Beeping

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Guest

I originally posted this on the MCE site, since I have a Media Center OS, but
after thinking about it, I thought I should probably post this here...

After starting my computer this morning, I noticed that the default beeping
sound was playing periodically. I thought it was just something during
startup, but now it's happing continuously. Every few seconds. Tried
checking running processes, and didn't see anything incredibly unusual.
Running Spy Sweeper right now, but it hasn't found anything yet.

Don't think I did anything unsual yesterday before shutting it down, and
pretty sure I'm up-to-date on Windows updates. Have tried rebooting already,
to no avail.

Any suggestions?

Todd
 
T. Jenkins said:
I originally posted this on the MCE site, since I have a Media Center OS,
but
after thinking about it, I thought I should probably post this here...

After starting my computer this morning, I noticed that the default
beeping
sound was playing periodically. I thought it was just something during
startup, but now it's happing continuously. Every few seconds. Tried
checking running processes, and didn't see anything incredibly unusual.
Running Spy Sweeper right now, but it hasn't found anything yet.

Don't think I did anything unsual yesterday before shutting it down, and
pretty sure I'm up-to-date on Windows updates. Have tried rebooting
already,
to no avail.

Any suggestions?

Todd
Click to expand...
Answer depends entirely upon where the beeping comes from:
1. Does the beeping come from your speakers?
2. Does the beeping come from inside of your computer?
Steve
 
Usually the PC beeps occurs when something is wrong with your hardware.
Check if the circuit boards, memory modules are well fasted in PCI/AGP
slots. An other idea is to check the battery.

Regards,
--
Marian Gutu

MCP, MCSAs, MCSEs
Be nice, society already sucks!

May the Force be with you!
http://www.google.com
 
Ah, yes, good point. I did some searching on this, and saw references to
memory or motherboard problems, which would probably result in beeps coming
from inside the computer.

No, mine are coming from the speakers.

FYI, Spy Sweeper just finished; no issues.

Todd
 
Got off the phone with eMachine a few minutes ago, and they also mentioned
the possibility of power supply or motherboard problems. I mentioned that
the sound was coming from the speakers, not the computer, but that didn't
seem to register with them. After a little prodding, she suggested that I
restore to the original OEM condition, which I do NOT intend to do until I'm
convinced it's necessary (takes me forever to get my computer reconfigured
after a restore). I didn't get the sense that the eMachine person I was
talking to was very experienced.

I also mentioned the possibility of doing a Windows restore, maybe back to
yesterday or the day before. Since the problem just started this morning, I
thought that might be a good test. Any thoughts on this?

Any help would be appreciated.

Todd
 
Sorry. One more point I just noticed. The beeping is pretty much continuous
now, about once every 2 seconds. I noticed that when the computer is idle
(i.e., I'm not doing anything to it), the cursor changes briefly to an
hourglass in sync with the beeps.

Not sure if that helps, but thought I'd share.

Todd
 
T. Jenkins said:
Got off the phone with eMachine a few minutes ago, and they also mentioned
the possibility of power supply or motherboard problems. I mentioned that
the sound was coming from the speakers, not the computer, but that didn't
seem to register with them.
Click to expand...

Your motherboard is probably configured to use the speakers for beeps.
Take the side off the case and see if it's coming from the case's little
speaker as well.

After a little prodding, she suggested that I
restore to the original OEM condition, which I do NOT intend to do until I'm
convinced it's necessary (takes me forever to get my computer reconfigured
after a restore). I didn't get the sense that the eMachine person I was
talking to was very experienced.
Click to expand...

For sure you've got a hardware problem.
I also mentioned the possibility of doing a Windows restore, maybe back to
yesterday or the day before. Since the problem just started this morning, I
thought that might be a good test. Any thoughts on this?

Any help would be appreciated.

Todd
Click to expand...

Can't hurt but it probably won't fix a thing. Look at your fans. Are
they OK? Dirty? If you're lucky, it's just a 5 dollar fan.

Alias
 
T. Jenkins said:
Sorry. One more point I just noticed. The beeping is pretty much
continuous now, about once every 2 seconds. I noticed that when the
computer is idle (i.e., I'm not doing anything to it), the cursor
changes briefly to an hourglass in sync with the beeps.

Not sure if that helps, but thought I'd share.
Click to expand...

Activate Task Manager and see what software pops up in sync with the
hourglass/beep. This will be a big clue.
 
I'm trying this idea, but I can't tell what is changing. I'm looking at the
Processes tab, and there does seem to be changes, but I can't tell what they
are. Is there a way of configuring the Task Manage to show what happened
most recently?

Todd
 
I listened for the internal speaker; didn't hear anything. Fans seem to be
running ok, but the one that appears to be directly connected to the
processor has some lint on the fins (behind the fan).

Another issue I just noticed is that the CPU Usage seems really high,
between 40-60% on average, with very little happening on the computer. I"ve
been watching it for a little while, and noticed that it seems to peg high
when the beep/tone occurs. The tone only seems to occur when I activate
software, such as open a new browser. Tried it several times, and it's
definitely repeatable.

eMachines wanted to replace my power supply first. Any thoughts on whether
that would make a difference?

Todd
 
T. Jenkins said:
I listened for the internal speaker; didn't hear anything. Fans seem to be
running ok, but the one that appears to be directly connected to the
processor has some lint on the fins (behind the fan).
Click to expand...

Use an air can to blow it off. Be sure the computer is not plugged in
when you do it.
Another issue I just noticed is that the CPU Usage seems really high,
between 40-60% on average, with very little happening on the computer. I"ve
been watching it for a little while, and noticed that it seems to peg high
when the beep/tone occurs. The tone only seems to occur when I activate
software, such as open a new browser. Tried it several times, and it's
definitely repeatable.

eMachines wanted to replace my power supply first. Any thoughts on whether
that would make a difference?

Todd
Click to expand...

It could be software or your case microphone is non existent or not
enabled. The only way to be reasonably sure it isn't hard ware is to
back up your data and use the restore disk. If the beeping continues,
it's a good bet it's hardware and that needs to be troubleshot one
device at a time by swapping with good hardware to find out which one is
the culprit. The power supply would be a good place to start, especially
if eMachines gives it to you rather than sells it to you. Is the
computer under warranty still?

Alias
 
All,

I have tried quite a few things, without success until this morning. I had
been using the Windows Restore feature to back in time, and I eventualy went
back to a 4-5 days, just before a restore point named "Software Distribution
Service 2.0." On the date I selected, the restore point was "System
Checkpoint." After restoring to this point, the beeping seems to have
stopped.

I think I had several Windows updates in the period after this restore
point, and I'm wondering if one of them is this Software Distribution Service
2.0 entry. Does anyone have any ideas as to what that is? I want to avoid
it, if possible. Note: Windows has already told me it has updates to
download; didn't see anything like this on the list.

Thanks,
Todd
 
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