Slow boot on Windows 10 - no cursor

C

calkin

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Sep 25, 2014
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Hi Everyone :wave:

My mom's Dell desk top has a slow boot issue that started within the last month. Up until then it booted in 30-45 seconds. Now it boots as far as the Dell logo and then freezes for between 1 and 15 minutes before completing its boot. Once booted up it functions normally. I have tried disconnecting all external hard drives and this has not changed the situation. In looking on line I've seen a lot of references to problems where the screen is black and the cursor is there but that is not my problem. There is no cursor until it gets off the Dell logo screen and then it seems to be functioning normally. No new hardware or software has been added in this time that I am aware of - updates may have occurred.

It's not a BSOD but I will post the dump file in case it helps.

The machine is an OEM install of Windows 10 on a Dell desk top PC.

The computer is a couple hours away from me so I won't be able to get back on it after today until next weekend. I will continue to check this thread and use my sister as my local set of hands to try to keep things moving along.
 
Hi calkin


The one detail that I'm not clear on: the Dell pauses during the boot for between one and fifteen minutes, right? During that time, as far as you can tell, there is no disk activity? And during that time, is the Dell logo on the screen the entire time? That's an important clue.
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Dell logo on-screen during startup pause
If the Dell logo is on the screen the whole time of the pause, it would tend to indicate a problem before Windows loads. On most computers, Windows does not begin to load until the "splash screen" of the "BIOS" disappears. Usually the splash screen is the logo of the manufacturer ... and the BIOS is a set of basic instructions that get your computer ready to load an operating system. A cold startup of the system will include a set of self-tests by the BIOS (often referred to as the POST [Power-On-Self-Test]). These can be brief or extensive, depending on settings in the BIOS, and whether or not the computer has experienced an unexpected crash.

Reset the BIOS to Default Settings
If the Dell logo is displayed the entire time of the startup pause, some setting might be wrong in the BIOS. Resetting the BIOS values to defaults might help. Here are the instructions for that:
1) Reboot the computer (or power on the computer if it is turned off).
2) When the Dell logo appears, start tapping the F2 key to enter Setup.
3) On the System Setup screen, press the Right Arrow key to move to the Exit menu.
4) Press the Down Arrow key until Load Defaults is highlighted.
5) Press the Enter key on Yes to Load Optimized Defaults
6) Restart the computer.

Run the built-in Dell Diagnostics
Some of the errors in your logs might have been disk related: running the built-in Dell Diagnostics can help check things.
To start the built-in diagnostics:
1) Reboot the computer (or power on the computer if it is turned off).
2) When the Dell logo appears, start tapping the F12 key to see the Boot Menu.
3) Choose Diagnostics.

I recommend running a fairly full set of diagnostics, just to be thorough.

If the diagnostics find a faulty part, it might be covered under warranty. A lot of Dell systems offer on-site service (one year is often included in the base price). If your mother's Inspiron has an extended warranty (longer than one year), the repair will likely be covered by warranty. Dell offers a four year extension for its in-home warranty: if she has that, they'll come pick it up, and deliver it when fixed (or replaced).

If she has the full in-house on-site warranty still in effect, that's a nice advantage -- especially if the diagnostics don't point to anything obvious. Nothing better than being there with the computer when effecting a repair.
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No Dell logo on-screen during startup pause
If the startup pause happens after the Dell logo disappears - I would still like you to try the two steps above: but the possible causes are more various.

Since these possibilities are somewhat lengthy, I'll wait to hear how the results are for the settings reset & diagnostics .

Good luck!
 
Thank you very much for the reply on this! :grin1: MUCH appreciated!

The Dell splash screen is on the whole time that it is "hanging". There does not appear to be any hard drive activity, but I don't see any indicator on the front of the box for this. If there is an indicator, it is certainly not blinking.

I'll have my sister back everything up and then if she is comfortable with it have her try the reset to defaults on the BIOS and the diagnostics. I know the BIOS settings have not been manually changed by anyone since the machine was purchased and started.

I will post the results as soon as I have them.

Thanks again!
 
If we're lucky, it will just be a setting in the BIOS that could have been altered by a power surge, and the BIOS reset to defaults will fix it ... hmm - after setting to defaults, you might want to check in on the BIOS setting for Time and Date, in case the reset to defaults clears the date as well -- you'd simply enter the current date & time, and then "exit saving changes".

If anything is wrong with the hardware, my first guess is the hard drive ... the good news about that: if it's under warranty, the repair is free - and if it's not under warranty, hard drives are less expensive than ever (I remember when keyboards cost more!) ...

Good luck!
 
I talked to my sister this a.m.; she is picking up an external hard drive to back everything up to as it's been about a month since I did this to my portable. Once done she'll try the BIOS and the diagnostics. The machine is less than 90 days old and she's looking for the receipt too.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
 
Sounds good .... It's definitely under warranty: have her double-check (or just call Dell) to see if the in-home on-site coverage is included (very likely is) -- just in case things need repairing/replacing.

P.S. ... I believe it's okay if she can't find the receipt: in the BIOS of the computer, a Dell "service tag" for the machine is stored. You can visit the support website and enter that "service tag", and it will show the date of purchase, and warranty coverage details.
 
Sorry for the delay on posting back on this. My sister was tied up with a project of her own so this had to wait till I was able to get back to Mom's.

I backed up all of her personal files on a new portable hard drive and then tried to get into the BIOS. No luck. Rebooted the machine several times and tapping on the F12 key for the entire boot process (about 10-15 minutes each time) but could not get the BIOS to come up.

Went to the Dell site and tried to run their quick diagnostics to start with, it is supposed to take about 10 minutes. The file saved to the PC but when I ran it there was no apparent response. The Dell site has a progress bar that showed the software downloaded and updated but after that nothing would happen. Task manager did not show any activity on the program or any of the open programs doing more than idling (CPU usage at 1-3%). I let it run about two hours before giving up on it. My sister said she saw a pop up that the service ID tag was not recognized or valid...Since it was purchased new in box from Best Buy she is going take it back there and let them deal with it.

Thanks for your help and I will post back what the final solution from Dell/Best Buy is.
 
Thanks for the update. The shortest warranties on brand new computers are in full force for at least a year, so you shouldn't have to pay anything. The service tag not being recognized is odd: the service tag is generally on a sticker on the case, as well as saved in the BIOS as well. The Geek Squad techs at Best Buy should be able to get things going / or replaced.

Hope you don't have to wait too long!
 
:thumbsup2: We can mark this thread as closed successfully.

The problem was the BIOS was messed up as OldGrayGary surmised, the boot order switched itself around. They restored the BIOS to default values and all is good. I still don't know why it wouldn't let me into the BIOS, maybe I wasn't tapping on the F2 key fast enough...

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND ABSOLUTELY CORRECT DIAGNOSIS!
 
Thanks again for letting us know: and congratulations on your work: now the computer can be fun to use again :)
 

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