[Temple Meads]

Hi guys, need a bit of help with my computer.

Basically it's just started acting up in the past 24 hours, last night it crashed just after connecting my camera to the USB port, giving an error message "Hardware Failure Contact the manufacturer" or something very similar, on a blue screen.

I restarted the computer, and it's been fine again until now, when it's started emitting a seemingly random beeping sound, this has happened 4 times, twice randomly, once when opening the CD Drive slot, and also once when it was starting up.

It's a high pitched beep with 4 noticeable beats, it goes like "beep beep beeeep beep".

The computer is running perfectly normally otherwise.

Any ideas, are my problems linked?

I'm running Windows XP SP3 on a Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo.

[GB]

The beeps on start up usually mean a component has failed. Google your motherboard and the number of beeps and it should point you towards the problem as they are effectively fault codes.

[DaveNewcastle]

Originally Posted by Temple Meads

It's a high pitched beep with 4 noticeable beats, it goes like "beep beep beeeep beep".

Each manufacturer of a computer's BIOS will have a list of their "beep codes".
Now I don't know which manufacturer's motherboard or BIOS is in your computer, but you will probably be able to tell by querying the system, and then do an internet search for the 'beep' sequence that your manufacturer has used for the particular error you are encountering.

But a word of waning. You will either find this to be an extremely helpful pointer in diagnosing a failing component in troubleshooting problems in your computer (which these 'beep code's are intended to assist); or,
this will lead you towards a hunt for a symptom of a bigger problem which is causing the failures, but directing you at the symptom and not the cause. There's several problems that might give rise to unrelated errors such as a poor connection between two components (e.g. disc drive and its socket) or over temperature (e.g. fan stuck or blocked with fluff) or a failure within a chip on the board such as the CPU, memory controller or even the BIOS itself, whyich might only be detected when it manifests itelf as an illegal behaviour in some other operation.

In summary, try the 'beep code' diagnostic route first, but don't assume its absolutely correct when it points you to a designated problem.

There are tests which can be done to help identify problems further, but without detailled information we can't go into those on here - other computer troubleshooting sites will have the broad range of information already on-line for you to read. If you're not happy doing diagnostics yourself then you should take it to a specialist.

[generalvegitable]

on the blue screen there should be an error code, if you can re-produce it, please post the code that is given, (should look a bit like STOP: 0x#### (0x####, 0x####, 0x####, 0x####) Error Name). I can help you to get the exact problem and how to solve that from there.

As for the beeping that is more complicated.

is your computer a desktop or a laptop? I've tried to look it up but it seems that there is a desktop and a laptop version of it.

If it is a desktop does the beeping come from the box or from the speakers? does it sound like the beep that happens just after you power on the computer when the screen turns on?

[Clip]

Its worth noting that this started when the OP plugged in his camera into the USB port.

[Crossover]

Well, it's too many beeps for saying to close the doors

More seriously though, it is worth looking up the beep codes and see if it gleans any info. To be honest, the BSOD and beep codes could be coincidental.

I'm on my mobile at the moment so limited on what I can type. I'll keep an eye on the thread though when on PC next and offer advice where I can

[Temple Meads]

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated

The computer is a desktop, and uses a Phoenix Industries BIOS system (that's what the System Information tells me), it's not crashed again (here's hoping it won't), but if it does, I'll check for a code.

I'm reasonably sure the beeping is coming from the computer rather than the speakers, but I can't be sure, it's higher pitched than the sound when the screen appears.

[Clip]

Does it beep when you unplug the speakers - that'll let you know if internal or not

[bb21]

I looked at the title and read it as "Commuter acting strangely (crashing and beeping)", thought immediately that I have many stories to tell ....

[Temple Meads]

Originally Posted by bb21

I looked at the title and read it as "Commuter acting strangely (crashing and beeping)", thought immediately that I have many stories to tell ....

Originally Posted by Clip

Does it beep when you unplug the speakers - that'll let you know if internal or not

I'll try to find out, it hasn't beeped for a bit, when it does I'll see hopefully.

[swj99]

If you want to know what the error codes were, in the absence of seeing the actual blue screen, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, System.
This should show you any system error records which may help you identify if it is a software corruption issue or a hardware fault, if you've got the time or inclination to read through them.

Does the USB port still work ?
I've known firewire ports fail or fry themselves, but it seems less common with USB.

[Temple Meads]

Originally Posted by swj99

If you want to know what the error codes were, in the absence of seeing the actual blue screen, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, System.
This should show you any system error records which may help you identify if it is a software corruption issue or a hardware fault, if you've got the time or inclination to read through them.

Does the USB port still work ?
I've known firewire ports fail or fry themselves, but it seems less common with USB.

I'll try the USB port tomorrow.

I've had a look at the Event Viewer thing, and I actually can't seem to find the cause of the crash, what I have found however, is that at (roughly) the times I heard those beeps, this error is logged:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
SASDIFSV
SASKUTIL

Could this be the problem?

[swj99]

Originally Posted by Temple Meads

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
SASDIFSV
SASKUTIL

Could this be the problem?

Don't know. I just googled SASKUTIL and it seems to say it's something to do with anti spyware software.

It's interesting that you should mention having trouble after plugging something into a USB because the other day I found a USB memory stick in the ashtray of a car I collected. There was some good music on it so when I got home I brought it indoors to copy onto a computer. While one of the songs was being copied to the computer, I attempted to play it using media player. The computer froze and then crashed. When I restarted it, it was unable to connect to the internet. I tried a spare pc and this connected fine. It turned out to be a registry entry which had become corrupted, I guess due to the USB memory stick which had never been connected to this pc before.

I once had a video editing computer which started crashing one day after I'd used it for burning some DVDs. It was fine until I put a video DVD in the drive, then it crashed. In the end, I went into add and remove programs and uninstalled loads of things one by one, until it stopped crashing, then reinstalled the software which needed to be on there.

I forgot to ask earlier, could it just be an overheating issue, and is it a laptop or desktop ? Laptops are more prone to it due to their compact nature but desktop processor heatsinks & fans occasionally get clogged up with dust and overheat.

[Temple Meads]

Come to think of it (just remembered now) the last time I used that particular USB port (same camera) the computer froze up, the previous time that port was used, it was a new device (not the camera), and I got an error message that it wasn't Windows XP compatible
.

My other USB port has been fine with the camera all along, including after last nights crash.

[Crossover]

Not Windows compatible or not hi speed compatible?

And swj99, I hope you ran a virus scan on that stick first