11-01-2004, 12:16 PM | #1 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: London...no longer a student
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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.
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"Never underestimate a dumb question"-- Brandon Boyd |
11-01-2004, 12:42 PM | #2 (permalink) |
42, baby!
Location: The Netherlands
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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. |
11-01-2004, 12:52 PM | #3 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: London...no longer a student
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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
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"Never underestimate a dumb question"-- Brandon Boyd |
11-01-2004, 02:50 PM | #4 (permalink) |
I flopped the nutz...
Location: Stratford, CT
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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.
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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality |
11-01-2004, 02:53 PM | #5 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Saskatchewan
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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.
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"Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference." |
11-02-2004, 12:50 AM | #7 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: Bay Area
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Quote:
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.) |
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11-03-2004, 02:11 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: In the Wild Wild West
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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 |
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computer, died, instantly |
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