Beep code

[Ender24]

Hello,
I have a laptop that gives a lengthy beep code just after the Dell screen. I don't know now to interpret this one. The code is 10 beeps, a very brief pause, then another 15-17 beeps. Any thoughts?

[jdc2000]

I couldn't find any laptop-specific beep code tables for Dell. You might try contacting their support department. However, that many beeps usually indicates something serious, usually a motherboard problem.

[Bigleon]

a Rule of thumb a teacher gave me is more beeps the worse the news is when you find out what they mean XD

[Matt_s]

i think something that repeatedly keeps beeping is memory related. so take out the memory and "reseat" it in the oposite slot.

hope that helps

[Bigleon]

Well from way he describes it; it doesn't sound like a memory thing, although yeah matt that is something to check.

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

Not good.. a quick check of AMI BIOS beep code errors shows the following..

10 Short Beeps: Your problem lies deep inside the CMOS.
All chips associated with the CMOS will likely have to be replaced.
Your best bet is to get a new motherboard.

11 Short Beeps: Your problem is in the Cache Memory chips on the motherboard.
Reseat or Replace these chips.

Murray

[liondad]

link,
http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/phoenixbeep.htm
these are the bios in dells,
hope it helps

[Ender24]

Hey all,
I'm terribly sorry. I made that post in a hurry and didn't consider some things. At first, I thought it was a local issue, but there have been some circumstances that may have instigated the problem (or may not, I just don't know). It was a very poor post on my part and I'm sorry I wasted your time, should I repost with more clarity or continue here?

The circumstances involved coincide with another post I made somewhere else on CTH about restore discs. I needed to repair boot files in the laptop I just recieved because Win XP would not load and I suspected that the boot files were corrupt. I used the XP home restore disc that goes to my desktop (a gateway) initiating the windows repair option. The result was a laptop that loaded windows without a problem (except for three and a half tons of malware) it worked. True reinstall discs are now coming in the mail. After I did that thought, before loading Windows, I was prompted to choose which operating system to load: 1) Windows XP Home 2) Windows XP Home setup. I decided to experiment and chose the setup option which started installing windows XP home. The installation hung up at 37 minutes left, so I had no choice but to power down and start it up again where it forced the installation instead of giving me a choice. The installation failed again because an "entry point" could not be found, I did not write down that error, but it looped and would not go away. I powered down once more, and this time, the installation finished. Before that moment, there were no POST beep codes. After that moment, I get a POST beep code of 10 short beeps, a short pause, then 15-17 short beeps. After that, the windows flag screen appears and brings me to the screen where you have to choose who you want to logon as. At this point, windows asks me to validate windows using the COA product key. I tried two of them, the one of the laptop and the one on my desktop. Neither work. End of story.

As you can see, I'm not a concise storyteller.