Periodic temporary halt in posting activity
Periodic temporary halt in posting activity
System installed several years ago, with the motherboard exceeding five years. Power was cut off during the night and Fast Start was turned off. Occasionally, when I power it up in the morning, the POST appears after detecting the two SATA SSDs, but it remains stuck without progressing to Windows installation. After a reset or warm-up, everything functions correctly. SMART status on all drives is normal. Recent hardware changes include replacing the 3070 with a 4070, though I suspect issues began earlier. There was a possible webcam swap from C525 to C920, but that seems unlikely. In Windows, stability remains intact. No performance concerns detected. All SSDs show healthy SMART values. Any suggestions?
It doesn't happen on every cold boot and with all the USB devices this would be a major pain. I've not been counting, definitely less than 1 in 5, probably less than 1 in 10. I don't know if it might happen on a semi-cold boot (turned off, then turned on shortly after), other than to say I've not seen it happen. Leaving it unused overnight may or may not be a part to this. I don't think it is related to the SATA SSDs since they have already been detected at the point it sticks. I have no evidence if one of the NVMe ones are playing up. Certainly after successfully booting there are no signs of problems with either of them.
It seems you're wondering about recent changes that might be affecting your system. The webcam swap is a clear indicator, but other factors could be involved—like a BIOS update or a Windows update. Let me know if you'd like help checking those details!
When you switch a USB sound card to another port, like the webcam, it treats it as a new device and disrupts any existing setup. I also experienced bandwidth issues with other devices depending on their port assignment, making the situation more complex than it seems. For now, I’ve unplugged the webcam for testing. It’s only needed during streaming sessions, which I’m pausing. This should help, but I can’t confirm it fixed everything since the freeze persists. I’ve changed my monitor layout from two to three displays, but the problem was already present. Checking my download folder shows bios files still present. They added the latest bios in October last year. The freezing began a couple of months ago. The last screen I see is the POST message, and I don’t see Windows loading properly. It doesn’t seem to be a Windows issue.
I note this as a non-invasive method for diagnosing problems. No software modifications, no updates, no rollback or reinstallation required. I've also noticed some unusual USB behavior at your workplace where simply unplugging and switching ports resolves whatever oddities were present. It seems unrelated to your monitor. It appears you can likely eliminate BIOS firmware issues, but it might be worth checking other versions if applicable. Regarding Windows Updates, it's improbable they're the cause of the issue—you seem confident the OS is functioning correctly. However, where the operating system resides and the boot loader could have been affected. Most likely, the system performs normal POST operations but fails during verification of each drive, confirming the correct boot file is present. Given this, you probably don’t want to disconnect all drives except the Boot Drive and monitor its performance over a few weeks after a cold start. This would help pinpoint what’s actually happening during the check process.
For backup purposes, I'd create a clone but then begin a new install for the final version. This approach gives me more control since it reduces the number of variables compared to in-place updates. Once everything is connected and the system restarts, should it function properly?