After installing Windows 10, my Intel DP55WG motherboard gets stuck in its POST for over a minute. During that time,
- It displays a static image containing two Intel logos, keys to press for BIOS/boot menu/… and the number 66 in the bottom right of the screen. This number changes during the entire boot sequence, even when Windows is loading. (But while stuck, always 66.)
- The computer doesn’t respond to any input, including said keys. But when unstuck, will enter BIOS if the corresponding key has been pressed while stuck.
- The HDD led is lit almost non-stop
Then suddenly, the HDD led goes back to its occasional blinking, (if no key has been pressed) Windows loads as it should and the number changes to several values (E7, 94, …) before disappearing at the Windows login screen.
I have never had any problems with the exact same hardware configuration running Windows 7 Enterprise. (Booted from GRUB to be fair, as it was a dual boot setup.) The SSD I’m booting from is a Samsung Evo 840 which, according to SMART, is tiptop. Hasn’t given me any trouble so far and works fine in Windows.
(Side note: I first installed Windows 10 on an MBR disk+UEFI disabled. Which has worked on many computers before, but on this one didn’t get me further than the very first screen after power up: an underscore in the top left corner of a black screen, not blinking as it should. So I switched to GPT+UEFI, reinstalled and ran into my current problem.)
66 is most likely a POST code but for the life of me I haven’t been able to find its meaning.
Booting from USB/optical drive never gets the BIOS stuck like this. Only booting Windows 10 from said SSD.
Full Windows version = Windows 10 Enterprise N 2016 LTSB. (Installed successfully on dozens of computers.)
BIOS option ‘HDD pre-delay’=0.
I have tried:
- Disabling Windows fast startup, so shutdown results in a proper
cold start. (Control panel > power plan > power button settings) - Disabling the “hide POST text” option to try and learn more, but
that doesn’t make any difference. - Messing around with the boot priority and disabling all irrelevant
devices as a boot option (optic, USB, network, …). When looking at
the boot options, the BIOS claims no device is connected to 3 out of
6 SATA ports, while all of them have HDD/SSD’s, which work fine in
Windows. (AHCI enabled)
All to no avail, obviously. Can anyone solve this mystery? Thanks!
