computer freezing on post screen

Hi Hope someone out there can help, as I’m ready to throw the thing out of the window. I built this computer about 4 years ago and it has been working fine – no blue screens or error messages. Last week it started freezing on the post screen. I can get into the BIOS and it is detecting the hard drive and memory, but the cd-rom seems to come and go from the BIOS. So far I have tried: Resetting CMOS via battery and moving jumpers. Reseating the memory cards one at a time in each memory slot. Tried disconnecting cd-rom and floppy disc drives, so all that was connected was video card, and hard drive. (Hard drive and cd-rom are on separate cables). Still froze in post screen without these connected. Tried booting from XP installation disc – sticks in post screen with message at bottom saying ‘Boot from Atapi CD-Rom No Emulation’ Tried powering off & physically disconnecting the hard drive (power & IDE). Then rebooting the PC without it. Got standard no system disc message. Then powered off again & reconnect the hard drive & rebooted. Changed 80g hard drive for a new 160g hard drive – still froze on post screen but it did see the new drive in BIOS and post screen. I came to the conclusion that it must be a faulty motherboard BUT THEN I attached an old 6g hard drive with windows 98 on and it booted up into windows. So now I am more confused then ever. Can anyone help? Jeany Asus A7V8X-X AMD Athlon XP2700 2 x 512mb DDR PC2700 Asus ATI Radion 9200se 128mb Seagate Barracuda 80gb 7200rpm Hard Drive Netgear ADSL Firewall Router

Hi Jeany and welcome.

With a 4 year old motherboard I think I would start with a new battery. These are typically CR2032, commonly found at your local battery/watch/camera counters for a couple bucks.

Shutdown AND UNPLUG the computer. Then touch bare metal to discharge any static in your body and pry the old battery out with something non-conducting - like thumbnails. While in there, make sure the system is free of heat trapping dust and dirt and the fans spin freely. Inspect the motherboard for bulging or leaking electrolytic capacitors. These failed or failing capacitors are a common cause of sudden, but seemingly random system lock ups and reboots. The capacitors look like tall soda cans, many of which surround the CPU socket.

All older motherboards, and many of today's less expensive motherboards use electrolytic capacitors containing a liquid electrolyte. Failing (including flawed and/or abused/over-heated) capacitors literally bulge at the seams due to excessive internal pressures. Extreme (and very rare) cases result in a firecracker type explosion that can really stink up a room. Typically, electrolyte just oozes from the pressure relief points stamped in the tops of the capacitor casings (seen as a symbol or letter). The electrolyte can be caustic to motherboards and flesh. Look for white to dark-brown, dried liquid or foam on the tops or bottoms of the capacitors. Bulging capacitors are a sign leakage is about to occur.

A motherboard with bulging or leaky capacitors can be repaired, but often it is more cost effective in the long run to replace the motherboard.

Take the old battery with you as most battery counters will recycle the old. Do NOT touch the new battery with bare skin - the oils promote corrosion and attract dust. I put a clean sock over my hand. Don't forget to touch bare metal before reaching in to insert battery. Press on all connectors to make sure they are tight and secure. Unless you know already, take note of the specs on the PSU label.

Boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu and check/reset date and time, and make sure all drives have been identified. Then "Save" and exit, cross fingers, let it boot and see what happens.

I mentioned the PSU - if you have added hardware since the PSU was new, you need to make sure it is big enough to support the new hardware. Also, a PSU will lose power capability as it ages so if it had no or little headroom when new, it may be underpowered now.

Hi Changed the CMOS battery, and checked motherboard for any leaks. I have a 350 watt SmartPower power supply. I have now tried booting up with the XP installation disc with the hard drive disconnected – and it started to load the windows files. I have also put the hard drive and cd-drive on one cable and connected it to the secondary channel. The BIOS picked up the hard drive as master and the cd-drive as slave, but it still froze on the post screen. What is so annoying is that I then disconnected the 80g hard drive and connected an old 6g hard drive and it worked. I also have a new 160g hard drive that has not been used and I tried that, it found it in BIOS but froze on the post screen Any other suggestions would be appreciated Jeany

I am sorry the battery was not it, but since they are so inexpensive, it costs little to make sure. I am afraid I don't have a solution. Some times, the obvious are often overlooked - Did you try a different cable? So the 160 has yet to be formatted? In the BIOS make sure Access Mode is set to Auto.

sorry you are having so much trouble !

Last week it started freezing on the post screen.

what post screen ? Did it stick on "detecting drives" ? "Boot from CD" ?

Tried disconnecting cd-rom and floppy disc drives, so all that was connected was video card, and hard drive.

I hope that you disconnected BOTH the power AND data cables !

Tried booting from XP installation disc – sticks in post screen with message at bottom saying ‘Boot from Atapi CD-Rom No Emulation’

Do you only have the one optical drive ?

Tried powering off & physically disconnecting the hard drive (power & IDE). Then rebooting the PC without it. Got standard no system disc message. Then powered off again & reconnect the hard drive & rebooted.

good, I'm guessing that it still did the same ?

Changed 80g hard drive for a new 160g hard drive – still froze on post screen but it did see the new drive in BIOS and post screen.

Then it is getting completely past drive detection.

What is your boot device order ?

I agree with Digerati that you should try another IDE cable.

I have now tried booting up with the XP installation disc with the hard drive disconnected – and it started to load the windows files.

What hard drives were connected when this happened ? Or was it the Press F6, and then continuing to load windows.

Are you trying to get to the Recovery Console ? or Perform a Repair Installation of XP ?

Tallon41