computer crash windows xp, apparently not a memory problem

[bertrgo]

I have a seven year old desktop with windows XP. It has crashed: when I turn the computer on, I get 3 beeps, each one about 1 second long. When I contacted customer support, they wanted to send someone out. I declined. The person whom I talked to told me that Windows has crashed and that I have hardware that may be faulty due to corrupted files.

The product key: ***************************. I do not have a Windows start-up disk for this system, and I believe that it did come with one. Would you tell me how I should proceed? Of course I want to save money, but not to attempt to resurrect a dead horse.

Thank you,

B.G.


Please do not post any product keys or any other information that can be considered as breaking your EULA with any software company. If someone gets your product key, and spreads it on the internet, your license will become pirated and you will not be able to get any updates for it. - Hoov

[Hoov]

Can you tell me what the model number of your computer is?

[Hoov]

Also, when the 3 long beeps are done, does it pause and start beeping again? If it does, listen to the entire set of beeps keeping track of the number of beeps and then a pause.

This is a POST (Power on Self Test) code. The entire code may tell us what is wrong. There could be 4 sets of beeps with a pause between them.

But if you can give me your model number, I can try finding your user manual to see if it lists the post codes, or at a minimum which BIOS your computer is using.

[bertrgo]

Hi Hoov,

The model number of my computer is DX 300 S.  After the 3 beeps, I do not get any more code sequences.

Thank you for your help.

Bert

[Hoov]

According to the beep code you have a memory issue.

How much memory do you have in your computer? Are you comfortable with the inside of the computer? If you have two sticks of memory in there, you can remove one and try rebooting your computer. If you still have the beeps, put that stick back in and remove the other. Removing the memory and reinstalling it needs to be done with the computer turned off, and one hand grabbing the bare metal of the case to discharge any static built up in your body. Only touch the edges of the card.

Let me know if you do not know what you are doing inside the computer.

[bertrgo]

I have 4 sticks of memory in my computer. Also, just before contacting Sypwarehammer, I cleaned all four using detailed instructions I got off the internet, so I am familiar and comfortable with the process. I will get back to you this (Friday) evening and let you know what happened.

Thank you,

[bertrgo]

Hi Hoov,

The computer booted up after I removed the second of four memory sticks. My thought is that I could reasonably move forward with the three sticks that I now have. However, I'm not sure. I'm running Microsoft Office and some other programs that don't appear to me to take up much space.

Regards,

B.G.

[Hoov]

Go to the control panel and then to system and tell me how much memory it says you have right on the front page. Also right click on the task bar and select taskmanager and tell me what the numbers next to the words Commit Charge.

[bertrgo]

I'm not sure which piece denotes memory, but here is what is says:

4 CPU
3.00 GHz
2.49 GB of Ram

Next to commit charge:

Total 925284
Limit 6755864
Peak 1224505

B.G.

[Hoov]

I am confused a bit. Does the bottom of your Taskmanager look like this?

[bertrgo]

No, it doesn't look like that. The window in which I pulled the data from showed some graphs, and underneath that was a column heading, "Commit Charge" and underneath that, the data that I sent you.

[Hoov]

Look on the bottom bar and tell me what that commit charge says.

[bertrgo]

My apology. I failed to see that portion of the window. The bottom bar reads:

Commit Charge 795M/6597M

[Hoov]

You have a lot of space to run most of what you need. If you try to do some 3D Animation generation you might have a problem. But for now you are fine. I would replace that stick of memory. In fact before calling all well, I recommend that you run a test on the remaining memory.

Download memtest86+ and burn it to a CD. The link is an ISO so you need to use ’Burn image to disk’ and not just burn the file to a CD. Then reboot your computer and go into the Startup section (probably using F2 when the computer first starts, there should be a message telling you how, this is also called the BIOS) and set your computer to boot from the CDROM. Then put the CD in the drive and boot to it. Run the memory test several times, and then let me know what the results are.

If you do not have a utility that can burn an image to disk, ImgBurn is free and does a good job.

[bertrgo]

Hi Hoov,

I have to stop moving forward with your directions for the time being. I wanted to let you know so that you didn't continue checking this thread to see how I am doing. In other words, although my computer problems aren't totally solved, I am able to use my computer now, and I didn't want to rudely just discontinue the progress we were making without letting you know.

Thank you for your help, and I will resume with your advice toward solving my computer problems as soon as I can.

B.G.