Desktop will not POST, sometimes takes hours

alphanumeric said:

POST stands for Power On Self Test. It's a function built into the BIOS on the motherboard. If it fails one of more of the checks you may get an error message , usually a series of beep codes, or in a really bad situation a blank or black screen. All this takes place before the operating system is loaded. Usually when the POST is finished you hear one short beep and then the OS starts to load. That is if you have a speaker connected to your motherboard. If you didn't have a speaker you could easily confuse a failed or stalled OS load with a failed post if you weren't watching too closely. Especially if it's the video card or driver thats throwing a wrench into things.
If it was me I would take the side of off the case and make sure there is no buildup of dust and clean things up if need be. Then I would power things up and try to get into the BIOS menu to check temps. While you have the side off make sure all the fans are running, especially the one on the CPU and video card.

Thanks, now I know.

It'd be nice to hear from the OP as to whether my suggestion was tried.

I still think its running too hot.
But Macgyver's suggestion of disconnecting USB devices also makes sense; I've noticed on an XP netbook, that bootup from power off takes a while when a USB flash drive is plugged in. Devices like our gaming controller and mouse hasnt really affected the bootup time.

Another suggestion would be to confirm there is an internal speaker attached. Most older mobo's have an onboard squarker. If your's has neither than you most certainly wont get the POST beeps which is the first point of troubleshooting a POST test.

Failing that, make sure your video card and ram are all properly seated. These are both show-stoppers if one or the other(s) are faulty. I doubt this is the case as it does eventually boot up, but its good to know anyway.

"But Macgyver's suggestion of disconnecting USB devices also makes sense" Yup. One time I went to reboot a laptop with an ipod shuffle connected to a usb hub and it would not post.

The warranty still costs me shipping, which is a lot with this thing. Plus the downtime.

The PC finally managed to boot up after a few hours. But thanks for the info I'll be sure and try unplugging all the devices etc next time it does this. Using CPUID HW, idling the temps range around 111F, although 'TMPIN1' is around 170F, not sure what that is with this program. But these are also with me around and the AC unit on high. When I go afk the AC goes off and it can get hot in there.

RAM and GPU have been reseated before.
Also, just to clarify, it doesn't take long for the computer to boot/load up, it's just getting it to power on in the first place (whenever this occurs).

And one other thing I noticed is when it finally booted on I did receive the CMOS SETTINGS WRONG, DATE/TIME NOT SET screen again. I re-set it in the bios although I'm not sure why I still get this msg, since I've replaced the cmos battery twice.