USB external drives preventing bootup

I'm not sure which Discussion Group is belongs in, but it seems like a Windows issue so I'll start here.
In the February 2010 issue of PC World (airplane reading) "“ this bit caught my eye:
“Yet another USB drawback that you might run into: USB 2.0 drives attached to PCs sometimes prevent them from clearing POST (power-on self-test) and booting. I've never been able to trace the cause of this phenomenon, but I've experienced it on a number of different PCs.â€

I have that problem currently with two desktop PC and haven’t been able to solve it. I was both pleased and frustrated to see it in print; misery loves company, after all. It is a really annoying "phenomenon" because it means that the PC cannot be re-booted unattended.
In the bootup sequence, it appears to hang while checking memory. As soon as I unplug the external USB hard drives (either the hub or individually), the boot continues. Sometimes, it will boot straight through with only one USB external plugged in. I've actually replaced the original memory - doesn't help.
I'm running WinXP SP2; 3GB RAM, Gigabyte P35C-DS3R mobo, Intel Core2 QuadCPU2.4GHz, Award BIOS ver F10; the external USB2.0 HDs are mostly WD my books and all are plugged into A/C so they are powered separately.

Someone out there must know how to solve this problem.....

 

I've experienced similar though POST is ok, it looks like my system is looking to boot from the USB drive even though there is no option in the BIOS to set that (it could be that my internal drive is failing but manufactures tests report it as OK and I only see this issue when the USB is connected and powered up).

I can only suggest you look for a BIOS upgrade to your system, if you show your system specifications in your profile it may help others to help you without having to dig through posts for your specs..

If this is your main system it would be helpful if you add your system details to your profile. Please click on the link and follow those instructions it could save some time when resolving this or further issues.

A common error is to forget to show your system details in your profile

If you do add your system specifications be sure to do the above

EDIT: Since you're not clearing POST it is most certainly a hardware issue

 

I have that same opinion -- that the system is looking to boot from the USB drive; I've checked my BIOS - it is set correctly; I've tested all of my internal drives using the Seagate diagnostics and they show as OK

Thank you, wildfire, for the instructions on adding my system specs and for the SIW utility -- very handy -- I've added all of the info and it is available in my profile.
Will look for a BIOS upgrade -

 

Should this thread be moved to Hardware? Can I do that?

 

You can't but a member of STAFF may do so if they see fit. Don't worry about it