# Why is my brand new computer screaming at me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573 "2007-10-22T16:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/1 "2007-10-22T16:02:58Z")
I have a brand spanking new Dell 1420. It’s only about a month or two old. It works great, but occasionally the speaker inside (you know, the one that beeps if you hit two keys at the exact same time) will beep really loud. There are no error messages, nothing I can find to tell me what’s happening. The hard-drive seems to either start or stop turning when it does it, but there is no noticeable affect when it happens. Also, it doesn’t seem to happen at any particular moment. Sometimes, it’ll make the noise when I’m not using it at all. OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium System Manufacturer Dell Inc. System Model Inspiron 1420 Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz, 2001 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s) Locale Taiwan For those of you who might mention contacting customer support. I have. All I got was a Chenglish response that didn’t make much sense. Any help would be greatly appreciated ---
**Author:** ![recessiveMeme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@recessiveMeme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/recessiveMeme)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/2 "2007-10-22T16:44:09Z")
So when you say there aren’t any error messages, do mean to say that there aren’t any errors which are immediately self-evident, like a dialog box or BSOD, or do you mean that you’ve checked the Application and System Event Logs in Computer Management and found nothing of note? I don’t mean to condescend, I simply have no ideas about your level of user experience. My first reaction to a problem like this on my PC would be to immediately check those logs for anything suspicious. Also, where is the system? Could this be a heat issue? There are any number of useful utilities like “Motherboard Monitor” that can track mobo temperature sensors, voltages, fan speeds, etc. Perhaps you’ve got a flakey component that is drifting in and our of tolerance? I quick session of google-fu doesn’t turn up anything that sounds _particularly_ useful, but I did find a couple people complaining of random system beeping on Dells. One claimed that a Hitachi hard drive was the issue. Another mentioned something about an option that caused the system to beep whenever it lost/regained connectivity to a wireless router. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/3 "2007-10-22T17:31:53Z")
Have you looked in the Event Logs? (Start | Run | Eventvwr) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/4 "2007-10-22T18:32:33Z")
is your cell phone nearby? ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/5 "2007-10-22T20:44:25Z")
My boyfriend has a new Dell. His Dell does this (or at least what I think “this” is that you’re describing) His is a MacAfee alert that’s telling him that he doesn’t have some kind of something installed/purchased that makes MacAfee work. It bugs the shit out of him and scares the shit out of me if I’m in the room by myself. Happens whether he’s on it or not. He’s called but obviously hasn’t gotten a permanent resolution. They (at MacAfee) have always done something that suspends it for a day or two, but it’s obviously on a regular cycle of alerting (irritating the shit out of) you that some kind of action needs taken. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/6 "2007-10-22T20:58:16Z")
What **drachillix** said. My cell phone doesn’t do it, but my Blackberry makes my computer whine at me every time it checks in with the network. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/7 "2007-10-23T03:15:31Z")
> [@](#): > > So when you say there aren’t any error messages, do mean to say that there aren’t any errors which are immediately self-evident Exact. > [@](#): > > do you mean that you’ve checked the Application and System Event Logs in Computer Management and found nothing of note? No, I haven’t. Don’t know how. > [@](#): > > Also, where is the system? Could this be a heat issue? There are any number of useful utilities like “Motherboard Monitor” that can track mobo temperature sensors, voltages, fan speeds, etc. Perhaps you’ve got a flakey component that is drifting in and our of tolerance? I don’t think it’s heat, but I’ll try the motherboard monitor to see. > [@](#): > > Have you looked in the Event Logs? (Start | Run | Eventvwr) Thanks. > [@](#): > > is your cell phone nearby? Yes, but I keep the computer’s bluetooth and wifi off (there’s a convenient little switch) when I’m at my house. > [@](#): > > My boyfriend has a new Dell. His Dell does this (or at least what I think “this” is that you’re describing) His is a MacAfee alert that’s telling him that he doesn’t have some kind of something installed/purchased that makes MacAfee work. It bugs the shit out of him and scares the shit out of me if I’m in the room by myself. Happens whether he’s on it or not. He’s called but obviously hasn’t gotten a permanent resolution. They (at MacAfee) have always done something that suspends it for a day or two, but it’s obviously on a regular cycle of alerting (irritating the shit out of) you that some kind of action needs taken. I use kaspersky, which of course has its share of beeps and such, but not like this. Granted, the computer came with McAfee, and maybe it hasn’t been completely deleted. Thought I got it off. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/8 "2007-10-23T03:23:21Z")
I’ve checked the event log from around the time of the last “beep.” I don’t know exactly when it was, only that I had just fallen asleep, so it was around 2AM. There are errors and warnings there, but I don’t know which would have triggered a beep. I guess I’ll have to wait until the next beep to see what the log says. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/9 "2007-10-24T14:17:40Z")
Just had a beep, checked the event log, and I can’t see anything after several hours ago. I checked all of the tabs and folders. Nothing. Whadaya think? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/10 "2007-10-24T15:29:53Z")
I would check the BIOS event log - when it starts up, it should give you a message that says “Press \ for Setup”. Press the indicated key, and you’ll enter the BIOS configuration utility. Look around the screens for the System Event Log, and see if there’s anything in there. Don’t worry, you won’t screw anything up - when you exit the BIOS (usually with ESC), you can choose to “Exit Discarding Changes”. Or just hit the power button, if you can’t find the exit - it won’t harm anything if you don’t have an OS loaded. ---
**Author:** ![Smith8762](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Smith8762](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smith8762)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/11 "2007-10-24T16:12:32Z")
Is the problem limited to 2 specific keys or just any 2 keys? Reminds me of the StickyKey app that’s built in to Windows XP. If you press certain key sequences the StickyKey window will pop up and make a sound too. Not sure if Vista has this same function. Quickly press one of your shift keys 5 times in a row. This might reproduce the sound and bring up the StickyKey window. If it does then you can edit the settings and turn off the StickKey stuff. EDIT: Perhaps I should have read that bit in your post stating that the comp sometimes beeps even when you’re not using it. Disregard my post. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/12 "2007-10-24T20:01:27Z")
[QUOTE=gitfiddle] Yes, but I keep the computer’s bluetooth and wifi off (there’s a convenient little switch) when I’m at my house. [/QUOTE] Irrelevant, it is quite likely your speakers are picking up signal bleed from you phone checking in with the local tower. its nothing to do with your computer or phone per se, just your speakers picking it up. I hear this all the time with dozens of different computers. As an onsite tech I hear these noises daily from setting my phone too near the speakers. Safely in my pocket, its rarely an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/13 "2007-10-24T21:33:02Z")
[QUOTE=drachillix] Irrelevant, it is quite likely your speakers are picking up signal bleed from you phone checking in with the local tower. [/QUOTE] I’m not so sure: in my experience, that normally manifests as a sort of something inbetween a purr and a growl. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-brand-new-computer-screaming-at-me/423573/14 "2007-10-24T22:47:56Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] I’m not so sure: in my experience, that normally manifests as a sort of something inbetween a purr and a growl. [/QUOTE] Generally yes but I have heard all kinds of weird noises that went away as I moved my phone away.