Question PC Freezes Intermittently Takes Too Long To Boot

[probuddha]

Hey guys

So this has been going on for a few months now. My PC would randomly start stuttering eventually leading to a full freeze. The only way out is to reset the PC. At that time, I have noticed that the system takes forever to get past the POST screen and the Starting Windows screen. All this while, the SSD LED flickers but slowly and mildly (the intensity of the light is low).

It eventually boots but takes 5-7 mins or longer. Once it boots, it runs fine till the cycle recurs.

Also when this happens, if I try to login on Safe Mode, it takes a very long time to boot into Safe Mode as well. So I guess that rules out any rogue drivers/programs causing the issue.

Interestingly, what I've found that when this happens, if I reconnect the SATA cable to my SSD, it starts working fine, even if not on the first attempt, after a couple of attempts for sure.

I have also tried switching the SATA Ports, changing the Sata cable but the problem persists. I've also looked into Event Viewer, but there's no log of any anomalies, except for the "Previous Shutdown was improper..." message.

Another important thing worth mentioning, is that when this happens, I often find one or two of my drives missing from the My Computer menu. It usually is the D: and the CD drive. It shows back up and vanishes randomly :-/

I am wondering what could be the cause for this problem. Could it be the PSU or the SSD or anything else?

My Rig

ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
Crucial MX 100 250GB SSD
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x 2
Cooler Master V500 PSU
AMD FX 6100 CPU
Seagate HDD (500GB + 160GB)
Windows 7 PRO x64

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Deicidium369]

Long boot indicates a failing drive - before one of my new 16TB drives died - would take 10+ min to boot - then it finally failed and boots at a normal speed - although with that drive no longer showing up at all anywhere. I would put my money on a failing drive - either the HD or the SSD, Unlikely it's the PS.

Next time it is in the middle of a super slow boot - turn it off, disconnect the 500GB HD (I am assuming your OS, as ancient as it is is on the SSD) and see if that helps. Then shutdown and reboot a number of times without the HD being connected - if out of 10 times it boots normally 10 times - then the HD is the culprit

The missing drive (and corresponding drive letter "d" which assuming that's the HD) is the clue - almost sure that drive is failing.