Can you help me?

[JenMacca]

Okay, I know that my monitor is really old, and it's been having problems lately, like when it's on for quite a while, the screen starts appearing shaky and wavy.... anyway......early this week it started doing something different. I tried to turn my computer on, and it beeped three times, and the monitor wouldn't come on. I flipped the power switch on and off a few times and the monitor came on, and all was well. Well, it's been happening more and more frequently since then, and has gotten worse, like it happens every time I even need to restart now. And this morning when I went to turn it on, it wouldn't come on very easily at all....I had to work at it for half an hour just to get the damn thing to work. And since then the computer's locked several times, and I've had to battle with it each time then, too. All the wires are plugged in just fine, I checked that..... but do you think the problem is with the computer or with the monitor? I'm thinking it's probably with the monitor, but before I go whining to dad to get me a new one, I'd at least like to be somewhat sure of what the problem is and what I need...

[whoreable]

if the system is beeping, then the problem is the system. what type of system is it? what is the pattern of beeping?

[JenMacca]

Well when I can make the monitor work, the machine doesn't beep, which is what makes me think it's the monitor. Ummm....not really sure what type of system it is, do you mean like Mac or PC? cos it's a PC, I know that much offhand...

Oh, and the pattern of the beeping is one longer beep, then two short beeps really quick after it

[whoreable]

I was wondering if it was a dell or gateway or something. those beeps probaly mean something and they are different for every system.

now do u keep hitting the monitor switch to get it working or the power switch on the system?

[AChimp]

If the monitor picture gets all shaky, it could be from interference nearby that just builds up the longer you computer is on. Try pressing the Degauss button on it (if it's a newer monitor, it'll have one), or move your speakers away from the monitor.

Chances are, the problem is with the monitor, especially if it won't even turn on... unless you're one of those gay people who just flicks the power bar switch to turn everything off. >:

[whoreable]

but why is his computer giving beep patterns then mr smartee pants??? well??

[JenMacca]

Uhhh....first off, I'm a girl, not a guy. lol

But yeah I was thinking it's probably the monitor though.... because it doesn't do the beeping thing when the darn thing will turn on. I don't turn everything off at the power strip, I shut it down and all that, so it's not like it started by me doing damage to the hard drive like that (though, with how I have to flip the power on and off to get the damn monitor to work, I probably am) so......*sighs* Why must my computer hate me?
I'm almost certain it'll be fine if I hook up ANY other monitor with it....that works, anyway....just my dad isn't hope yet so I can't ask him if he has any spares right now, and if not, it's too early to get him to go out and see if he can buy one since I doubt any of the hardware places are open yet.

[whoreable]

monitors dont beep. and computers pretty much only beep once upon successful post(monitor or not)

your monitor might be about ready to die, but i dont think it is the only problem. to verify do this: turn on your computer-(box only) dont worry about the monitor). now turn your speakers up. wait a while for it to boot up. do you hear the windows sound when it boots up? if you do turn on your monitor, and it probaly works.

what power do you turn on and off? the monitor button or the power strip or the button on the pc?

Have you determined what brand of system it is? or is it jsut a non-branded one?

[JenMacca]

I tried that, and I heard the windows sound.....but I couldn't get the monitor to come on (had to restart several times AGAIN to make it turn on)....

The power I turn on and off is the one on the computer. The power on the monitor is on 'on', so there SHOULDN'T be a problem with it, you'd think.

And I think this is an unbranded PC because it's a customized one that my dad put together a long time ago.

[whoreable]

yea sounds like the monitor, I would just test another one if your dad has one, or even test you monitor on another sytem if you can.

the system beeps make me think the video card acting up is another possibillity, has the system ever beeped 3 times and worked? does it always beep 3 times? does it only work times were it just beeps once?

[JenMacca]

Gotta wait till my dad gets home to test another one.

I've never heard it beep three times like that before this. So I don't know if it'd normally work if it beeped three times. But as it is right now, it only seems to work if it only beeps once.

[soundtest]

AChimp doesn't know wtf he's talking about. Whoreable is right - the beeps indicate a problem with the system. If you have your motherboard documentation it should indicate what that series of beeps means for your specific board (or if you know or can find out the model it should be easy enough to find out online), but my guess would be the video card. Even if the monitor is completely fucked it should not cause the system to produce the warning beeps.

[LacrimansTaurne]

Something similar happened to me. My monitor was working fine, but it said it couldn't detect a signal from the computer. I checked the video card and made sure everything was connected properly. Afterwards I turned it back on, and got the same message along with my PC beeping. I replaced the video card and it still kept beeping, and eventually it would turn itself off. It wouldn't make the sounds it normally makes loading Windows either, so I knew it wasn't the monitor causing the problem. Sometimes I could get it to work, but it wouldn't detect the CD-ROM drives or floppy drive or some of my RAM, and would just reset itself randomly. It turns out that the motherboard had become defective, due to overheating from a faulty power supply I had to replace about a month before.

[JenMacca]

Was talking to a friend of mine just a little bit ago, she said it may be due to low hard drive space that it's doing that, cos it also locks up kinda often. I have a 1.96 GB hard drive, and have 679 MB of free space.......would that be causing the problem, do you think?

(I asked dad if he had a spare monitor and he basically told me to go fuck myself...so if they problem's in the monitor, I'm gonna have to save up for a new one on my own :-p)

[Blue]

Wouldnt be harddrive space. I'm thinking it is probably the vidoe card too. Whn i was lazy and didnt screw in the vid card my machine used to beep at me when it would come loose. But im guessing yours is probably broken.

[soundtest]

Your friend is retarded. Low disk space would not cause the warning beeps.

[JenMacca]

If it's the video card, and it's broken, what do I do? If it were broken, wouldn't it not work at all, instead of some of the time?

[soundtest]

You said it's a clone. In that case it's probably not one of those onboard pieces of shit so you can replace it, or it could be something as simple as Blue said and you just have a screw loose. Or it could be that your motherboard is fucked. Either way, those beeps are telling you it's not your monitor and it's not your hard drive. Maybe your monitor is fucked too, but that's not why you're getting those warning beeps. As for your other question, no.

[JenMacca]

I don't think it's something as simple as a screw being loose, because the last time this computer got worked on was last January, and I'd imagine if it'd been loose all this time, it'd have been giving me those beeps for a long time now. So you're pretty sure it's the motherboard then? Is there some type of diagnostic test I can do on here to find out if it's corrupted or what without actually taking the computer apart? What sort of things would mess up a motherboard, anyway? (I really do apologize for all the questions, I'm pretty sure this is going to be the first time I have to work on the computer myself to fix it, so I want to find out all I can before doing anything big) And about how much do motherboards cost, are they really expensive? *hopes they're not*

[Perndog]

Google: motherboard prices (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=motherboard+prices&btnG=Google+Search)

[executioneer]

I'm pretty sure that the three beeps means it's a video card problem :/ The fact that it's intermittent might mean it's not seated properly or might have dirty contacts, or it might need replacing altogether :/

-willie

[whoreable]

yep, I would reseat the video card for starters.

[JenMacca]

Alright, so we have it narrowed down to it's either a motherboard problem or a video card problem, yes?

How do I know if one of them needs to be replaced completely?

Not sure if this makes a difference in the "diagnosis" of my computer....but now for a couple days, it's been locking up pretty frequently, sometimes even during the startup of windows, and if it's playing a sound at the time when it does it, it cuts off and lets out this high pitched hum through the speakers....and then when I go to restart, it has that problem with the beeping and the monitor not working again. *sigh* Why must my computer hate my guts? Seriously, I'm getting frustrated to the point of tears here with this... sounds pathetic but I am.

[executioneer]

have you tried re-seating (pulling out and putting back in) your video card yet?

-willie

[AChimp]

SO I MISSED THE PART ABOUT THE BEEPS, OKAY???? >: >: >:

Just look up the post codes for your BIOS on Internet and you can find out right away what one long and two short means. :(

[executioneer]

hell, it almost sounds like a bad powersupply now :(

-willie

[JenMacca]

crap....if it's a bad power supply, what do I do in that case?

and no, I haven't yet gotten a chance to pull out and reseat the video card....I'm still trying desperately to talk my dad into helping me out here with that but he's still being an ass about it so I may have to figure out how to do it myself......seriously, I'm so dumb, once I get in there I doubt I'll know what the hell part the video card is.... I mean I can probably guess, as I know what the modem looks like so I know it won't be that.....same goes with the fan....and I know it'll have to be one of the things that's toward the back, since dad said something about plugging things directly into it...unless that was the sound card.....well I'm sure if I screw around enough with it I can figure out which one it is.

[whoreable]

make sure your processor fan is spinning too

[AChimp]

The video card is the thing you plug you monitor into. :(

BTW, you better be a HOT CHICK, because we don't like uglies. >:

[liquidstatik]

Ok, my friends just got through installing more RAM into his computer, and when he booted it up, he had the same problem you were having. So we opened the case, and it seemed a few wires had been unplugged in the process of installing the RAM. I can't remember actually what was set loose, so just open your case and make sure everything is plugged in nice and tight. :/

[ziggytrix]

as i said in liquid's thread:

if you can, try a different monitor. if the problem persists, it's probably not your monitor.

[JenMacca]

Okay....got a new monitor, cos the old one LITERALLY fried last week.....and I thought everything was fine till this morning when...IT STARTED DOING IT AGAIN!!!! >: So, I finally took it apart....everything was in place....BUT. EVERYTHING was covered in dust in there. So I cleaned it up as best I could, then turned it on to see if it'd work....and WHADDAYA KNOW?? Works fine now, seemingly. *hopes I'm not jinxing things now* The fan is aparently what's making all sorts of noise in there, but it's been doing that for a long time, and I know my dad has spares of those. I'll worry about that bridge when I come to it. But anyway it seems alright for now....

BTW, you better be a HOT CHICK, because we don't like uglies. >:

I wouldn't consider myself to be hot...sorry......cute perhaps, but not hot :/ I posted a picture of me in the picture thread but about the only responses I got on it were one saying I looked like I belonged in a scary 80's music video (wtf?!), and one saying something along the lines of "don't you love it when people NOBODY cares about shows you what they look like?" The picture's not a very good one, I know...I need to get a better one posted. Prolly will get the same responses, but I don't particularly care. (I've cut my hair since that picture too, btw......it's in somewhat of a Beatle style now, but a bit thicker cos I have thick hair. *shrugs*

[sspadowsky]

Jen, two questions: What did you use to clean the inside of the PC? And how old is your PC?

Sometimes it's better to bite the bullet and get a newer PC if it's really hosed, but it sounds like cleaning made a big difference. You can get cans of compressed air at Office Depot, Best Buy, or just about any place that sells computers, for $4-5. It's a good idea to do that maybe every 1-3 months.

[JenMacca]

Jen, two questions: What did you use to clean the inside of the PC?

A piece of really soft cotton cloth. I made sure as best I could there was no static or anything on it as I know that will ruin a computer instantly.


And how old is your PC?

Hard to say, as my dad's replaced and switched parts as needed, or when he got something better for me, so it's not all the same age.....but if any of it is the original pieces that were in it when he first gave it to me when I was in 6th grade, then....they'd have to be at least 7 years old (cos I got it for my 12th birthday, and my bday is at the beginning of January). I think probably everything in there has been changed at some point or another though.

[Blue]

I just built a celeron 2.4ghz tower with all ok shit for about $400 au. It aint that expensive to build an ok computer and surely your old man can put it together..

[JenMacca]

Well, considering that the monitor dad bought for me a few days ago cos $400 itself (yes, American money), I'm not exactly sure on how much more he'd be willing to spend just yet on my computer, considering it's "usable" right not......if I can I'll wait a couple months before getting on his case about it again.

[Emu]

How big is it? For 400 dollars...

[PonchtheJedi]

This might have already been said ,but I didn't read through the whole thread....


But I used to have a problem where I'd have to boot up three or four times to get my computer to recognize video. I had an AMD chip and from what I have gathered from heresay and rumor, the older ones used to have a problem with AGP. Sometimes it'd boot up fine, but lots of times it wouldn't. And it would always beep when it didn't detect the video.


I don't know if that helps or if I just repeated somebody else, but I posted anyway.