Not software - computer hangs when booting!!

[Legoflamb]

Recently I've been having massive problems playing some games due to crackly distorted sound that gets worse and then eventually I get a blue screen with gibberish error codes. I think these were clues as to how messed up it was going to get.

So I went out the other day and my computer was 'fine' before I left the house. Just idly ticking over and downloading some stuff for me.

I come back and it's frozen on the screen saver, which won't go away.

I restart and it just hangs at the opening motherboard screen. I tried restarting it a few times and it would hang at various times but it never really gets anywhere near loading windows so I don't think it's a software fault.

A couple of times it's booted up with just a black screen and the motherboard makes 4 short beeps.

I'm at a total loss.

I took the ram out and blew in the slots and did something similar to the hard drive but no luck. All the fans appear to be working in it.

I have:

amd 3700+ 64
asus a8n-e motherboard
1 gig crucial memory
ati x1900
win xp home

It's about time I upgraded I suppose, but I'd still rather find out what's wrong with it and sell the bits that aren't completely broken.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

[Tmagic650]

You have a hardware failure for sure. Try replacing memory first. If you are running 2 sticks of memory try booting with only one installed.

 

[Legoflamb]

Hey thanks for the reply - does it matter which one I take out? Each slot has a priority set to it on my mobo will it just boot whatever's available?

 

[Tmagic650]

Yes, you will have to put a single memory stick in the first slot usually nearest the CPU. The slots should be marked

 

[Legoflamb]

Ah ok - I'll get on with that, cheers for the help.

 

[Legoflamb]

Tried both sticks by themselves with no luck