System beeps and momentary freezes--is it a hardware problem?

[dzuger]

My system intermittently beeps at me, as though some system event is
taking place in the background (the actual beep is the Windows XP
beep-- kind of a ping)

Also: every few minutes the mouse becomes unresponsive, then wakes up
again.

Windows XP-- eMachines w/ AMD CPU-- 512Mb -- just running Firefox,
Outlook, iTunes and MS Word

I have repeatedly run virus programs, anti-spyware, etc. Cleaned out
whatever they found.

Some clues here:

1. when the mouse freezes, the HD light goes on -- so the hard drive is
spinning for a while, then the mouse comes back

2. The whole system is not freezing-- when mouse is frozen, the Tab key
can still be used to page through Task Manager

3. the beeps and freezes occur no matter what program is running --
it's not program-specific

4. I have looked at Event Viewer -- nothing abnormal showed up.

5. Also went through Device Manager-- it told me all hardware is
working.


I am wondering whether the beeping indicates imminent failure of a
hardware component-- or am I just experiencing overheating?

The fan has always been loud on this unit-- maybe the fan is no longer
adequate to cool the system?

 

[DL]

Visit your HD manu site, download and use their HD checking utility.
With pwr off/disconnected open your case and ensure everything seated
correctly.

 

[dz]

I opened the case, vacuumed everything and ran it without the case for
a while -- 200% improvement but still not all the way there. It
certainly seems to be a heat problem... but how do you suggest I
proceed from here? how do I find HD manufacturer?? Device Manager just
calls them generic HDs

 

[DL]

Either Everest Home
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
or Beleric
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

 

[dz]

Western Digital Data Lifeguard says hard drives are healthy !

It's good to know but I still get regular pinging...maybe the
motherboard has a problem??

 

[DL]

Try booting into safe mode and running for a while there.