[Keln]

My parent's computer has a serious problem, and I'm completely stumped. I'll say up front that they do not want me to open their computer since it's almost 6 years old and they fear the worst if I open it. I build computers, but I'll respect their wishes on that.

Ok, so I tried to phone trouble shoot it (since I live in another state) and that didn't work, so since I am at their house this weekend I figured I'd take a look at it. What it's doing is when you start up the computer, it will go to the Dell splash screen where it lists the options of F2 and F12, which lasts maybe a second or two. Then it goes to a black screen with a blinking cursor. This screen will last anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes (I have not timed it), and eventually Windows XP will begin to load. I've run every kind of program I know of to clean everything from registry to processes, spyware/adware, virsues, and everything in between. As far as that is all concerned, it's all nice and clean now (though it was not before except NO viruses). I've done tweaks in XP and everything else I can think of, and it did not effect the delayed startup. So I rebooted and tried to get into the system configuration by hitting F12....black screen with blinking cursor again, then 5+ minutes later, the BIOS settings finally come up. So whatever is causing the hangup does not seem to be OS related. Without opening the case up, is there anything I can troubleshoot?

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Nevermind. I determined that their USB printer is somehow causing the problem. Boot goes normally once the printer is disconnected. Now to figure out whats up with the printer.

[Keln]

Nevermind. I determined that their USB printer is somehow causing the problem. Boot goes normally once the printer is disconnected. Now to figure out whats up with the printer.