Hi, i have been reading some post about this but it seem we need to list some information to have the respone answered.
first off this problem happen because my ipod shuffle kept getting a I/o error when i plugged it in. but my computer would not read the shuffle.
i right clicked on the icon for the ipod and click format. half way throught the process my computed sound like it restarted and then the monitor light just started blinking. I turn off the computer and turned it back on it just beeps:

Beeps in detail:
2 really quick beeps
then a really short pause
the 8 beep
so it sounds like beepbeep (1 sec pause) beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
then if i leave it on it will beep twice again like 3 or 4 seconds later.

Mother board details
MSI PT880 Neo-LSR
Video card = radeon 9200 128
512 RAM
pentium 4, 2.8
Bought in 2003/04
hard drive (180 maxtor)
hard drive (14 gb Maxtor) tried both of them,

Also i notice that there is this little white little box (2.5'" (w) 1"(H) on the inside has the letters msi on it as well, the box shows the lights on the outside of the tower.
There are four :: <-- they look like that on the outside of the tower.
first 3 of the are red (top right is green)
the after the first two beeps ( the left side lights go green, and the right goes red)
after the 8 beeps all the lights are red except the bottom right which is green

I turn off my computer (switch and power bar)
unplugged ram, video card basically everything that could be plugged in and plugged and unplugged it and then re plugged it in again.
as well i had another hard drive tried that hard drive still same sequence of beeps and then blinking monitor light ( the bliking you get when you leave your monitor on after the tower is shut off)
as well but the win xp disc in did boot to it
and the drivers and utility disc that i got with the msi
and got nothing
did not try the video disc

My questions are
Is this Fixable ? How ?
is My computer totally ruined
i was told a I/O error on a shuffle means its gone ? is that true? ( that might be out of your field) but respond please if you have heard of this.
Is there anything I can do ?
any other thougths please post them.
thanks if you need any other information please just ask.
thank you

8 beeps stands for "Display Memory Read/Write Failure" which means either the VGA is fried or it needs to be reseated (which is already done)
2 beeps stands for "Memory Parity Error in first 64KB block" that can be triggered by wrong BIOS settings for the memory. Usually means that the memory is gone as well (unless you experimented on memory, like mixing the brands or OCing).

My advice is to test the VGA and memory on another machine to determine whether those 2 are faulty or whether it is the motherboard malfunction.

OK i tried the memory on a different computer and it worked fine, as well i tried a different memory that i new worked in the broken computer. I received the same amounts of beeps. i wasnt able to test the graphics card becuase my sister has a "new" dell and it doesnt have a slot for a memory card it has a 82865g intel graphics controller on the motherboad. I have no clue what the mother board on the dell has no name and cant see it in the specs.
so does this mean that the mother board is fried?

If you can get your hands on some other known good VGA to test the motherboard (i.e. with all parts plugged in) you will be able to determine which one is faulty. I take that the memory is OK.