I got home from work today, fired up the PC, and after doing the usual diagnostics, it displayed a message, something like "system can not POST, press Del to enter bios and reset defaults" So I entered BIOS, and pressed the power button on the PC and the fans kept spinning but all the drives sort of restart, and the computer restarted, and now I'm back into Windows - everything appears normal, temps are normal, all my settings are the same etc etcIs something going to break on me lol?

...usual diagnostics...

What are your usual diagnostics?

Hi.",,,Is something going to break on me lol?…"I see that you are running Vista 64, if this is the first time you got an incomplete Boot, you amongst the luckiest. It's not likely that you will have a catastrophic crash, in the immediate future, but Back everything up, if you have not already. TV

I see that you are running Vista 64, if this is the first time you got an incomplete Boot, you amongst the luckiest.

Ryan was describing problems with BIOS POST (not Windows Startup). Problems with BIOS not posting usually have very little connection to the OS installed on the computer.

Hi, Ulf B."Ryan was describing problems with BIOS POST (not Windows Startup). Problems with BIOS not posting usually have very little connection to the OS installed on the computer. "Read his post again, it sounds to me that he got past the BIOS and started executing / reading the OS, or at least in the Boot phase.But your point, and mine right now, is of no help to him, we are getting off the subject. TV

Maybe I'm not even sure what POST is, but anyway, you know the black screen with white text, where the system displays your drives, ram, CPU speed etc, it got past that page, but at the next page similar to that it displayed the message about not being able to POSTIt just stopped there, it did not load into Windows or anything, no Windows loading bar, just the white text on black background.However like I said, entered BIOS, pushed power button (actually held it) and system appeared to restart normally.

Hi, Ulf B."Ryan was describing problems with BIOS POST (not Windows Startup). Problems with BIOS not posting usually have very little connection to the OS installed on the computer. "Read his post again, it sounds to me that he got past the BIOS and started executing / reading the OS, or at least in the Boot phase.But your point, and mine right now, is of no help to him, we are getting off the subject. TV

LOLOP:

"system can not POST, press Del to enter bios and reset defaults" So I entered BIOS.

The message "System can not POST, press Del to enter bios and reset defaults" is presented by BIOS when POSTing fails. A BIOS POST is the first thing that happens when you turn a computer on. After a successful POST the OS is booted. In this case, the OP didn't get a successful POST, hence the BIOS message "System can not POST, press Del to enter bios and reset defaults". Such a message is never ever displayed by any Windows version.

Maybe I'm not even sure what POST is, but anyway, you know the black screen with white text, where the system displays your drives, ram, CPU speed etc, it got past that page, but at the next page similar to that it displayed the message about not being able to POSTIt just stopped there, it did not load into Windows or anything, no Windows loading bar, just the white text on black background.However like I said, entered BIOS, pushed power button (actually held it) and system appeared to restart normally.

POST is when BIOS starts executing on your pc. A BIOS POST occurs every time you start up your pc or do a reboot of the computer. More info on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOSRyan, Could any of your "usual diagnostics" have anything to do with BIOS not posting?Your problem might be caused by the battery on your mobo. If the battery has run out of juice, you might get a problem that BIOS won't POST. As long as you have the pc running, no problems when posting on reboots. But if you shut the pc down completely, a dead battery might give you this symptom. A good sign is that you loose the correct date and time setting in BIOS - you might check this if you get any further problems with BIOS not posting.

Hi ULF B.I am sorry to tell you that you are still in the mid 70s. I will not argue with you. Go get your wife, cat etc. maybe they can help. TV"POST is when BIOS starts executing on your pc. A BIOS POST occurs every time you start up your pc or do a reboot of the computer. More info on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS"

Hi ULF B.I am sorry to tell you that you are still in the mid 70s. I will not argue with you. Go get your wife, cat etc. maybe they can help. TV"POST is when BIOS starts executing on your pc. A BIOS POST occurs every time you start up your pc or do a reboot of the computer. More info on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS"

Hi,OK. I'm an old man with pretty old knowledge. Please help me to understand the case. Do you mean that Vista will check the hardware and present a message such as Ryan got? If that's the case I must say that I stand corrected and that I'm very, very sorry for being wrong.Do any one have a picture of the Vista POST error screen? Do XP provide such a hardware check as well?

No need to stand corrected Ulf, you were correct to begin with.POST = Power On Self Test which is a series of hardware/software tests that the BIOS runs on power up. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the operating system.I suspect Ryan was referring to the POST as "usual diagnostics", which it is.Whether the POST failure indicates a problem or just a glitch remains to be seen.Fred

Thanks Fred!

Hi Fred and ULF B and everyone.This post is not intended to argue, just to clarify enlighten. And by the way, I am no spring chicken myself, and my previous post, was not intended to insult any one, it was only intended to emphasize that those times / years were when things really started to take hold and POST, as mnemonic, started, in my experience. Like everything else on the Net, it's only in the eye of that, who wrote it, beholder.While both of you guys are correct, in the pure sense, about the POST definition, as it applies to Micros / PCs, that is Not the only way that word, mnemonic / symbol is used. And it Not the way is used / referred to, in this case.I want to clarify / explain, the meaning of POST, as I've been involved with, experienced. In the early 70s on the Main frames, we used it to get a display / feed back if and when we had all the connections made / signals to Magnetic core Memory array. It stood for different word combinations, but We called it POST. It was also used in the Minis, and then the Micros came around. Some of the earlier, self written BIOSs, before Apple, IBM PCs, we wrote our own code / BIOS, and a crude OS, until CPM came around. We needed a way get feedback on the Hardware without having a Display. I first used an LED and then later, when PCs came around they started using Sound / Tweeters / Speakers. This is about the time that POST, as you guys know it / define it, came about.Fast forward about 20 years, when the Experts, (people that know more and more about less and less, until they know everything about nothing) at MS came around. Because of their Star brilliance, and excessive IQ, of about -2, they started reinventing and using terms they really did not understand, software bunch, or care to understand. And we are now at the stage that POST can be anything, including one going POSTal.The POST, as described / referred to by the OP, is Not the one that you guys define. Read his original message carefully, he is already gone way past it, he gets a Display, and I am fairly certain that his system hangs right after he does a Hard disk check. Vista is expert at hanging up at that stage. You can view your Boot, not BIOS execution, sequence by enabling it in Windows Start up. Start Search. Lower left / Start Windows symbol > msconfig > Boot >check / mark OS Boot information. I hope that helps. TV

Anyway, I havent had any issues with it, it started fine this morning after being off overnight.Another guy agreed it could be a CMOS battery issue.... Ill let you know if anything happens

I suppose it could be a battery issue. However, for a few weeks, I once ran my computer without a CMOS battery, and it always started. I had to reset the date and a few other things. But it started.Bob