Cant start machine. gives 3 beeps and loops

let me start with this is Windows XP Im pretty sure this is the problem i have just now spent a bit of time searching what the "BEEPS" relate to when i try to start this LAPTOP ( I emphasize LAPTOP because of the discussion of passably taking it apart. ) Here we go This laptop has been turned off for about 2 months. Just sitting in its Shoulder bag in one place in my room. Never touched. Wife goes to turn it on the other day, plugs it in, sits there a few mins and presses the ON button. Goes to startup screen, then almost right away give the following ONE LONG BEEP PAUSE TWO SHORT BEEPS. then it tells me about a problem occured and a few choices on how to start windows Normal mode safe mode safe with networking one other and it also has the option to use the most recent working configuration to start windows so i choose (Use the most recent working settings….) i choose this so i can then get into safe mode and turn off or uninstall anything the computer doesnt need as well as disable certain things like USB ports / CD DVD Drive and then enable things one at a time to find the issue Well thats not working. It not starting using that option to start windows.. it just beeps at me again and i loop back to the options screen. Ok so the beeps mean (usually ) Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA) This is a laptop…….. how would i manually deal with this one? Im stumped forgot to point out this machine is only about 3-4 years old at BEST and almost never used the most recent thing installed on it was A) A program to burn DVDs from avi files and cool.gif probably a windows update …but that would constituted software issues while the beeps give an alternate cause of error.

If its been sitting idle, there is a remote possibility that the CMOS battery lost it charge and BIOS settings were lost. Consider booting into SETUP/BIOS (usually F2 or F12 depending upon the brand-name) Have a look to see if the settings appear correct. Particularly look to see what graphics adapter it is looking for. If not set them correctly or as a last resort select default or fail-safe settings.

THanks Doug im in the BIOS settings looking under ADVANCED tab i see top line it gives settings for "VIDEO GRAPHIC MODE" and selected already is SIDEPORT my alternate choice is VMA + SIDEPORT…. thats using SIDEPORT as well as VMA in the description for this it says It would be using the SIDEPORT as well as the onboard memory. Ill set it for that and try a restart if that doesnt work…. ill look for DEFAULT settings and go there

ok gave it a smack.. a juggle, even dropped it down the stairs a few floors but that didnt work when all that was done HAHAHA i went back into the BIOS settings and tried to make changes i switched it to VMA + SIDEPORT on the graphics adapter that didnt work i found the place to switch ALL to default settings saved it and exit to restart that also didnt work.. i still get the 3 beeps ( One long followed by two short ) telling me the same thing is incorrect. Lets talk about this other tiny battery…. its attached to the motherboard directly? If so… A) How would i test it to see if its not good before arbitrarily thinking its not and ordering another one only to end up on the same problem. I guess i change look in the service manual (Downloaded yesterday ) and find out how to locate it + remove it if they so give that info

CMOS batteries are relatively resilient and most machines give them a trickle charge, so yours is probably OK again now. Would have been only a temporary problem upon the first or second boot, and then the machines power supply would have at least partially recharged it. And since you are able to navigate in BIOS/SETUP and select Defaults, it seems like it is working fine and I was probably wrong about it in the first place. Replacing CMOS battery in a laptop can be tedious. Let's not go there. As long as you fire up that machine at regular intervals the battery should have some life left. Don't know what the tech specs are…. probably one-three years, but I've had machines that have held their charge for 10 years. Now, let's get back to the problem. Can you boot into SAFE Mode?

cant boot into ANY mode hope that covers all the other modes haha safe safe with networking most recent working configuration and one other that is gives a choice of but again…. cant get past that screen and splash screen with the beeping

Hi, until Doug gets back try this:

1 Remove the laptops battery, just run it off the mains electricity supply (via any supplied adaptor/voltage dropper) and see if there is any difference ( I'm talking here of removing the big battery usually from the underneath of the laptop NOT the CMOS battery) Its important that any discs or USB sticks or any other peripheral is disconnected from the machine for this test..don't forget any memory cards, CD's PCMCIA cards, Printers, scanners, Ipods or even floppy* discs!

2 Next try to boot from the Windows XP installation CD…if still no joy go into the BIOS (into advanced settings, on some machines) and set boot priority to CD/DVD as priority 1 with Hard drive 0 ) as priority 2, save the settings exit and see if your machine will boot from the CD… you should get a message press any key to boot from CD…..be careful here just see if it will boot and then report back. if still no joy then try a Linux Puppy Live distro from here:
http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads
you will need to burn it as an image……if you have any doubts on how to do this then get ImgBurn from Here:
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
and this will do the job for you and create a bootable CD from the Linux Puppy iso download.
.
3 Now try to boot into Puppy, it will run in memory and does not need a hard disc…..but it does need a working video , so this is a reasonable way of testing your machine.
Let us know how things go and also the name make model etc* of your machine.
Regards
paws

ok before i try that tomorrow night i need to let ya know.. this is the wifes laptop she got it about a year before we met im sure there is NO Windows installation CD to be found.

Hi Its important you have a disc. If you don't have it then its best to get one (ask your wife to contact the laptop's manufacturer…she will need to check if there is a cost first….and give them the make , model number of the machine…and this inforamation would also help us to assist you…….. In extremis…its OK to borrow one from a chum for the purpose of the test.. Regards paws

borrow a startup disc from a chum or friend? wouldnt they need to have the same computer?

Hi, if you cant find (or don't have at the moment your own then borrow a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc from a chum and see if you can boot from this. At this stage you just want to see if you can get past the present problem…you are not trying to reinstall the OP System. so either a Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Pro disc will be just fine. These discs are not specific to the individual make of computer Regards paws

ah HA i see thanks paws.. i have a couple of those for my other machines here already ill give it a shot but and correct me if im wrong ill need to go into BIOS and tell the machine to boot from CD /DVD drive Now.. once i get into the machine via the disc what would my next step be? other then changing the settings back to boot from HDDRIVE

Hi If the disc works take no further action…just creep away and report back here exactly what happened. At this stage all we are checking is the hardware on your machine…..that is called into question by the beep code you're getting that normally indicated a video problem. If the Video hardware has failed then discs of any sort will be of no use…but at least we will know the score! Regards paws

Just got back from a two day Music festival here in NYC just now getting back into this i wanted to post just something here before the thread gets locked or move with no activity Thanks for your help guys im reading through the messages right now

No need to feel urgent about posting quickly. We don't typically close posts here in the Tech section. We do appreciate hearing from you and others about what solutions eventually satisfy the stated problem. So, welcome back. It's good to hear from you. Let us know when you have more information. Two day music festival right in NYC sounds great. Paws will be away for several days, so expect to hear from some of the others of us. Best Regards