11bravo

Well, cr*p, I was hoping it was fast startup... In the BIOS, I'd look in the Startup tab, making sure of the boot order (as in NOT CD first, but rather HDD/SDD), and turn off fast boot so the diagnostics screen is shown during the boot. I'd also, to eliminate variables, unplug any usb devices you can, such as flash drives, external drives, etc. to see if that makes a difference.

The brief flashes of ssd access are it is detecting the ssd, but then the pause suggests it might be looking for something else.

xerxesix Loc: Portland, OR

Checked the BIOS and SSD is first in line for boot order. Turned off the Fastboot but again, does not seem to make a difference. When I start the ASUS MB screen appears, always has, but then it just sits there. I did leave it on this screen for about 15 minutes and still nothing until I press the reset button. Pressing Del to access the BIOS does nothing and only after I press the reset button will pressing Del get me to the BIOS. It does seem that there is something in the startup sequence that is waiting for something else to happen.

11bravo

Have you tried booting in safe mode to see if it hangs?

You might check these:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/recent-upgrade-to-win-10-freezes-on-start-up/0e28f53c-aa59-453d-9cdf-0a2062e75d4c

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-boot-freezes-on-logo-but-pressing-reset/ddc5de09-b989-4cb9-9a8d-bc26d9bd41a4

11bravo

It sounds like you might have other drives connected besides the C drive. You talk about CD drives, but hard to tell if you mean 2 drives, C & D, or a CD (as in DVD) drive. I'd suggest disconnecting all the other drives and just running with the C SSD. See if you have the same problem. Likewise, I'd try putting back the old SSD drive and see if you have the same problem. I'll assume it's an SSD sata drive, not a M.2 or something like that. Also no usb connections or anything else plugged in (you did mention you disconnected the card reader).

If you do, you might see if moving the SSD connection to another sata port on the mobo changes anything. And try another sata cable. Just trying to isolate the problem. I know some mobo's have different sata ports with different controllers (as in Intel and Jmicron), especially if you have more than 6. I'd make sure the ssd is connected to the sata-1 port on the mobo initially, then see what happens if you move it. I have a desktop that will not boot if a HDD is connected via USB, but it's only that HDD - others work OK. OS complains about something not responding. In the BIOS, (I can't look at mine now), but is the sata port set as hot-swapable or not (just going on memory - dimming - here).

Have you checked the memory timing in the BIOS (usually in advanced or overclocking setup) just to make sure the mobo sees the memory correctly. If you're bored, you might try using windows capability to test memory, or use memtest86.

Again, just throwing things out as possibilities.

xerxesix Loc: Portland, OR

[quote=11bravo]It sounds like you might have other drives connected besides the C drive. You talk about CD drives, but hard to .....

I should probably have been clearer. I had 2 DVD drives, one of which was sporadically misbehaving and that is the one I removed. Could not find the BIOS memory timing you referenced but will keep looking.
I am running the memtest and it is taking a lot longer than I thought. I am on the 3rd of the tests and an error keeps showing up at the same address. Not sure what to make of it just yet. Will wait to see the final results.

11bravo

1. I'd remove both DVD drives temporarily. Just to eliminate variables.
2. Here is article I just glanced at, but seems to be general enough as don't know your specific mobo/memory:

https://www.howtogeek.com/257766/how-to-enable-intel-xmp-to-make-your-ram-run-at-its-advertised-speeds/

3. To me, a memtest should run error free. You might try googling the specific error and see if any recommendations. I know it takes a long time, but as I recollect, some advice says to run one stick at a time, then try in another slot, to pin down errors. I've never had to - my failed memory test was with an OLD computer that turned out to be the mobo.

4. Stumbled across this article just today:

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/06/flip-off-fast-startup-to-force-windows-10-to-shut-down-for-real/

One paragraph that really drew my attention:

A quick trick you can try is to just restart your system, which discards the Windows kernel instead of creating a snapshot for a speedier startup.

Perhaps if something has been corrupted, it's the restart that allows the complete boot.

xerxesix Loc: Portland, OR

I have been running memtests the past few days and it is clear that I do have a bad address on one of the memory cards, I have 2 X 8 GB cards. Some Google articles say a bad memory card can cause this problem, however, when I just leave in the memory card that gets the clear memtest the problem still remains. So I think I can rule that one out as a possible cause.

For me it would seem that the problem is in the BIOS, but I have set the BIOS to all the default settings and the problem still remains. I am under the impression that when you push the start button, the BIOS is the first thing that runs and it brings up the Mobo screen. Do you know whether the BIOS then initiates the MS startup immediately or is there something else the BIOS does before invoking the MS startup routine? This seems to be where the hangup is and the reset button pushes the software over this hump.

Any suggestion is helpful. Thanks