computer died on me instantly
 

my 8 year old home pc was chugging along fine until this evening, turned it on (win xp pro, pIII500, 128mb) all looked fine, dialed onto net and then suddenly once connected it crashed.
Absolutly no keyboard/mouse response...i thought...eh windows, you expect it.

Turned it off and on. The fan and everything else turns on, you can hear it has power etc but no image signal being sent to the screen. It then suddenly starts repeatadly beeping (windows beep).

So i assume my RAM has died on me because thats the only thing i can think of. But if anyone has any other ideas, would be greatful...but if u agree its ram, wheres the best place to get some cheap ram (sdram pc100). Only need 128 really.

Thanks in advance.

I've had similar things happen to me. I was usually able to solve the problem by poking around in the computer, removing stuff, cleaning it out, then placing it back again. Somehow this used to work a lot.

However, if something is broken, I doubt it'd be the ram - why the hell would it suddenly break? It's not like there's any moving parts there, contrary to, say, a harddisk (hint hint). Perhaps you experienced a electricity spike, shorting out your power supply, or something.

umm well i've taken the comp apart, pulled out the ram put it back in, same with graphics card and other pci slot devices. i don't think the power supply is dead, because the comp begins to turn on and then starts moaning with repeated internal pc speaker beeps. I assumed it was happening at the same time it checks the integrity of the RAM which made me think the RAM was the culprit.
It may be the hard drive, but i haven't heard any dodgy clunks or clicks from it leading up to my comps coma...
but after 8years its prob time my folks pick up a new box anyway, would be good to get it working though

if you post the motherboard model #, the bios beep code can be looked up, and tell you what the error is. that beeping you hear indicates there is most likely an error with ram, videocard, or processor.

The beeping you are hearing is probably a system board level diagnostic code. Check your BIOS chip for the make (AMIBios or Award likely) then listen for the number of short/long beeps and Google for the answer - ex. Google query "amibios beep codes". That should indicate the failed component for you. Hopefully, there's only one. Good luck.

It's either your RAM or Video Card, becuase if it was the motherboard or CPU you wouldn't get a POST beep code. If you have integrated video (you don't have a video card - it's on your motherboard) then it is your RAM. RAM dies sometimes...

The only way to be sure the power supply is working properly is to plug it into a power supply tester. Sometimes the PSU stops supplying 3.3v or something, which can give your computer enough juice to turn on but not enough to do anything useful.

Also, PM me if you still want some cheap PC100. I work at a computer store and we are currently in the middle of moving to a new location, so we are having a big sale to get rid of most of our inventory.

But to diagnose your problem tell us the make of your motherboard's BIOS and the sequence of the beeps (long beeps, short beeps, how many?, etc.)

ok well another update...after taking the RAM out and putting it back in, i no longer have any beeps coming from my machine.

Sounds like RAM
 

Sounds like you have it figured, but long beeps often mean RAM...either bad RAM or bad RAM socket. If you have the Slot style P3 processor (Looks like a 5" long x 2" tall x 1/2" wide black box with a fan strapped to one side rising perpendicular from the mainboard) you may make sure that it's securely in it's socket. The P2s had little clips to hold them in the slot frame, but I have yet to see any slot P3s that had retaining clips.

DaDB