XP stops booting, blue screen, restarted- but now only 3 beeps!

[fiona h]

Hello all computechies out there

I'm a total novice in this area.

Rushing to get to work on time, I switch off the power of my PC as it was taking AGES to shut down.

I return from work, turn on my PC and- the now-usual my Motherboard logo "ASUS P5VDX-MX" and prompts of 'del' to enter setup and 'tab' to display 'bios message'(? i think, the intinerary of what's in the bag). I assume this isn't a healthy sign, but it's now a common occurence.

Then, I get the occasional screen of 'Windows did not start properly'- with the options of safe mode, last good config, and start normally. I choose start normally (which i usually do when this happens).

However this time, on the XP boot screen, exactly HALF WAY through the second 'loading' sign (you know what i mean, the 'progress' bar under the xp logo- it runs for 1&1/2 times), i get a quick flash of a blue screen with a lot of code on (appears for a few miliseconds), then the screen 'cuts out' (as if powerplug is pulled or something), pc restarts, and this happens over and over. None of the startup modes work. In my setup menu it said it recognized the primary IDE driver (? apologies like i say total novice) and named my hard drive)- it's a Samsung...

This started to really bug me, so i checked out some forums to find how to pause the blue screen but it wouldn't work- it flashes way too fast. Many people suggested opening your PC and checking everything is screwed in good and the cables are connected well.

So I opened my PC and checked everything was connected well. There seemed to be no obvious failures.

Then... I turn on my PC in good faith and get nothing but BEEEEEP...... BEEP BEEP, over and over. I read for a while and many suggest it's a video card issue, though I strongly doubt that, due to the first problem I mentioned.

Does anybody have a clue over this?

My processor is an Intel Pentium D 266GHz, My HD is a Samsung 500GB (sorry not much info right now) and i have 1024MB RAM. And, motherboard is an ASUS P5VDC-MX.

Any info much appreciated
Fiona.

 

[CCT]

1 long 2 short is a video error code.

You say no starting in any mode - does that mean you can't start Safe Mode with VGA ?

 

[fiona h]

Hi CCT,

I can't startup in any mode, because now all i get is the long beep, followed by two 'normal' beeps, over and over. A black screen, and nothing else (i think apart from a white line indicating you can type (i think) when i get home i shall take another look.

 

[fiona h]

Additionally, before this I tried all the startup modes from the 'failed boot- choose an option' screen, such as 'safe mode', 'safe mode with networking', 'start win normally' etc. All options ceased booting after 1&1/2 runs of the blue xp 'progress' bar. Here I got a flash of a blue screen, and a 'restart', over and over. Now since opening the PC And turning on all i get is the three beeps.

 

[CCT]

That mobo comes with integrated graphics. Do you know if it has an add-on card installed?

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=242&model=814&modelmenu=1

What it comes down to is that any one of several components 'could' lead to that graphics 'failure' alarm and unless you are a relatively competent computer person, it can be hard to troubleshoot the various devices.

 

[fiona h]

OK I took out the graphics card (asus v7100magic)- now i am using the integrated graphics.

The beeping is gone Now I am back to Windows startup failure

 

[fiona h]

booting xp pro sp2 hangs at mup.sys

when i boot in safe mode with command, the system hangs at mup.sys, and restarts. still cannot boot in the other modes.

chkdsk c: /r found errors (running 'recovery' from my xp installation cd), i will see if running this helps....

thanks for your input!

 

[fiona h]

Problem is brushed under the carpet!

in my BIOS settings I reversed the boot order from 1)HD, 2)FLOPPY, 3)CD-ROM. I ran CHKDSK C: /R and yes, xp idn't start properly, but i chose the option 'start windows normally', it performed check disk and now all is fine :s I only have to try with the graphics card back in. Thanks CCT!

 

[nickc]

if the reboot happens remember to reinstall the video drivers for your u're video card.