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johnakelman

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Computer hangs before booting up

I have an Asus A7V motherboard with and Athlon AMD 1ghz processor.

When I switch the system on it does a memory check than hangs.

The "press DEL to enter setup" is displayed, but then it hangs, and there is no response from the keyboard

I have checked the Ram which I believe is Fine. The Bios is an Award bios version 6.0, and it has an award BIOS plug and play extension V1.0A

That's all I have.

My feeling is that the M/b is shot but before I change it outI wondered whether anyone has experienced anything similar and can come with a solution!!!!
Thanks
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dbrunton
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aindelicato

Boot up problems like this can have multiple causes, you need to isolate the problem before deciding its the mobo.


Do you get any beep codes?

Try booting with minimal hardware attached.

Unplug all external devices, USB, PS2, etc.. only use a keyboard.

Boot with the bare minimums .. RAM, primary HD, Video card... nothing else.

This sounds more like RAM to me, do you have any spare memory to test a boot with?  Do you use more than 1 stick? Try booting with just 1 stick of RAM.

Make sure your HD isn't shot.

Try another video card if you have one.

Replace the CMOS battery, your board is old enough that it could be spent.
Did you check your motherboard capasitors ? Anything bulged leaking ? Right now i have a system sitting on my bench with a motherboard problem.
Try removing the RAM and all other connected devices, including drives, and see if the same things happends.  That is what I generally do, however, I had this same motherbaord and I had a heat issue.  I ended up having to lower the voltage setting in the BIOS for my processor.   i'm not sure if that is your problem, but it's worth a try.  
hi there

apart from what everybody has said i would like to add that the issue might be also with the power supply unit. so try to get a new power supply unit or try to check the power supply unit for its functionality. A total bare system check is highly recommended.

i.e starting your computer only with the processor with the mobo. then with the ram then with the hdd then the cdrom then the usb devices this way u will be able to identify which device is causing the problem.

additionally try to reset the bios to the defaults which will erase any problems with wrong device info in the bios.

goodluck

bhanu
Disable any IDE Channels that do not have a drive connected to them, could be hanging and timing out trying to find a drive that isnt even there to start with.
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ASKER

I did as suggested and it stopped hanging, I have been abkle to access the Cmos Setup and can now proceedand locate the problem. Thanks very much. Please close the question