On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:32:29 -0500, "Ken Maltby"
<kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>
>"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
>news:j9qbd3d0354a01npsscbl4af8hstl7h4au@4ax.com.. .
>> On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:18:02 -0500, "Ken Maltby"
>> <kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"Noozer" <dont.spam@me.here> wrote in message
>>>news:JkiBi.104337$rX4.39427@pd7urf2no...
>>>>> This may be a long shot, but try cleaning up any startup
>>>>> related software/OS drivers. Especially keyboard related,
>>>>> and in your case anything that might be connected to,
>>>>> wake on LAN, or such.
>>>>
>>>> How could ANY software/OS cause the PC to freeze during POST?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The OP was that it was "Inconsistent" and happening
>>>"within 4 min. of cold power up" and "on ONE occasion
>>>it locked up in the middle of entering the BIOS password".
>>>
>>> But to answer -your- question; in the same way a boot
>>>block virus works. There is more interaction possible
>>>than you appear to be aware of.
>>
>> There is less interaction possible than /you/ appear to be
>> aware of. A boot block virus isn't running until the system
>> attempts to boot from that drive.
>
> Which occurs right after the POST, well within the 4min.
>mentioned.

There is no software factor including boot sector viri,
which impede entering the bios menus. The machine has
already demonstrated it is a hardware failure at that point.
While it is /possible/ there is also a software failure,
untill the initial hardware failure is resolved it would be
premature to assume it.


>
> You are aware that there are programs that even rewrite
>the BIOS from XP?

Yes, they have to have some intelligence of the specific
board to work. Show us even one virus that can write to
this board.

> If interaction at the level of totally
>rewriting the BIOS are possible, why do you find it so hard
>to understand that some of the data that the BIOS must
>use can also be changed, is it just because I'm the one
>pointing it out?

What is theoretically possible, but never shown to exist
with capability to flash the OP's board, is a scenrio so
unlikely it would not be reasonable to consider unless there
was evidence suggesting it.

There are too many things to even enumerate that are
possible if we can't play odds at least a little bit. There
is no reason to think the bios has been written to, and
particularly not that it had been written to but remained
intact enough to POST the system only locking up soon
thereafter. The odds are far lower than 1 in a million.




>
> But I would also direct you to any definition of the term
>"Long Shot". This is based on an actual startup problem
>I had with one system of mine, and it did turn out to be
>caused by a keyboard driver problem. It would lock
>things up so that it wouldn't even POST. Pressing the
>Power Button or shorting the pins wouldn't start the sys,
>even with the little green light on the MB glowing.

On a restart maybe, but this was a problem from a
powered-off, cold start. No driver will effect getting into
the bios menu from a cold start.


>
> I have no way of knowing if this has anything to do
>with the OP's problem, but it is possible. It is a long
>shot worth the trouble of plugging in a different simple
>keyboard. (One not designed to work with whatever
>enhanced drivers there may be on the problem sys.)


If the OP feels the keyboard is faulty, certainly another
should be tried. If the keyboard otherwise works once the
system is running (which it seems to do once ran and
restarted), having the keyboard only exhibit this problem
upon a cold start is also exceedingly unlikely.