Aspire GX-781 needs an eternity to boot

Alainrroser · April 2021

I have an Aspire GX-781 since a few years and there never were any problems but since a few months there is this problem. I start up and normally there is this beep sound and then there is this loading wheel and then it starts but now it takes about five minutes to get to the beep and then another five minutes to get to the wheel. I tried change the power settings in windows and the bios, also looked at the boot queue and now I don't know what to do and hope you can help me.
Thanks in advance

billsey · May 2021

That sounds like what would happen if the drive was starting to fail. If you ask it to go to the BIOS instead of loading Windows, does it do that quickly? If so then it is getting through POST OK, but taking too long to load Windows. Try running the check for errors option in preferences for your C: drive to see if that cleans it up. If it does then grab one of the SMART monitor programs and see if the drive has been throwing errors or not.

Alainrroser · May 2021

billsey said:

That sounds like what would happen if the drive was starting to fail. If you ask it to go to the BIOS instead of loading Windows, does it do that quickly? If so then it is getting through POST OK, but taking too long to load Windows. Try running the check for errors option in preferences for your C: drive to see if that cleans it up. If it does then grab one of the SMART monitor programs and see if the drive has been throwing errors or not.

No, the BIOS also needs as long as Windows. Do you have a suggestion here too? But Thanks for your help

StevenGen · May 2021

Alainrroser said:

I have an Aspire GX-781 since a few years and there never were any problems but since a few months there is this problem. I start up and normally there is this beep sound and then there is this loading wheel and then it starts but now it takes about five minutes to get to the beep and then another five minutes to get to the wheel. I tried change the power settings in windows and the bios, also looked at the boot queue and now I don't know what to do and hope you can help me.
Thanks in advance

Alainrroser, the one beep is a normal pre boot post beep but, the sources of your problem(s) could be in numerous places and within numerous hardware and/or software issues. It could be that your power supply is faulty, CMOS battery is low and needs replacing as and if your BIOS is loading very slowly and takes 5min to load it might need resetting or a new CMOS battery (see #20 in caption below where CMOS battery is). What I would suggest that you do first is do a "Clearing CMOS" with the jumpers (see caption #13 below where your Aspire GX-781 CMOS jumpers are on the mainboard) and then do the "Clearing CMOS" like this guide:

Clearing CMOS

You may need to clear the Setup configuration values (CMOS) if the configuration has been corrupted, or if incorrect settings made in the Setup Utility caused error messages to be unreadable. This procedure will clear the BIOS supervisor password as well.

Use the CMOS1 jumper to clear the CMOS data.

• 1-2 position: Normal operation (default)

• 2-3 position: Clear CMOS data

To clear the CMOS data:

1. Turn off the power to the computer and all peripherals.

2. Unplug the power cord from the computer.

3. Unplug the network cable and all connected peripheral devices from the computer.

4. Place the computer on a flat, steady surface.

5. Remove the side panel.

6. If necessary, remove any expansion cards, assemblies or cables that prevent access to the CMOS clear

jumper.

7. Locate the CLR_CMOS jumper on the mainboard.

8. Remove the jumper block and set it over the 2-3 pins for 20 to 30 seconds.

9. Return the jumper block to its default 1-2 position.

10. Reinstall any expansion card, peripheral, and system cables that have previously been removed.

11. Reinstall the side panel.

12. Connect the AC power cord to the system.

13. Press the power button to turn on the computer.

14. During POST, press Delete to access the Setup Utility.

15. Press F9 to load the system default values.

16. Press F10 to save the changes you made and close the Setup Utility

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/0i/6t4caos2knx1.jpg

CMOS Jumpers at #13 below

Aspire GX-781 motherboard components and descriptions

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ef/o0285ucxpkds.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6f/oxi40j7nst7u.jpg

billsey · May 2021

So, a slow start to get into the BIOS means either that the BIOS itself is doing some extended testing for POST or you are experiencing hardware problems that are slowing the tests down without failing them. Enter the BIOS and do a reset (F9), then save and exit. Does that change the start time to the BIOS menu load? The slow access might still be drive issues, but likely access to the EFI partition rather than the C: partition. When you turn the system on by pushing the power button, it tells the MB to turn the power supply on, then initializes the CPU, then the memory, then loads the onboard portion of the BIOS, then goes to the drive to load the EFI partition. So anything that slows access to the EFI would show there.

What drive do you have installed in your machine? If you create and boot from a Windows install flash drive, does it come up faster?

Alainrroser · May 2021

billsey said:

So, a slow start to get into the BIOS means either that the BIOS itself is doing some extended testing for POST or you are experiencing hardware problems that are slowing the tests down without failing them. Enter the BIOS and do a reset (F9), then save and exit. Does that change the start time to the BIOS menu load? The slow access might still be drive issues, but likely access to the EFI partition rather than the C: partition. When you turn the system on by pushing the power button, it tells the MB to turn the power supply on, then initializes the CPU, then the memory, then loads the onboard portion of the BIOS, then goes to the drive to load the EFI partition. So anything that slows access to the EFI would show there.
What drive do you have installed in your machine? If you create and boot from a Windows install flash drive, does it come up faster?

Okay the reset of the BIOS doesn't help. It doesn't get faster.
I too don't have a Windows Boot Flash Drive, the Windows was installed when I bought the computer.

billsey · May 2021

If you have a flash drive you can repurpose you can create a Windows install flash drive using either the Microsoft Media Creation tool or Rufus and a downloaded Windows image. Be sure you are on Microsoft's site when you download the image, there are some sites that pretend to be them and may or may not have a good image.

Larryodie · May 2021

Can you make a System Repair Disk ( Backup/Restore ) once you get booted then change your bios boot option to boot from it for testing purposes. Also try holding the shift key and RESTART to get into safe mode, might help.