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pc not booting; black screen; continuous beeps

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cthrash

Technical User
Jun 3, 2004
29
US
Computer info: Monorail 8300 Line PC PentiumIII 450MHz... Had two hard drives - one 13GB the other 40GB... 40GB went bad, so replaced it with 80GB. Had (1) 128MB PC100 SDRAM plus (2) 64MB PC100s, but when I replaced the hard drive, I upgraded the (2) 64s to (2) 128s. Tried loading WinXP, but when it tried "Starting Windows" after loading everything from CD, just froze. Tried reinstalling it - nothing... Shut down several times and tried several more times - nothing. Took jumper out to reset CMOS - still wouldn't work. Tried reformatting that drive - still nothing. Unplugged good hard drive (so it didn't get damaged) and still nothing. Now, when I turn on the pc, it just beeps continuously (long beeps)and there is a black screen. Any suggestions/comments???
 
Check video card/display adapter to make sure is seated correctly (if you have one - agp card). Check to see if memory is seated correctly. Check to be sure all your ide ribbons are connected correctly. If all that doesn't work, try a different power supply (if available).

My first guess would be the memory - either bad memory, PC133 memory when your machine only takes PC100, or not placed correctly.

Stephen [infinity]
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV
 
oops, intnernet connection froze for a moment, and double-posted me... argh!!

Stephen [infinity]
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV
 
I'd also check to see if you have a cooling fan that is disconnected. You might be getting an "over temp" warning.
 
Memory is correct PC100, but noticed the cooling fan on the heatsync (sp) is not working... it's plugged in, but broken. The pc has worked in the past with this fan broken, but maybe it has given up??? Could it be the motherboard?
 
My computer did that to me once and I found that my memory was pushed in far enough. Sounds to me like that might be it.
 
Hmm, if you've been running the pc without a running heatsink fan on your processor, it's possible you burned out your processor -just a guess [WINK].

Stephen [infinity]
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV
 
Sorry I meant to say that my memory wasn't pushed in far enough.
 
Your memory is grounded with static electricity. May be you unintentionally touched it. Here's what you do:

Remove the the RAM from the Mother Board. Then using a rubber eraser, rub the pins of the RAM on both sides. Then put the RAM back again securely.

It usually works. Have done it quite several times on my computer and my friends' as well.

You mentioned a broken heatsink fan. Replace it now! It will destroy your processor. It might also be the cause of the problem you are having now.
 
Um, one note - if you are still reading this, cthrash, IF you use the eraser trick, be careful not to leave any eraser dust on it, as I would imagine that could cause problems all it's own. But on the ram problem, I seriously doubt if your ram modules are messing up due to static electricity... I know I have handled many different types of memory, and many modules of various types, with no problems regarldess of how I held them. I mean, any electronic circuitry can be messed up a little if you get enough static electricity. To make sure you don't have any static electricity, just make sure you touch your computer case (any metal part) frequently during any upgrading/installation of pc parts, and you'll be fine. You don't even need one of those wrist straps for static, so long as you are willing to touch the metal part of your pc case or some other metal object on a regular basis. And if you have thick carpet, don't wear socks, and then drag your feet when walking towards an open computer case, as you could send a spark of static electricity to your board, and practically fry it - I've heard of it being done before. [SMILE]

Stephen [infinity]
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV
 
Um, one note - if you are still reading this, cthrash, IF you use the eraser trick, be careful not to leave any eraser dust on it, as I would imagine that could cause problems all it's own. But on the ram problem, I seriously doubt if your ram modules are messing up due to static electricity... I know I have handled many different types of memory, and many modules of various types, with no problems regarldess of how I held them. I mean, any electronic circuitry can be messed up a little if you get enough static electricity. To make sure you don't have any static electricity, just make sure you touch your computer case (any metal part) frequently during any upgrading/installation of pc parts, and you'll be fine. You don't even need one of those wrist straps for static, so long as you are willing to touch the metal part of your pc case or some other metal object on a regular basis. And if you have thick carpet, don't wear socks, and then drag your feet when walking towards an open computer case, as you could send a spark of static electricity to your board, and practically fry it - I've heard of it being done before. [SMILE]

It does seem that your problem is either your processor is fried, or you mis-seated/installed your ram modules, or there is a problem with the ram modules. You could first try what AckNack stated, and just replace the original memory modules as they were placed before the upgrade.

Stephen [infinity]
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV
 
Hi cthrash.
No guessing on this one. The beeps are for a reason, and if you know exactly what they mean, I recommend not doing anything at all, because you'll just be probably wasting your time, though these are some good troubleshooting ideas.
These beeps are BIOS error beeps, and you can go to the link below, and it will tell you exactly what the beeps mean and what is causing the beeps. Now you can fix exactly what it tells you and you'll be done.

Good luck,

Jediwarrior
 
A continuous beep could mean Power Supply, Keyboard and/or Motherboard problems.

It all depends on the BIOS chip manufacturer as you probably figured. A little research will solve that.

Good luck

Simon
 
I you sure that board can handle PC100 memory? I had a problem with a continuous beeping board this week too. I had PC133 which should have worked in the dual port memory board. When I called them they said I should be using 133 s and not PC100s. But the greedy board wanted my DDR and wouldn't take my 133s. I ended up trading my 700Mgs for like 60 bucks and got more DDR -Marc State IT
 
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