Boot up problems after installation Boot manager

Hi
I have in the last couple of months used Paragon System Upgrade Utilities 2010 to add a W7 installation to 2 computers that were running XP SP2, followed by the installation of Boot Manager.
On one PC (this one), the installation has gone like a dream and there are no problems with switching between OSes/booting up/what ever.
On the other, the installation of both the W7 OS and of Boot manager seemed to go fine. I then left it with a default boot to XP, so that my wife could continue to use an OS with which she was familiar. The PC is generally left on and it goes into sleep mode overnight.
No problems for a while until a few days ago, when we needed to reboot for some reason (?a Windows security upgrade?).
Now, when the system boots, the boot process hangs for several minutes (at least 5) at the point before the memory test, and before the decision to boot from hard drive or CD, and with no response to the various f keys (at least not immediately - they will eventually work) until suddenly the process starts off again for apparently no reason apart from time. Boot manager then works normally.
Any ideas how to analyse or correct this?
I have a single SATA 250 GB hard drive with two partitions.
If all else fails, I shall want to uninstall W7. I imagine that I do this using the Recovery disk, and then remove Boot manager?
Any advice gratefully received. Ta!

 

run a diagnostic util for hd from manufacturer's site and or run chkdsk

 

Thanks
I have run the Seagate tools, both the short and the long test, and no problems were found with the hard disk.
I have not used the bootcfg command or the fixmbr command in the past.
Are these the things to do next?
Cheers

 

if you still want to remove win7, follow steps
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/...vista-leaving-windows-xp-on-dual-boot-system/

if not and you still want to troubleshoot then check the event viewer logs for errors or warnings while either in XP or Win7

 

Thanks
The problem is getting to boot: once the routine eventually works, I can get to either Win7 or XP, no problem.
Are you able to advise on the boot issues?
Cheers

 

This indicates a problem at the BIOS level, before the hard disk is read at all. It could be a problem with your memory, CPU or main board, what I would recommend doing first is unplug the machine from power, and take the battery out of the mainboard for a few seconds, this will reset it.

If that does not work, you can flash your BIOS with a fresh copy, available from the manufacturer, always remember to be very careful when performing this, as any interruption could damage the board.

Also, some manufactures provide a method of flashing a BIOS from within Windows, this is generally not a good idea and should not be attempted, always flash the BIOS by downloading and burning a bootable CD from the manufacturer.

 

Thanks for the advice.
In fact I have worked out the problem, which proves to have been due to a failed external hard drive attached by USB: when I pulled it out, everything worked just fine!
Cheers