Hello, I've got a PC here that really acts strange. During POST, the system beeps for a few seconds as if someone were leaning on the keyboard or pressing the space bar. Once it has booted up and Windows has loaded, if you left-click on an icon, the text identifying the icon is selected as if you had right-clicked on it and chosen to rename it. Some of the programs run sluggishly. Ad-Aware runs very slowly. I have run AVG Anti-Virus, but no viruses are detected. I have also run Spybot, Ad-Aware and Windows Defender. They find the usual spyware crap and then I remove it, but it doesn't help. I have tried defragmenting the hard drive, but that has made little difference. I have tried to run a disk check, but it never runs on reboot like it's supposed to. Further more, the screensaver runs sporadically and lately it's been going to the XP log-in screen instead of just turning off the monitor after ten minutes. It's damn weird and I'm probably missing something obvious. An objective opinion would be very much appreciated. Thanks. whitshade "If it was so, it might be

Did it ever work correctly? Did some change happen that you noticed that may have caused this? Consider a test suite loaded from a disk. Consider a clean install from known good disks. See also temps and voltages. Computers are a combination of hardware, firmware and software. You could reload the software if that is the issue. You can not repair firmware if it has gone bad. You may be able to replace hardware. Computers are slightly better than junk when sold new. The price point needed to sell it is so low that companies provide quality at the lowest point needed to unload their product. Don't expect a computer to last any time, it is worse if left on all the time. Heat, voltage and time damage components. It is almost easier to get a new system now than repair an old one. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

Since you have a home made system, I guess you have a Microsoft XP install CD. You could try running a 'Repair' install. That will cause a loss of all the windows updates (no big deal IMO), but you should not lose any of your data. Repair Install Help

Thanks, jefro and aegis. I was hoping to avoid a fresh install. I've got the installation CD, so I'll probably try to repair my current set up before a complete reinstallation. I think that the floppy drive is about to bite the dust, which probably explains the beeping. The PC hung up on reboot today and said the floppy drive had failed. Great. I'll replace with an inferior product. But that's how it goes. For the price, most new PCs are almost disposable. All you're really paying for is the Windows license. But I digress. Thanks again. whitshade

Boot beeps. May be memory or video card, etc. http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/...

Try a different keyboard, a key could be sticking which would make things weird.

I had a problem like that on a PC I was servicing. You may need to disable the paging file. Also getting some more RAM would help. To disable the paging file: 1. Use Control Panel to open the System applet. 2. Select the Advanced tab. 3. Press the Settings button in the Performance section. 4. Select the Advanced tab. 5. Press Change in the Virtual Memory section. 6. Select the No paging file radial button and press Set. 7. Press OK.