Curious video problem?

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Hi!

I'm new on this forum (and, I'll admit I'm only here because I'm in need of assistance) and I have a problem with my system.

I've been running the exact same hardware for about 2 years (or more) but recently my computer starts freezing at any given time. I might be playing a game, watching a movie/video or just scanning my computer for viruses when suddenly the computer freezes:
The mouse is stuck, the screen is frozen solid and (when watching a youtube video) a line is visible across the window (in wich the video plays).

All I can do then is push the on/off button for five seconds so the system turns off (or cut the power).

When I turn it back on however it gives 1 long and 2 short beeps (faulty video adapter) after wich I need to turn it off again (with the button) and repeat the process untill the computer starts normally (1 short beep).

I have a PCI Express slot if that might help but, to get to the question;
What is the problem here (the chipset or the card)?
What can I do to fix it (like, buy a new card)?
And why might this have happened (wear and tear?)?
 
I'd say dust

You need a high pressure air can (or similar) take the computer outside, take the side cover off. And blow it all out :)
 
Rarely the chipset. Often the card. Cards burn out, and the little heat sink and fan begins to fail... either the heat sink is becomming loosened from the card, or the card fan is wearing out.
Also can be a memory error or a hard drive beginning to fail. Can be almost anything after two years of wear... a cpu fan is beginning to fail. Dirt and lint in the cpu heat sink... etc.
A common reason is inadequate memory. As Microsoft continues to download new updates and service packs, the existing memory is used up. You may need to buy new, faster memory, and replace the exisiting memory... Two GB is fairly cheap in DDR2, but is going up fast in DDR.
 
Start off with the basics and blow it out with some air like kimsland said. Then before buying any hardware I would do some simple testing. Get a graphics stressing program, preferably a benchmark software like 3dmark, and run that a few times, see if you can replicate the error. Check the Event Viewer to see if there are any hardware errors that show up (or software even, but this seems to be a hardware issue) that occur just before the system locks up. May also want to run memtest for a while to verify your RAM is still good. And it wouldn't hurt to have some temperature monitoring program to watch your CPU and Video card temps, if it could continually log them that would be even better cause you could see what they were just before the system locks up.
 
Already removed dust: No improvement.
Already checked temperatures: No overheating issue.
Already tested, reseated and checked (one at a time) RAM: No help there.
Already stressed graphics card: Simple freezing as usual.
Checked the event viewer: No entries on the time my computer froze up.

I've tried -everything- I could find on the internet and it didn't help. All I'm going on here is the beeping noise (one long, 2 short) wich tells me to get my graphics card replaced.

Thanks for the replies but it didn't help yet.
 
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