Slow startup

Hello

I've had a quick search through the forums for a solution to my specific problem, but I cannot find anything.

Basically, on the startup screen my PC hangs, for about 30 seconds. This is before the memory check - indeed it gets halfway through writing something about checking the memory then it stops. There is no hard-drive activity at this point so far as I can tell - it literally appears to be waiting for something!?

Could this be a problem with an external device? I vaguely remember that the issue started around the time I bought a new USB KVM switch. I haven't tried disconnecting it yet, but I suppose that is my next step. Alternatively, could it be an issue with something overheating/breaking? My computer is in my office in our loft. Over summer it gets very hot up there, I wonder if that could be related? I am thinking specifically that maybe one of my RAM chips has "blown up" which is stopping the memory check from working?

Apologies for being so vague on details, but hopefully someone will be able to offer some suggestions on how to proceed with fixing this problem.

Thanks
Jay

Thanks montyuk, I'll give that a go this evening.

I might buy some more RAM anyway. Looking back at when I bought the PC I see it is one of these:

AMD Shuttle Bundle SK43G/2600/512

Though I have put more memory in since. Looking on the Kingston site I see they have a couple of compatible 1GB DIMMS:

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/co [...] 6X64C25/1G

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/co [...] 3X64C25/1G

Does anyone know which of these is more appropriate - 333MHz or 266Mhz? I think the 2600 in the Shuttle Bundle is the processor speed, can I use 333MHz RAM with this CPU? Sorry, I'm a bit of a novice

Thanks
Jay

Thanks Pat, much appreciated. I'll give all your tips a go, hopefully it'll be running lightning fast again soon!? I was thinking about the floppy drive the other day - I don't think I've used it more than twice since I bought the PC years ago...