I tried to download windows 98 the other day after erasing everything because I was having problems. The computer came up fine, and I left it on for a few hours, went to open a program and my computer crashed. I tried to restart my computer and nothing happens, it just beeps about ten times, and the monitor stays on stand by.
What did I do? How do I fix it?
2006-09-14 03:59:11 · 9 answers · asked by LadyRaven 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
That means it is failing the Power On Self Test (POST). They beep in a code that tells you what is failing. The codes are specific to the manufacturer.
The computer checks the basic hardware and sees if there is any chance it can boot. It is FAILING that. It could be something as simple as re-seating the RAM. It could be that one of the PCI cards are bad. It could be a bad hard drive. It could be a bad mother board. But it is hardware - not software and reloading it won't fix it no matter how many times you try. It has not even tried to read the software at the point it is failing.
I bet the problems you were having before were hardware related and not software, so you were wasting you time reloading the software.
I don't know an easy way to tell you diagnose the problem. I would refer you to a pro, but since the system is old enough that it has Windows 98 it really won't be worth the bill, and there is a good chance that it won't be repairable anyhow. You probably want a new one. Your monitor is still good and will work, so you can save some money there.
I'll give you the short version, but be careful. You are playing with electricity and can get shocked and hurt. There are things you could break with just a little static charge inside. So if you don't know enough to do it with quick instructions, you probably don't want to mess with it at all.
I would push the RAM in tight, see what happens. Then I yank all the cards and drives and see if it passes the POST that way. If it doesn't you have a bad mother board. If it does, try adding things back and see what makes it fail. Replace the one thing that it works without.
2006-09-14 04:23:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The computer tests itself before it loads the operating system (Win98). It is FAILING that test. You may have bad hardware or some critical piece of Win98 didn't load. If you have the CD, you can try to load it again. If you can get a boot disk (do a search on it on Google), you can maybe get to a command prompt and then look for different directories.
The bottom line is that those beeps are NEVER a good thing. good luck
2006-09-14 11:03:59 · answer #2 · answered by words_smith_4u 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe the video card or the video card driver is corrupt. The beeping happens during the POST test , when something happens that the computer doesn't like.
2006-09-14 11:18:07 · answer #3 · answered by GJneedsanswers 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Computers have these beep codes to tell you why they can't start. They vary somewhat depending on what bios your machine uses. The problems you were having were probably due to failing hardware, which has now progressed.
2006-09-14 11:06:04 · answer #4 · answered by injanier 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get a new computer. Windows 98? That is really really old. Geez there was Millennium after that and now XP.
2006-09-14 11:07:47 · answer #5 · answered by Island Queen 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
try unplugging computer for about 30 seconds and plugging it back in. No guarantee, but i have had to do this a few times when mine wouldn't act right. seems to reset itself...good luck
2006-09-14 11:01:55 · answer #6 · answered by Marvin C 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
u have to open the computer and take the ram from it and put it again it will work " en shaa allah " if the god want
2006-09-14 11:03:35 · answer #7 · answered by mohamed_rabia12 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
try contacting the manufatcurer
2006-09-14 11:01:24 · answer #8 · answered by Brown_Eyed_Girl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Check your cables.
2006-09-14 11:04:25 · answer #9 · answered by Pinolera 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋