boot and I never get errors...
3. I have started up before with only the monitor and keyboard, and there's no change.

I was thinking it might be my RAID controller card. I have an IDE HDD and an IDE DVDRW drive connected in addition to my SATA RAID PCI card. I should try booting without the RAID card in as well as with the IDE drives unplugged - perhaps there's a conflict?

 

[montag451]

Can you download and run MEMTEST overnite.
It tests the RAM thoroughly - more than just starting up the system RAM count.

Also, what settings are in BIOS for startup - can you enable quick post/boot?

 

[imported_synchro]

I would check the intel site for a new BIOS update -
Your system should not take this long to boot or finish post -

If you're running the latest BIOS already, call Intel. They'll work with you to fix it directly.

 

[therealnickdanger]

Just as an update, I recently rebuilt my computer and I left the backup WD harddrive unplugged (to ensure I didn't wipe it with Nuke and Boot). Upon rebooting multiple times, the computer started up quickly with no hassles. Upon plugging the IDE WD HDD back in, the slow POST returned! I found the culprit! Now the question is "why?"

I've tried setting the Hard Disk power-up delay on every setting the BIOS allows and no change... It just simply is slow as hell to initialize, I guess.

 

[montag451]

Was the culprit that you had the jumpers on the drive set to single disk, or something like that?