PC hangs on post screen after doing Windows 7 restart

I just built my computer today, everything is working fine and all drivers are installed from official websites etc. When I start my computer from complete off (cold startup) the BIOS splash screen lasts for 1 second before Windows 7 starts booting, and the computer startup speeds are fine. However, when I'm in Windows 7 and a click to restart computer, it shuts down perfectly fine, but when It gets to the BIOS splash screen it literally sits there for 30 seconds before Windows 7 starts to boot, and this makes the startup time slower, and is very frustrating. I've seen other people mention the same problem I'm getting on other forum websites, but no one seems to know a solution.

For curiosity here's my PC specifications:-
Asus P8Z77-V LX
8GB Crucial RAM
1TB Samsung HDD
Intel i3 3220 3.3GHz

Very often the reboot stall you are experiencing was caused by an improperly set up optical drive.

Open up the unit and unplug the optical to see if that helps.

I have found the cause to my problem, and that is my USB TP-link wireless adapter. When it's unplugged the computer restarts perfectly fine, and it flies through the post screen. When it is plugged in, and it's frozen at the post screen for them near 30 seconds, if I unplug the USB adapter whilst it's hung there, it starts booting Windows. I have updated the drivers for my wireless USB adapter from TP-link's website, and it hasn't made any difference. What shall I do now?

P.S the TP-link drivers are from 2011, there hasn't been any later drivers apart from one's for Windows 8 which are BETA versions.

TVeblen said:

The TP Link adapter is failing at UEFI boot, so the driver has nothing to do with it. The driver only affects Windows.

So you need to determine why the adapter is not initiating in UEFI (BIOS). It could be a defective part. It could be something wrong with the port or cable. If this board has USB3 ports don't use them for the adapter, use a USB2 port.

You should go through the UEFI settings to see if there is something related to USB or on-board network adapters in Onboard Devices Configuration that might explain the freeze.

But chances are it is a faulty adapter and will need to be replaced.

I actually plugged in a spare wireless G adapter by Micronext and the computer starts up and RESTARTS perfectly fine. My computer is running on Legacy only mode and I have forced this in the BIOS by making sure it's not on multi-mode (UEFI/Legacy). This is so weird, the TP-Link works flawlessly in all my other computers, which are slightly older running on legacy mode and never have this problem not working with the BIOS on post

I have contacted TP-Link today telling them what's happening, so I'll post back the results in a few days, when they get back to me.

TVeblen said:

Have you tried it in a known USB2 port yet?

Ok I found the solution. I got an email from TP-Link with drivers they told me to download from somewhere and installed them, that solved my problem of my adapter not waking back up resuming from sleep mode. I also checked my BIOS version and realised I was on old firmware, and after looking at the release notes for all the firmware releases after my current old one, there was a fix for USB devices and compatibility. The restart delay is still there but only about 5 seconds, and is barley noticeable. Cheers for the help guys, much appreciated :)