Beeps at Boot Up, but doesn't actually Boot Up. (by 4 users)

My dad was having problems getting his laptop (Compaq Presario V5000/V5305 With XP) to converse with his printer. Like an idiot, I mentioned putting the computer into Safe Mode to look for hidden drivers - blah blah. He tried to do that. He says that he only held the F8-key down while booting up his laptop until it beeped, and then he let go, and repeated that once more. But, he says it never showed him the screen asking him to choose a mode to boot up into. It just booted up normally. Then he shut it down, and the next time he tried to boot it up, he only got beeps and a blank screen. I have tried removing the battery. I have tested the memory stick in my laptop. It still continues only to beep when the computer comes on. One beep, then three beeps, then four beeps, then three beeps again. Then everything stops, and the screen is still blank. The computer whirs for a moment while this is going on, and then it is silent. The On Button stays lit. I have to hold it in for some seconds before it goes back off. Please let me know what else I can do. I'm sure this started with a simple driver conflict. Now I don't know what it's escalated into. Thank you.