Boot freezes at memory test

[Cameron]

My computer occasionally will not boot. It gets to the memory test, and then freezes usually with part of the words viewable, e.g. "Mem" or "Memory Te" or some such thing.

I cannot even get into the BIOS when this is happening. Recurrent restarts do nothing. Resetting the CMOS, and even taking the battery out of the MB for a little while did not help.

If the computer is left for several hours than it tends to work again. Sometimes this has to be up to a day or more.

What could be causing this? And how can I fix it? Why does it only happen periodically and rectify itself after a time? The MB is a GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2 and the RAM is 2x2Gig of Team Xtreem Dark DDRII 800.

Your assistance is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[PC eye]

Since you are taking the battery the first thing to try there is a new one! If you have been running this board for a year or more in particular some batteries tend to go faster then others. A weak nearly dead battery will cause a long list of problems.

With the system left on for a long period the post tests are finally completing seeing Windows then load up. That would be one problem if not seeing sudden restarts out of nowhere a weak battery will throw at you.

With that ruled out since replacement batteries are usually found at calculator or watch/jewery dept. in stores and you still see the same problem then you have to consider a bad cap or some other hardware related problem.

A bad cap can pull power down seeing lags in startup as well as a corrupted bios programming. A last item could also be a supply problem if the ability to regulate power is now being seen on weak supply. A weak battery is the first item however and the less costly to replace.