Crash and reboot..

I have a desktop I built that I just got back...which I thought was fixed. Everything was working fine, internet, music etc. The computer had been on a few hours and I launched World of Warcraft. I have a 512mb Radeon card which I had used for WoW multiple times in the past. About 2 minutes in my screen goes black, then blue saying I had some physical memory dump problem and to check my hardware. I doubled checked everything to make sure it was secure and dust free. I even tried restarting minus a stick of RAM b/c I heard that was a common problem. However whenever I try to restart now I hear a small grinding/clicking sound and I can't boot up past the ABIT load screen, at which point everything remains frozen. I can't even restart with the power button, I have to use the power switch from my power supply. If anyone can help please do, thank you.

windows Xp, 2 gig ram, 512 video card, custom sound, 250g hd

Also, when I try to reboot now I hear a repetitive clicking sound..

 

it just beeped twice when i tried rebooting this time, still no display or POST action.

 

Sounds like you have faulty memory but that grinding/clicking sound is worrying.

Are the fans running ok?

I'd start by disconnecting all drives and any expansion cards, try rebooting with the other stick of RAM (moving to other slots as well). If you m/board has onboard graphics then remove the Radeon.

Let us know how you get on

 

thanks for replying. I finally got it to start-up, removed my A-slot ram to do so..thought the problem was fixed. Left it on over night, early in the morning it crashed again with win32.sys error so apparently it was more than the ram.

 

I'd follow Pete's advice, but if you're having multiple H/W failures there's perhaps an underlying cause.

You suggested this was a recent build, is it a DIY or did you get a warranty from the builder.

H/W Isn't my forte though. Perhaps a member of staff can move this to the Hardware forum where you may get better assistance.

 

It's DIY, I'm currently uninstalling all my video drivers and reinstalling. Also i have a small 4g seperate HD that i use to boot from, do you think this could be the cause? Because this is my second 250g HD it shouldn't be faulty.

I have to go to work, i'll be back tonight, thanks for any help you can provide.

 

As I said, H/W isn't my forte but the BIOS error beeps indicate memory failure and the grinding indicates hard drive failure.

Multiple hardware failures would suggest there is an underlying factor (PSU maybe).

 

I "ll work on using the Dump Data Collection Tool. I boot from the smaller, older drive, which contains Xp Pro. The computer doesn't restart, the mouse, fans, everything continues to run, there is just no display and no function as far as i can tell. The smaller HD has 1.45 free GB and has a total size of 2.99GB (yes its old i only use to boot).

 

Yes Xp Pro is on the small 2.99g HD. I couldn't find a dump file because I don't get a blue screen or a restart every time it happens, most often i just get a black screen and my computer moniter light flashes. All fans, lights, etc continue to run, including my usb mouse. I have the dump tools and debugging tools but I don't have a current dump file since my first blue screen some days ago.

It should be noted that when I launch games it immediately goes to black screen. However when i restart I'm still hearing some scary sounds, however they usually go away with a random clicking/scratchy sound here n there.

The video card is an ATI Radeon HD 2600. I have 2 sticks of Corsair 512 DDR RAM (currently only running one in my B slot, A causes it to lock up on start up)
AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3700+ 2.25ghz
I forget what my HD is, i think its 250g SATA but i could be wrong