Beeping + freezing on startup

When I boot Windows up, and it is in the process of loading up all of my startup applications, occasionally, I will get a beep from my computer, the system will completely lock up, and I will have to shut down. This only occurs when starting windows up, and only occasionally (like, 1 out of 10 boots).

Any idea on what might be wrong?

 

sounds like a hardware problem.. my guess would eiher be RAM or HDD problem. this might not shows up in diagnostic software as the problem is just starting though, till the problem shows up about 8 out of 10 boots..? (something like this happens to me before)

any software u recently installed/download? could be software error or virus? unlikely though; since the computer sometimes starts up, but still... who knows?

 

How many beeps is it giving off. If you have a motherboard manual, you can usually determine what is wrong my the number and speed of beeps.

Regards.

 

It's one beep, and it's pretty short.

And no, I don't have a motherboard manual, this is a Dell Inspiron E1705 that I bought from Dell last August.

Actually, I wonder if it's just a result of fragmentation? I've had this laptop for a year, and have not defragmented yet (I've been too lazy to get the 15 or so gigs free I need to defragment).

Last time I analyzed my hard drive, though, the file system fragmentation was at like 20%, and it does take a long time for my start up processes to load.

I think I'll burn some things and defrag, see if that does the trick.


Also, I should reiterate that this happens AFTER the boot sequence, after I log in to windows with my username and password, while my start up processes are loading.

 

Oh right that is interesting; as is the idea about defragging. I suppose it could be - it's just I've never heard of beeps been a result of not defragging. Yeh, give it a go and if it doesn't work just post again and someone (like me) will answer.

 

have you messing around with system files or registry keys. If so, your Windows install could be pretty screwed up. My Inspiron use to have a similar problem, but the problem was fixed when I tightened up some of the motherboard screws. It is probably that something is loose, check the RAM, and hard drive. The GPU may also be loose for some reason.

 

Lil Mayz: No, I haven't been messing arounnd with the registry or system files (except for using msconfig to disable some startup processes that I know I won't need).