un-bootable computer

[ominus]

Okay I am sorry if this is in the wrong area, please move it if it is.

Basically my computer has been running fine, it has an asus m3e mother board 1g or ddr2, 500 gig hard drive yadadada. But two days ago I finally got a valid version of XP so i could get my updates and what not. Now last night it was woking perfect, but when I woke up today it was frozen on the desktop( had a windows update required reboot window up). So I restarted my computer, when it went to start up( hard drive and all that started moving) it just made some beeps, kind a short beep, then two longer beeps. and not even the bios starts up nothing comes up on my screen.

So just wondering if anyone has a suggestion on what to do?

[casper_wang]

was the update you did service pack 3?
if yes you need to unplug all usb ports, disconnect any secondary hdd and reboot with ONLY the primary HDD running.

this is a known issue for SP3 and a fix should be in the next update.

how to fix this? uninstall sp3 is one way, get the remainder of the updates is a much simpler way.
but unplugging all accessories not required for boot seemed to solve the issue for me.

as for the beeps you heard that is a memory error (long continuous beeps are video)
possible need to flush the memory:
unplug system for 30 seconds plug back in reset bios to default reboot.
restart and change bios to your normal settings reboot again.
re connect accesories should be problem solved.
I have a work around to uninstall sp3 using windows CD if this dont solve your issue

[ominus]

No i have choose not to go to sp3 for now. But I did get my machine working I unplugged it for about 5 hours came back and it booted :D! thank god. Originally though it was not even getting to bios or anything.....so I am still conscerned about my computer.

[ominus]

okay so it is doing it again now, and it is a long beep fallowed by two shorter ones....

[casper_wang]

One Long and Two Short Beeps Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue.

have your video card tested. make sure it is seated properly. video card shorts are one of the most common issues with computer boots.
another thing you could try:
unplug the pc, and hit the power button (this will release any excess power stored in the cpu)
plug back in and start.
as soon as you get back on you need to get the remainder of the updates.
when I first did my install I had issues of not booting and booting etc etc.. but after I got all security updates now its no issue -until I did SP3-