I have the same situation as this guy who posted this awhile ago.

http://www.computing.net/cpus/wwwboard/forum/11576.html#postfp

When I turn on my comp, theres a bunch of whining coming from the case somewhere. Then it just freezes. After that I have to turn it off, wait a few seconds, then everything is fine. It just displays the overclocking failed message after the system check. Anyone has the same problem and manage to get around this. I tried to set everything to defaults and saved.. didnt work.

It bothers me cuz everyday I want to start up, this happens. Then I have to turn it off and on again before windows load.

I am using a Thermaltake 420W. So power shouldnt be an issue. It is not a major problem now, but im afraid it will become one if i dont find out whats wrong now. Thanks.

"I tried to set everything to defaults and saved.. didnt work"

You shouldn't run with default settings...they're just there to get you up & running or to provide a fail-safe point to roll back to. Every BIOS setting should be checked & adjusted as necessary, depending on your system's hardware.

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200
Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit
Gamer Edition
WinME/WinXP Pro

Check processor fan speeds, and consider upgrading the heatsink/fan. Cooling is essential to overclocking.
ROger

ASPIRE ATXB4KLW-AL Antec 400W
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD 3700+ San Diego
Corsair 1GB 2x512
eVGA 6600GT
250GB Hard Drive
Sound Blaster Audigy
Windows XP HOME W/SP2

The 'overclocking failed message' is a bit of a red-herring here so don't pay it too much attention. Basically the Asus MB has a 'fail-safe' feature so if you try and overclock and mess it up, you can reset it back to default if you cant boot up past the post screen. Unfortunately this is triggered by any failure to boot (such as HDD failure or RAM errors) even if you arent overclocking, which is the message you are seeing.
So basically all this tells us is that you have a boot failure. You need to open your case and locate the source of the 'whining' noise. This will narrow the fault down, it could be a HDD whining, a fan or a PSU.

Wizard ICT. Microsoft Certified Professional

"theres a bunch of whining coming from the case somewhere."

I concur, pop the cover and pinpoint the source of the "whine", unpleasant sounds from a PC usually emanate from the following components, PSU (fan), CPU (hsf), auxilliary fans (case) or the HDD, that should narrow down your area of concentration a bit.

For starters, I'd disconnect the HDD and power up the system, if the sound is absent, you just saved yourself a lot of time troubleshooting.

I agree with Sabertooth. But first, I suggest you make certain you have a backup of anything you don't want to lose, just in case.

yeah jerry i can relate to your prob i dont get the exact same message that you do but it goes along the k lines of the COMPUTER HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO HARDWARE and tes its ablue screen error but thats only if i go to far with the o/c its must be a safety feature of the cpu or bios just a guess though ...

SWEETPEA