I have a Dell laptop that is RUNNING xp. If I turn it on and leave it, it is fine. If I try to run a program of any kind (scan, game, typing, browser), after about 5 minutes it locks up and gives off a constant beep - this beep is a repetitive short beep of the last sound before it locked up - so the tone/sound of the beep changes. I have to power off to get it going again. The computer is virus and malware CLEAN. I've checked the memory. Any suggestions? Thanks.From Our ARCHIVES...

This may give a clue to what the issue is...
Post back if you need more info...Thanks for the reply. No, it's not beep codes. It's like the computer snatches the last sound before freezing and just repeats that sound. I've been reading a bit about video cards possibly causing this problem but have not reached a conclusion yet....Well you mentioned beeps...which normally means sounds from the motherboard...now you are saying these are Windows sounds? ? ?

Just trying to CLARIFY as they are 2 DIFFERENT things...I don't believe it is motherboard beeps. I believe it is the repetition of the last sound before it locks up. Therefore, if it locks up when I click then I get the repetition of the sound of a click. Thanks for any help!