I just put together my desktop computer after having moved to New York. It’s all wired up correctly, but it’s making a 'beep’ing sound. Specifically, it’s three beeps, then a pause, and then three more beeps.
The lights come on, the monitor powers up, but it’s not connecting information between the two.
Does anyone know what this means?
P.S. It was put together for me by a friend who, due to my moving from Texas, cannot very well come and look at it.
Sounds like POST (Power On Self Test) beep codes. Google post beeps and check out the sites it refers to.
Apparently it is either a keyboard card or a memory thing. If I open my CPU, how can I tell what those are?
Your best bet is to check the manufacturer’s website for specific instructions on removing and reseating RAM. Testing the keyboard is simpler: borrow a keyboard from someone else and swap it out. Make absolutely certain you just don’t have the keyboard and mouse connectors reversed (assuming they’re PS/2 connectors).
The best thing to do is just open the case and make sure all the cards are seated. I would vacuum out everything as well. Pushing down on the cards may take a bit of force with your thumbs but don’t go overboard. It is likely something is just loose or not seated properly.
That is actually a better first step. The keyboard and mouse often have identical places to plug them into. They are next to each other and painfully easy to reverse them. Just make sure they are right.
Most likely, the cpu or memory (or both) shook loose during the move. If you’ve got ps/2 connections and they are in the right place, chances are just taking the cpu and memory out and putting them back in will fix your problem (my money is on the memory). Based on the questions you’ve asked in this thread, I’m assuming you have little to no computer hardware experience. Poking around inside your computer without knowing what you are doing can lead you to cause more damage. You might want to just take it to a shop or find someone knowledgeable locally who can help you.
Don’t vacuum out the inside of a computer unless you use a vacuum that is designed for electronics work. A regular vacuum generates static electricity and can fry the components inside a computer. It’s much safer to use a can of compressed air and blow the dust and crap out of the computer.
You may need to put new heat sink compound between the cpu and heatsink, if you monkey with the cpu. I suggest you save that for last.
I fail to see how that would result in a BIOS beep issue. If his heat sink compound needed re-applying, then his CPU would be over heating, which means it would either burn out very soon after turning it on (as in, seconds,) and he wouldn’t be able to post anything with his mobo, or it would turn off as a safety measure if it got far enough into the boot process to check its temp. Since it sort of boots, beeps, pauses, then beeps again, I’d say it’s a piece of hardware not responding to the motherboard’s commands, like the RAM, video card, etc…
He’s not saying that a heat sink compound issue is responsible for the original problem. He’s saying that if you take out and re-seat the cpu then you may have to put new heat sink compound in it.