BIOS boot takes about 3 minutes to complete its tasks with the Intel logo displayed. No beeps. Then Windows XP-SP2 boots normally and works fine.

The different BIOS steps are not displayed on the screen any more: no BIOS parameter setup option, no Windows boot option (we set a waiting period of 15 seconds).

We ran a Passmark BurnInTest and the only failure pointed out was a defective NVIDIA GEForce PCX 5300 graphic card. Driver is recent (May 2008, vers. 6.14.11.7519). XP Control Panel Device Manager indicates that the driver is working fine.

PC is 4 years old.

Make sure that there are no floppy or CD/DVDs loaded in the drives as this will cause this problem.

Now go into the BIOS and check your settings...unless you are very familiar with Overclocking then the settings should be default...or default with a few minor adjustments such as make sure that the boot virus checker is turned off and that the boot order is set for HDD as first boot device....

Also while in the BIOS you can change the setting back to show the boot P.O.S.T. page...if you want.

If all that checks out then let it boot up then you must check your programs and applications to see if they are set to perform a check during boot...

Make sure that your system is clean from all malware/spyware and viruses

The problem disappeared without my knowing what the cause was.

I managed to get into the BIOS setup procedure for the Phoenix MB at startup. There, I checked all parameters and noticed all components were properly recognized. The only things I changed and which appear to have no bearing at all on the 2/3 minute temporary freeze are the system clock (just 3 minutes slow, so the battery should be okay) and a parameter whereby I requested that the startup procedure stop when encountering an error. The existing option was to go on with the startup regardless of eventual errors.

Thank you for your suggestions.