Laptop only boots properly after tons of attempts

[OhNoItsSuper]

I've seen threads on all kinds of tech sites about a similar issue to this, but none of them quite match up to my case, so here goes...

So I've been using a Dell Inspiron Windows 7 laptop for about 3 years now. Up until recently, it worked just fine with no issues. (with the exception of a semi-broken charger port, where I have to angle the charging cable for the laptop to receive power.) However, the laptop now takes more than one attempt. I can't really give an average, but I can give you a time frame. It takes anywhere from 10 minutes to upwards of 4 hours. Yeah, it's not exactly mint-condition.

Now, before you post your answer, I would like to define what I mean by a "proper boot". A proper boot in this case would be the display of the Dell logo, the bar reaching the end, and the "Resuming Windows" screen appearing. (I say "Resuming Windows" because I usually use the Hibernate option instead of Shut Down. Not sure if Hibernate affects anything, though.) If you want to know what a "failed boot" looks like, simply turn on a PC with the monitor turned off while the PC is muted.

Anybody know what might cause this? More importantly, does anybody know of a solution?

 

[jsmithepa]

Don't care what the problem is (serious), the solution is reset machine to factory setting. Dell should had provided you with Restore Media? Backup data first if you need to.

In the unlikely even that doesn't work, you got hardware issues and need professional intervention, if it's worth it to you.

 

[ashik1983]

You can also try to use system restore function to restore it to a time when your system was booting properly.

I would also try to completely shutdown the system and then boot it in safe mode once. If it boots up properly then restart system in normal mode and see how it goes.

I had a problem with my system where it was taking too long to boot and the hard disk light would stay on for a long time working overtime. It turned out to be a hard disk problem. So check if you HDD is fine.

Would be a good idea to make sure your system temperature is normal. Just check your fans are working properly and exhaust is not blocked.

 

[hang-the-9]

You don't want to use Hibernate all the time, it's not a very stable method, and should really only be used when you just can't finish something and want to resume it but the computer needs to be shut off, instead of in sleep mode.

As above, check your disk for errors, long boot times, if not caused by currupted files or viruses, are most often from a failing hard drive.