Help!!
- Thread starter Tiffany
- Start date
Zebedee
Registered user
How old is your PC?
If it's beeping at you, it sounds like an older machine where the BIOS uses the system squeaker to help diagnose faults.
If the machine is more than a few years old, it could be the the CMOS (system) battery has given up the ghost.
Generally if it is the CMOS battery the fix is simple enough.
Whip the top off the box, and look for one of the disk type batteries clipped onto the motherboard.
Try replacing that, but you may need need to know what type of hard disk the machine has in case the BIOS cant auto detect it.
HTH
If it's beeping at you, it sounds like an older machine where the BIOS uses the system squeaker to help diagnose faults.
If the machine is more than a few years old, it could be the the CMOS (system) battery has given up the ghost.
Generally if it is the CMOS battery the fix is simple enough.
Whip the top off the box, and look for one of the disk type batteries clipped onto the motherboard.
Try replacing that, but you may need need to know what type of hard disk the machine has in case the BIOS cant auto detect it.
HTH
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Very patchy description Tiffany...
It COULD be the memory (RAM).
If you know what this looks like (!) then open the computer up, take the RAM out and put it back in again. It could just be a bad connection (even if it has worked fine for years)
If you don't know what RAM looks like
it looks something like this
http://aom.heavengames.com/misc/computerguide/pix/RAM.jpg
and fits into a slot on your motherboard that looks something like this
http://www.viperlair.com/images/reviews/cpu_mobo/abit/intel/i865_i875/ic7/ram.jpg
oh and this is what a motherboard typically looks like (only more commonly green) http://www.sicknote.org.uk/me/motherboard.jpg
Always a good idea to UNPLUG the computer from the mains or you'll fry either the circuitry or yourself and we don't want either of those. Also helps if you can earth yourself to get rid of static electricity before going inside the computer. You can do this by touching any bare metal on your radiators or those yellow and green cables that you get in bathrooms.
Of course the problem could be something else entirely!
hope this helps
It COULD be the memory (RAM).
If you know what this looks like (!) then open the computer up, take the RAM out and put it back in again. It could just be a bad connection (even if it has worked fine for years)
If you don't know what RAM looks like
it looks something like this
http://aom.heavengames.com/misc/computerguide/pix/RAM.jpg
and fits into a slot on your motherboard that looks something like this
http://www.viperlair.com/images/reviews/cpu_mobo/abit/intel/i865_i875/ic7/ram.jpg
oh and this is what a motherboard typically looks like (only more commonly green) http://www.sicknote.org.uk/me/motherboard.jpg
Always a good idea to UNPLUG the computer from the mains or you'll fry either the circuitry or yourself and we don't want either of those. Also helps if you can earth yourself to get rid of static electricity before going inside the computer. You can do this by touching any bare metal on your radiators or those yellow and green cables that you get in bathrooms.
Of course the problem could be something else entirely!
hope this helps
Pthagonal
Guest
i know this sounds islly
but.
check to make sure monitor is switched on..
check to make sure monitor cables are plugged in as well..
if not then try the ram in the main body..
sorry but seen lots of problems like this..
regards
pthag
but.
check to make sure monitor is switched on..
check to make sure monitor cables are plugged in as well..
if not then try the ram in the main body..
sorry but seen lots of problems like this..
regards
pthag
And then there are the cards that are plugged into the motherboard.
They are plugged into the white horizontal slots. I can be a bad connection between card and slot. So it can help if you take the card out (fixed by one screw), wiggle it in and out a few times and put it back. Start with the display card, the one your monitor cable is plugged into on the outside.
Had any thunderstorms lately? Could be that voltage peaks on the mains have fried something inside the computer then... This beep-beep-beep stuff certainly means faulty hardware: either some bad contact problem or some component has actually died.
Good luck,
Michel
They are plugged into the white horizontal slots. I can be a bad connection between card and slot. So it can help if you take the card out (fixed by one screw), wiggle it in and out a few times and put it back. Start with the display card, the one your monitor cable is plugged into on the outside.
Had any thunderstorms lately? Could be that voltage peaks on the mains have fried something inside the computer then... This beep-beep-beep stuff certainly means faulty hardware: either some bad contact problem or some component has actually died.
Good luck,
Michel
DavidHolmes
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Tiff, could be a computer failure, could be the monitor has gone.
If it is beeping it probably is a computer fault, but it is worth checking that it is not the monitor that has failed, no point ripping the computer to pieces if it is actually working ok
Try swaping the monitor for one you know works (nick the one you are using now) if that doesnt work, you have a computer fault. If it does work, then your monitor is dead. Probably.
If it is beeping it probably is a computer fault, but it is worth checking that it is not the monitor that has failed, no point ripping the computer to pieces if it is actually working ok
Try swaping the monitor for one you know works (nick the one you are using now) if that doesnt work, you have a computer fault. If it does work, then your monitor is dead. Probably.
Has the computer been moved recently ? - AGP graphics cards esp. can be dislodged quite easily, if you are confident about removing the PC case then try pressing the graphics card (quite firmly) back into it's slot.
Do you still have any manuals or instructions - the number of beeps usually refer to a particular error - if you have lost the manual then can you identify what sort of motherboard you have - an online version may be available from the manufacturers web site.
If any or all of the above makes no sense to you, please advise and we can start at a more basic level
Regards
Clive
Do you still have any manuals or instructions - the number of beeps usually refer to a particular error - if you have lost the manual then can you identify what sort of motherboard you have - an online version may be available from the manufacturers web site.
If any or all of the above makes no sense to you, please advise and we can start at a more basic level
Regards
Clive
Bloody hell
...obviously could be more complicated than I thought - luckily I've got a week until my brother-in-law gets back and discovers I've somehow broken his PC - this could turn into grounds for my eviction.
well, I'm about to finish work for the evening, so I will head home and check the various options out.
thanks chaps...and wish me luck
...obviously could be more complicated than I thought - luckily I've got a week until my brother-in-law gets back and discovers I've somehow broken his PC - this could turn into grounds for my eviction.
well, I'm about to finish work for the evening, so I will head home and check the various options out.
thanks chaps...and wish me luck
Mick_rw
Registered user
Try these...
CMOS battery failure. Will not stop PC booting, but will show the message
"CMOS defaults loaded. Press F1 or Del to continue"
RAM failure beeps
1 long beep followed by short pause then long beep again
will continue to do that untill you turn off PC. Remove RAM clean contacts and reseat. If there is more than one stick of RAM put one in at a time. That test does not always work depending on age and type of motherboard.
VGA Fault.
3 short beeps then 1 long beep, in rapid succession, then continues to repeat. If its an old PC this will either be loose or faulty card or monitor not connected. If youngish PC then will not beep if monitor not connected. Remove VGA card clean contacts and reseat
Tell us what the actual beep sound is, is it regular, how many, if its errattic.....
Mick
CMOS battery failure. Will not stop PC booting, but will show the message
"CMOS defaults loaded. Press F1 or Del to continue"
RAM failure beeps
1 long beep followed by short pause then long beep again
will continue to do that untill you turn off PC. Remove RAM clean contacts and reseat. If there is more than one stick of RAM put one in at a time. That test does not always work depending on age and type of motherboard.
VGA Fault.
3 short beeps then 1 long beep, in rapid succession, then continues to repeat. If its an old PC this will either be loose or faulty card or monitor not connected. If youngish PC then will not beep if monitor not connected. Remove VGA card clean contacts and reseat
Tell us what the actual beep sound is, is it regular, how many, if its errattic.....
Mick
