Message “Synchronizing in Process…” Remains for an Extended Period of Time

This issue arises while waiting for the BIOS to return control to the program. There are a few things you can try:

• If you have a ZIP drive (or any other device that is not a hard drive) then be sure that it is set up as a removable drive type and not configured to appear as a hard drive. Most often, you need to set the appropriate channel master/slave devices to NONE instead of AUTO in your system BIOS.
  
  
• If you have any media readers (music players, card readers, printers, cameras, etc.) connected, try disconnecting them.
  
  
• Double check the BIOS to be sure the number of hard drives and type/size are set correctly.
  
  
• Redetect the hard drives.
  
  
• Clear configuration  data under the PNP/PCI section (ESCD).
  
  
• Reset the BIOS to its default configuration.
  
  
• Be sure your system BIOS is up to date.
  
  
• Disable Legacy USB support in the BIOS.
  
  
• Disable S.M.A.R.T. in the BIOS. On some older systems, strange behavior may occur when S.M.A.R.T. is enabled.
  
  
• For ATA add-in adapters, be sure the adapter BIOS is up to date.
  
  
• For SCSI controllers, be sure the SCSI BIOS is set up correctly (see below) and is up to date (if so you may want to try a slightly older version if available).
  

SCSI BIOS setup (the wording below is taken from the documentation for the Adaptec AHA2940UW):

• Extended BIOS Translation for DOS Drives: Enabled
  
  
• BIOS Support for Int13 Extension: Enabled
  
  
• Support Removable Disks Under BIOS as Fixed Disks: Boot Only
  (other values may work).
  
  
• BIOS Support for Bootable CD-ROM: Enabled
  (toggle to see if it makes a difference)
  
  
• For each hard drive device, it should have the Include in BIOS Scan option set to Yes.
  
  
• For each non-hard drive device, it should have the Include in BIOS Scan option set to No.