Wht does my computer show blue screen and crashes ?

Question

I have a PIII 450 Mhz machine with 256MB(128+128)SD RAM.mother board is Mercury board.i

am not able to recall the exact configuration of my mother board.but its almost 6 years old. im

using Win XP .i have a peculiar problem. some times when the PC starts,a blue screen flashes for

a second and the PC sudenly crashes(immediately after starting).

some times while working it crashes. i was told tht it could be the problem with the RAM.i

changed the RAM as well but

problem still persists.if any one has come across such problem pls suggest a solution.

one more trouble im facing is whenever i go to DOS,the monitor makes a terrible sound.but when

im in windows there is no such sound.

pls suggest any solution.im facing it from a long time.

Answer 1

You can look up your motherboard and see what RAM it will take. Visit http://www.coastmemory.com and see. If you can but new RAM and expand it to 512MB (or more), then Windows XP might run much better.

But don't spend too much money on that OLD RIG. Consider buying all new. A tower only at Staples or Wal-Mart might cost only $500 or less. Even the cheapest would be a huge improvement.

Someday that poor old computer WILL die. Make sure that you have good backups.

Answer 2

Run a Windows Repair.

Put in the XP Install CD and then boot your machine so that the setup starts.

Follow the prompts until you get to where you select "Enter" to install or "R" to repair the found installation. (No, not the Repair Console)

Windows will replace any and all files found to be corrupt frm it's first install.

YOur monitor is probably merely having problems iwth the VGA setting of your machine. The refresh rate is much lower (or higher) than needed and the monitor will squeel or make some noise as it attempts to show the visuals. Try resetting the VGA for dos (perhaps in the bios)

Answer 3

your computer is rather old and XP is designed to run on faster computers with higher memmory. your last option is to format your hard disk and reinstall windows hoping that you can delete any hidden viruses, spywear, and other remaining program variables that have remained on your hard disk from old programs you have uninstalled or deleted. But your best bed would be to upgrade your computer or downgrade your O.S. to an older version that it can more readily handle.