Lately, when I start my PC, I am prompted to hit "Delete" every time... Why?
 

This started happening a little over a week ago.

Whenever I boot up my PC (OS, Windows ME) the "loading" screens shows and then the screen that shows white text on black, and has system, manufacturer, and other information.

At this screen, all loading stops, and I am prompted to hit the "Delete" key to continue.

Upon doing so the computer starts up properly and I am taken to Windows.

Does anyone know what is causing this "break" in my the start-up of my PC, and furthermore, is there a way to fix it?

It's a mild annoyance, but if possible I'd really like to get it back to the point where my PC/OS loaded without a hitch.

Any suggestions or solutions would be greatly appreciated, as this is one of the many parts of my PC I am clueless about. :)

Thank you.

Is there an error message? or does it simply say "press delete to continue?"

Have you installed any new hardware lately?

Sometimes hardware that is not supported by the BIOS, like; HDDs, CD-ROMS, Memory...Ect. can cause the system to hang, and hitting the delete key causes the BIOS to skip parts of loading, enabling you to boot.

^ What he said

The exact message I get is, "Press < Del > to resume."

The screen is all black with white text displaying various info about my CPU, with a small Dell logo in the top right corner.

This screen shows up right after the full screen Dell splash screen show when my computer starts up.

I haven't installed any new hardware for months, and have just started getting this message a little over a week ago.

I'm not really sure what it is.. It doesn't seem to be an error as much as it doesn a "pause" or break in the loading sequence.

wow, I know the exact one you're talking about. the problem is, <b>I haven't seen that message in about 4 years.....</b>


a question: will the computer keep booting up if you don't hit Delete?

Might it be the motherboard battery? If it's dead, the bios might be reset to factory default settings, which might just be what you had anyway. End result: no difference in the system, but an error message anyway.

I've seen a few instances where start-up programs were disabled improperly and the registry still pointed to phantom programs or services to be started before the GUI

A re-installation and proper uninstallation through the Control Panel (or System Information in XP, at least) can remove the software and the offending registry entry. Likewise, a registry cleaner app might identify the omission for you as well.

Thanks for the replies and good information.

The PC does not continue to load until I press the Delete key.

I do have NBGCleaner, so I will run that overnight and see if that fixes the problem.

However, when I think about it, last time I ran NBGCleaner, I think it froze on me.. And usually around the same spot.. Which could be related, or something entirely different.

Again thanks.