Hi All, this is my 1st post so please be kind

I've recently built my own PC for the 1st time and it's been running well up to now.

The problem I'm experiencing is that if I restart the computer or shut down and on turn on again without disconnecting from the mains supply, the boot-up appears to stall immediately prior to the RAM test for about 1m 15s before continuing and then a further 50s before the XP login screen appears.

However, if I disconnect the PC from the mains for approx. 20 seconds (any less and the above symptoms still occur) before restarting, the RAM test is complete after just 10s and the log-in screen appears just 30s later. So that's a total of 40s if I power cycle compared to 2 minutes if I don't.

This only appears to have manifested today after installing a Linksys Wireless router. However' I've tried uninstalling, performing a system restore and re-flashing the BIOS with the latest firmware. None of this helped.

Also, it may be related, Standby has never worked. The PC will go into standby but you can't wake it up and have to reset to get it back on.

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Hi drummer,

Welcome to PCHF.

It's sounds like either a memory leak from one of your applications or a physical memory problem. The 20 seconds you switch off will actually purge the memory. To rule out a physical problem, download memtest:

For floppy disk, download, extract and install: http://www.memtest86.com/memt32.zip

For CD, you will need Nero (or software than can burn images): http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.2.iso.zip

Can you also give me your PC spec's?

Thanks for the quick reply.

I ran memtest and that produced no errors.

I have filled in my PC specs on my profile so it is available on the "My PC" drop down button. Would any more detailed spec be of any use?

Thanks.

drummer, if you boot to safe mode, and then reboot, do you experience the problem after being in safe mode?