Follow up: Computer beep beeps then freezes

[Dick Sutton]

Restating the problem:
"Just in the last couple of weeks, a machine on our office lan has started
acting up. All machines (4 in number) are eMachines running XP Home.
The
problem machine contains the files for the medical office s/w. Sometime
during the day, the system will 'beep' beep" then the screen saver will
freeze or the display will go blank. The funny thing is, the frontdesk
machine will continue working (accessing the database on the problem
machine). However, as soon as someone touches a key or moves the mouse
on
the problem machine, it reboots and indicates that it has recovered from
a
serious error.


So far I have done the following:


All machines have up to date software patches.
I have run SpyBot & Ad-Aware: no problems found.
Norton AV is up to date: no problems in scan.
I have run sfc /scannow: No problems.
I have disabled the 'sleep' (i.e. standby capability)
I have power options set to 'always on'"

After working on the problem all weekend, things got worse. Whenever I
rebooted, the mouse began mis-behaving. It would not select anything.
Instead, it drew 'selection boxes' such as drawing programs use. Finally,
the system wouldn't even let me logon. I even tried safe mode to no avail
(I wanted to run sfc /scannow).


I finally resorted to restoring the os via the restore disks provided by the
manufacturer. Everything seems to be running fine now, but I am still
monitoring the system.

It appears that the software was corrupt. Even though SpyBot, Ad-Aware, MS
Malicious Software Removal Tool, etc showed nothing.

The only thing that I know for sure is that the inside of the PC case was
full of 'dust bunnies'. Blowing all this crap out surely improves things.
I have never seen a machine begin failing so surely and constantly as this
machine has during the last week.

Thanks for all the kind help and suggestions.

Dick

 

[Guest]

It's good to hear that you solved it - too bad it took a reinstall to do it!
Thanks for posting back!

 

[Z]

After working on the problem all weekend, things got worse. Whenever I
rebooted, the mouse began mis-behaving. It would not select anything.
Instead, it drew 'selection boxes' such as drawing programs use. Finally,
the system wouldn't even let me logon. I even tried safe mode to no avail
(I wanted to run sfc /scannow).


I finally resorted to restoring the os via the restore disks provided by the
manufacturer. Everything seems to be running fine now, but I am still
monitoring the system.

It appears that the software was corrupt. Even though SpyBot, Ad-Aware, MS
Malicious Software Removal Tool, etc showed nothing.

The only thing that I know for sure is that the inside of the PC case was
full of 'dust bunnies'. Blowing all this crap out surely improves things.
I have never seen a machine begin failing so surely and constantly as this
machine has during the last week.

Thanks for all the kind help and suggestions.

Good luck, but what you described sounds like a hardware issue and it
may return.

 

[Dick Sutton]

Z,

That's what I'm afraid of. That's why I'm still running, testing, &
observing.

Dick