# PC posts, then freezes. Any clue as to what's wrong?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 12, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250 "2005-12-12T13:41:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/1 "2005-12-12T13:41:27Z")
PC question: NOT answered in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260053).
Yesterday, after doing some processor-intensive work, my PC locked up; frozen mouse pointer, no keyboard response, the usual. I attempted a reboot, and the motherboard posted, but then again the computer locked up.
[[Boot screen - doesn’t get farther than this.]](http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/594/freeze2oa.jpg)
That’s it. If I hit [DEL} to setup, a line readinf "Entering setup
displays, but then nothing happens.
Everything is seated, nothing’s unplugged, and I reset the CMOS. Still, nothing. Tried plugging in the backup BIOS that comes with the Albatron motherboard. Nothing changes. Before I go out and get a new motherboard, is there anything else I should be looking at?
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/2 "2005-12-12T13:58:11Z")
Did you hear any beeps aside from the normal “everything is okay” beep? Or does your motherboard come with LED status lights that might indicate a problem?
Also, if you’re using more than one slab of RAM, you could try removing all of them and leaving just one in at a time individually to see if one of them might be bad.
Lastly, how long did you wait at startup? I’ve seen the BIOS/post appear to hang for several minutes, but it finally finished after that and displayed what it was trying to do (in my case, I think it was trying to access an IDE device that was plugged in but unpowered).
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/3 "2005-12-12T14:11:18Z")
> [@Reply](#):
>
> Did you hear any beeps aside from the normal “everything is okay” beep? Or does your motherboard come with LED status lights that might indicate a problem?.
The one beep, then nothing. Status lights are all normal.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/4 "2005-12-12T14:15:16Z")
> [@Reply](#):
>
> Lastly, how long did you wait at startup? I’ve seen the BIOS/post appear to hang for several minutes, but it finally finished after that and displayed what it was trying to do (in my case, I think it was trying to access an IDE device that was plugged in but unpowered).
I tried waiting several minutes, and … nothing. Tried unplugging the IDE devices, too, and still nothing. That usually gets me a “boot drive cannot be found”-type error, but not this time.
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/5 "2005-12-12T14:18:46Z")
Did you try the RAM thing too or did that not apply?
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/6 "2005-12-12T14:42:17Z")
> [@Reply](#):
>
> Did you try the RAM thing too or did that not apply?
I only have one stick. I didn’t swap with my second PC, but it’s worth a shot. Is it more likely that it’ll be the RAM?
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/7 "2005-12-12T15:19:54Z")
I don’t know if it’s _likely_, but it’s _possible_. It’s worth trying before you set out to buy a new motherboard.
Or you can wait a while to see if anyone else has better suggestions?
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### Author:  [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/8 "2005-12-12T15:53:32Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> I only have one stick. I didn’t swap with my second PC, but it’s worth a shot. Is it more likely that it’ll be the RAM?
From the boot screen, it appears the BIOS never ran the RAM test. If this is true, you should be getting an error message, but there’s none on the screen. A RAM swap is worth a try, but I doubt that’s the problem.
You say you’ve already reset the BIOS to default settings. Try (if possible) turning off BIOS shadowing, disabling secondary cache, and reducing all cache/memory/hard-disk timing to the slowest possible settings. If you have a spare video card, that’s worth as shot as well.
I doubt any of these are the possible cause, but they’re easy to rule out. If none of it fixes your problem, it’s time to get a new motherboard.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/9 "2005-12-12T16:05:29Z")
> [@CJJ\*](#):
>
> You say you’ve already reset the BIOS to default settings. Try (if possible) turning off BIOS shadowing, disabling secondary cache, and reducing all cache/memory/hard-disk timing to the slowest possible settings. If you have a spare video card, that’s worth as shot as well. .
Unfortunately, I can’t even get into the BIOS settings. Hit [DEL] on boot, and you get the same results, only with a “Entering setup” line at the bottom. From there, it locks.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-posts-then-freezes-any-clue-as-to-whats-wrong/335250/10 "2005-12-12T18:05:08Z")
Looks like I’ve got one of those one-in-a-million problems. Always happens to me.
I’m going to order a new mobo. Thanks anyhow.