POST hang after RAM check

[xandermac05]

Hi folks, it's been a while...

I'm having issues with my dad's system, which is one I built 2 or 3 years back. It's a really basic build, with a cheap mobo and RAM and an i3 with integrated graphics... it does the job, basically. Except lately, it hangs for a rather long time - often 5 minutes or more - at POST, after initialising USB controllers and checking RAM.

I have tried disconnecting USB devices, of which there are a few - wireless audio device, a label printer, ext HDD etc. I have tested the (only) internal HDD in Seatools. I have re-seated the CPU, checked BIOS config, swapped RAM around, and memtest86+ is running as I type this. The only thing left that I can think of (memtest hasn't found anything yet, on pass 3) is Intel Burntest and/or Prime95, neither of which I really expect to flag anything up seeing as the system isn't generally unstable when in use. Everything seems absolutely normal, except for these ridiculous waiting times during POST.

Does anyone have any ideas about what might cause a hang at this particular stage of POST? I thought that was the USB devices part, but it happens even when all devices are unplugged.

 

[Outlander_04]

Update and reset the BIOS

Check windows is updated

Download and install AVAST antivirus and schedule a boot scan

and if all that fails then try another hard drive

 

[xandermac05]

BIOS and Windows are fully updated already, haven't tried a boot scan in AVAST! but what would that be testing? It's not something that happens during Windows startup, it's well before that, during POST. When it eventually gets to Windows, it runs fine. To make matters more difficult, it also doesn't hang at POST *all* the time, just most times. That's partly what made me think it was maybe a RAM problem.

However, perhaps I spoke too soon... test 5 just failed in memtest86+ on the third pass, with 4 errors. So I'm guessing I'm looking at a dodgy RAM stick. Which is irritating, because the RAM sits underneath a great big muckle top-flow Noctua heatsink...