How do I find out what programs are failing?

I'm runing Vista. On startup I get that "budump" sound, I think it means something is not working. How do I fix that?

 

Of course it is always difficult to describe sounds.
There are two basic sounds that computers make that would fit into the category of "budump" that I can think of.
The first is the sound made when a USB connection is made and the other is when a USB connection is lost.
If the tone is rising from "Bu" to "Dump", then it is making a connection.
If It is falling, then it is reporting a lost connection.
These are usually accompanied by an icon appearing in your applet tray.
There is an entire list of System sounds that can be found in your Control Panel.
You can hear the sound by click on the arrow (See cursor in image)


http://ioniafirst.com/sounds.jpg

If you can identify exactly which sound you are hearing the description should give you a good idea what it is telling you.

 

Yes. It is one of those sounds. I just checked it by unplugging and plugging back the USB mouse. So then it is not an error on startup. Just the computer recongnizing the USB mouse.

Thanks.

 

Wait a minute. The "budump" sound just came on and off while the computer has been on for a while. I assume there might be an issue with the usb slot itself, the mouse (though I doubt it since last week I was using it on another laptop on XP with no issue), or VISTA or driver issue.