Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The BIOS Beep Error

If you hear beep beep beep coming from your computer at startup, this is often the sign of a BIOS error. BIOS is the acronym for basic input/output system, which consists of software that is built in to your computer. On a personal computer, the BIOS holds all of the necessary codes that control the keyboard, monitor and disk drives. It controls and determines what a computer will be able to do without accessing another program. Every computer system has a different BIOS.

When your computer starts, it automatically checks the system to make sure everything is running properly. If everything goes as planned during startup, you will hear one long beep. A system with a BIOS in good working order will display information about the computer at startup then offer the beep as a sign of good health. This long beep is normal and means that your computer is running as it should.

If you are among the unlucky ones who hear something other than one long beep, you may have issues with your BIOS. Most non-BIOS errors actually say the word error on your screen with a series of letters and listed either before or after the word error, but BIOS errors come in the form of beep codes. There is a very lengthy list of BIOS errors and beep code errors that can be accessed by doing a search for BIOS errors. A combination of short beeps at startup may mean one of the many BIOS errors out there.

The number of beeps that you hear is actually telling you what the problem is. The documentation that you received with your computer will identify the BIOS manufacturer, the BIOS beep codes and what they mean. Your BIOS manufacturer should also have a website that identifies these codes to allow you to look them up and troubleshoot through the codes for your particular system.

Every computer has a BIOS, but the specifics will depend largely on your system. For example, in Windows XP, one long and three short beeps indicate that the monitor or video RAM has failed. In order to fix the error, you will need to know what the beep codes are trying to telling you before you can determine if you can fix it yourself or will need assistance from a trained technician.

The best way to deal with a BIOS beep error is to identify what series of beeps you are hearing. Once you have identified the meaning of the beep codes, you can troubleshoot through the error. Some errors are very simple to fix, such as low battery or a corrupt disk. Others may be more fatal errors having to do with problems with the RAM or motherboard. If you are worried about trying to repair your BIOS yourself, you can contact any computer repair shop for technical support.

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