Is this my computers doom?

[PRBoricua]

Hey,

Have an old e-piece (e-machine) from about two years ago upon a re-boot hangs at the e-machine splash screen and just keeps beeping, over and over again. It checks the vid card, then the splash screen comes up that says "e-machines" and it starts beeping, the beeping doesn't stop until I shut it down. Is this the end for that machine?

[Vagabond]

Hey,

Have an old e-piece (e-machine) from about two years ago upon a re-boot hangs at the e-machine splash screen and just keeps beeping, over and over again. It checks the vid card, then the splash screen comes up that says "e-machines" and it starts beeping, the beeping doesn't stop until I shut it down. Is this the end for that machine?

Can you boot it up in safe mode?

[Grundbegriff]

Sounds as if the battery on the motherboard died, leaving the BIOS to guess (badly, it appears) at your hardware configuration. Do your BIOS settings appear scrambled?

[PRBoricua]

I really don't get the option to check either one of those, because this happens before I can do anything really. It checks the video card memory or whatever first where it shows the video card, make, model & what not then it's on to that e-machines splash screen where it hangs. If there's a button I can press to make it boot in safe mode right off the bat, I'll try it.

[Grundbegriff]

Usually, you can enter the BIOS interface during that power-on self-test. The screen probably includes an obscure instruction that you've overlooked. Often, pressing the Delete key during the boot will take you to the BIOS screen.

[PRBoricua]

Okay, tried the DEL key and while I was pressing it it got past the e-machines splash screen and actually showed me the Windows XP Home Edition screen, the screen went black and gave three quick beeps and now it's just a black screen. Perhaps I'm getting somewhere now? That's further then it was getting before.

[Daehawk]

Im guessing memory cause that comes after vid check right?

[PRBoricua]

Yes, it's after the vid check. Should I take the memory from the case one stick at a time and try to boot it?

[Vagabond]

If there's a button I can press to make it boot in safe mode right off the bat, I'll try it. <<<<<

Should tell you which key to hold down in the manual, if ya got it. Not sure about e-machines but most IBM compatible ones will go into safe mode if you hold F8 while it boots. Try this because if it goes into safe mode you have a software OS problem and not a memory or hardware problem.

[Pyperkub]

If there's a button I can press to make it boot in safe mode right off the bat, I'll try it. <<<<<

Should tell you which key to hold down in the manual, if ya got it. Not sure about e-machines but most IBM compatible ones will go into safe mode if you hold F4 while it boots. Try this because if it goes into safe mode you have a software OS problem and not a memory or hardware problem.

F8 is the Windows key to get into Safe Mode. Beep codes are usually the property of the BIOS tho.

Esc or Tab can get rid of the e-machines splash screen (at least on Dells it works this way) and allow you to see the BIOS post. From there you can see the key you need to press to get into the BIOS - usually Del, f2 or f12. Once you've ID'd the BIOS, you should be able to google it and see if you can find out what the beep codes mean - you may also be able to find out on the e-machines site... but their User Guides look pretty sparse...

You may need to do a little surfing to find the BIOS mf's site to decode the beeps.

One crazy thought - I've seen stuck keys on the keyboard beep like this too... and interfere with the boot process...

[Vagabond]

One crazy thought - I've seen stuck keys on the keyboard beep like this too... and interfere with the boot process... <<<<

Yeah I have too, but it will boot with the keyboard unplugged. It's worth a try.

[Giles Habibula]

One crazy thought - I've seen stuck keys on the keyboard beep like this too... and interfere with the boot process... <<<<

Yeah I have too, but it will boot with the keyboard unplugged. It's worth a try.

Yeah, the stuck key thing really drove me crazy for months. Eventually it would unstick itself (prolly from my bashing the keyboard in frustration) and it'd boot. Then one time I'd use that damn key, and the next time the computer wouldn't boot. And if I didn't happen to use that key again, she'd boot up fine next time. It took literally months to figure this out, all the while trying all manner of fixes that never worked.

I finally solved it by accident, when my newly-purchased EluminX keyboard arrived, and I disconnected the old one and plugged in the new one. Problem vanished. Problem immediately began anew on the old PC I hooked the old keyboard up to. -- Lightbulb went off in my head then...

Looked closely at old keyboard---Discovered right shift key was stuck down--a two-finger typist, that's a key I normally don't use much. Keyboard now at city dump.