Occasional failure to boot up first time

Hi,

I am running Windows 10 20H2 (OS Build 19042.928).

About once every six times I press the start button on my PC it lights, the keyboard lights flash twice, then it just dies. Sometimes I have to press Start button two or three buttons before it starts, then it seems fine. Someone before suggested I replace the motherboard battery, which I have done, but still get the same issue. Any clues?

Thanks,

David

David, can you tell me if this issue only happens from a cold boot? In other words, is the problem only happening when the system is started after a power off but not when you perform a restart?

If that is the case then I suspect that you may have something not getting along with Fast Startup. Try disabling that and see if it helps. To do so, follow the steps in this tutorial:

Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10

hsehestedt said:

David, can you tell me if this issue only happens from a cold boot? In other words, is the problem only happening when the system is started after a power off but not when you perform a restart?

If that is the case then I suspect that you may have something not getting along with Fast Startup. Try disabling that and see if it helps. To do so, follow the steps in this tutorial:

Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10

Yes the issue only happened with a cold boot. I have switched off Fast Startup so will see how we go. Thanks.

Suspect bad caps in the PSU, if the same thing continues.

dave12cd said:

Yes the issue only happened with a cold boot. I have switched off Fast Startup so will see how we go. Thanks.

Very interesting. Do let me know how it goes. The Fast Startup can be annoying at times. I setup all my systems for Wake On LAN and Fast Startup also needs to be disabled for that to work so it's disabled on all my systems.

Steve C said:

Note there is also a Fast Boot option in the BIOS. I would disable that too.

Steve makes a good point. You might try disabling one at a time though so that you can really isolate whether one in particular is causing you difficulties while the other may not.

I was paying attention only to Windows Fast Startup because the manner in which it operates is simply more prone to causing potential issues.

In case you are interested in knowing a little bit more about what Fast Startup actually does, here is an article that does a pretty good job explaining how it works:

The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode (howtogeek.com)

dave12cd said:

Yes the issue only happened with a cold boot. I have switched off Fast Startup so will see how we go. Thanks.

I am afraid the same problem happened this morning, and here was me hoping that switching off Fast Startup was the answer. As that was not the problem should I switch that back on?

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Steve C said:

Did you check the voltage of the new CMOS battery was over 3V and load the BIOS defaults?

I had a similar issue due to a faulty power supply which did always supply the required +5V standby power line required to boot the PC when the on button is pressed. I eventually had to replace the PSU.
The PSU should generate a +5V standby output to the motherboard at all times when the PC is off and the PSU is turned on at the mains. Pressing the PC power on button causes the motherboard to send a power on signal to the PSU (derived from the +5V standby power line). The PSU should then respond by outputting the correct voltages on all rails and sending a Power Good signal to the motherboard when the voltages have stabilised - this usually takes 0.1-0.5 sec.

How would I check this? I bought a brand new CMOS battery, as when I used one I had lying around the problem was still there. With the brand new battery I am still getting the same issue.

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RJARRRPCGP said:

Suspect bad caps in the PSU, if the same thing continues.

Sorry, what are "bad caps in the PSU" and what do I do about them?

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hsehestedt said:

Steve makes a good point. You might try disabling one at a time though so that you can really isolate whether one in particular is causing you difficulties while the other may not.

I was paying attention only to Windows Fast Startup because the manner in which it operates is simply more prone to causing potential issues.

In case you are interested in knowing a little bit more about what Fast Startup actually does, here is an article that does a pretty good job explaining how it works:

The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode (howtogeek.com)

I have now disabled Quick Boot in the BIOS, so will see how that goes. Fingers crossed?