So the laptop I've been using for about... 3 months or so one day would not turn on. I would push the power button, the fan would whirl noticeable (I'm not sure if this is new or not), the fan would stop, the loading screen of phoenix technologies (which always comes up whenever I used to start it) comes up that usually lasts for about half a second before going on to the typical Windows Vista Loading screen. The "phoenix technologies" loading screen has on the bottom F2 and F12 options.

Well, sometimes after or sometimes before the loading screen the computer suddenly turns off and beeps. I've tried to push F2 or F12 when the loading screen comes up but the computer shuts down before anything happens. I've got this laptop for free for a scholarship I did so I'm not sure about the warranty or anything, and I would probably go to fry's or somewhere to find out what's wrong. But do any of you have any ideas?

The Phoenix Technologies screen is what's displayed during the computer's Power On Self Test (POST). Most POST routines generate beep codes when there is a problem detected. You can go to Compaq's web site and lookup the technical documentation for your laptop model and discover what the beeps are trying to tell you. If you only get a single beep, that's normal for most computers at the end of POST, and your problem is likely a boot sector that cannot be read off the hard drive and consequently the computer is unable to boot, although you typically get a "boot sector unavailable" or "drive not readable" message in this situation.

However, given that the computer shutsdown, that typically happens if POST detects a problem that would result in damage or a hardware incompatibility that doesn't allow it to continue. Suggest you take laptop to repair shop and have them diagnose. Even if you determine the problem, most laptops are a pain to disassemble and repair components if you don't have prior experience.