I've got a custom-built PC that occasionally locks on the initial boot screen - always halfway through the word "Memory" when bringing up the RAM details. My usual fix involves unplugging the power cord for a minute then plugging back in before rebooting (can sometimes take several goes). Flashing the BIOS has also helped at times. Her Indoors is quite fond of using Hibernate instead of shutting down properly (can go up to a week like that) but I don't know if that would be a contributor.
Does anyone have an idea of why this could be happening?
(and no, I'm not buying a Mac or going to Linux.)