My Computer Won't Work At All! It all started with big blue screen.

[jlan19101910]

Hi, My name is James and I have a Compaq Presario F700 that I got from my grandma. When my grandma gave it to me, I went home and played with it a little and then it said it had like 27 updates so I clicked restart and update. Well, when it updated it took like 2 hours and then when it came back on it had a big blue screen and me and my dad didn't know what it was. So, we tried everything and at one point we had a checklist made going through everything on the blue screen and nothing ever worked. So, my dad put in the closet for about a year and then a couple weeks ago I found it and now when I start it up it starts with a regular start screen where it says like esc to choose startup options and all that and then when I click that it makes a loud beeping noise and usually restarts and does the same thing. I don't have a HP Disc and I don't have one of those key thingys that go in the side, all I have is the computer and the charger. I just want to know what to do so I can use the gift that my grandma gave me. Someone please help me.

 

[webworkings]

Well is it just one beep or many beeps? That will make a difference. Here is info on different types of beeping for different computers.

Beeps at start up...

8 Beeps on startup means the LCD on system has failed (or is failing). 6 on startup would mean it is your GPU.

You might want to try running a LCD Test, as well as a Pre-boot System Assessment.

So now you are probably thinking "How to run these tests?"


First, turn off your laptop.

For the LCD Test...

1. Hold down the 'D' key and then turn on your laptop
2. Keep holding down 'D' and you should see color bars on your LCD.


Again, turn off the laptop...

For the Pre-boot System Assessment...

1. Hit the 'F12' key immediately after turning on your system.
2. From the options displayed, choose 'Diagnostics' .

This will tell you if there are any errors that you need to address/fix.


Other beep codes....

NOTE: Due to the fact that different manufacturers with this BIOS have different codes, the beep codes may vary.

Below are the AMI BIOS Beep codes that can occur.

1 short - DRAM refresh failure
2 short - Parity circuit failure
3 short - Base 64K RAM failure
4 short - System timer failure
5 short - Process failure
6 short - Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7 short - Virtual mode exception error
8 short - Display memory Read/Write test failure
9 short - ROM BIOS checksum failure
10 short - CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11 short - Cache Memory error
1 long, 3 short - Conventional/Extended memory failure
1 long, 8 short - Display/Retrace test failed
two-tone siren - Low CPU Fan speed, Voltage Level issue

Below are Award BIOS Beep codes that can occur.

1 long, 2 short - Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information.

1 long, 3 short - Video card not detected (reseat video card) or bad video card

Beeps repeating endlessly - RAM problem.

Repeated high frequency beeps while PC is running - Overheating processor (CPU).

Repeated beeps alternating high & low frequency - Issue with the processor (CPU), possibly damaged.

Dell beep codes

1 beep - BIOS ROM corruption or failure
2 beeps - Memory (RAM) not detected
3 beeps - Motherboard failure
4 beeps - Memory (RAM) failure
5 beeps - CMOS Battery failure
6 beeps - Video card failure
7 beeps - Bad processor (CPU)

Below are general IBM BIOS Beep codes that can occur. However, because of the wide variety of models shipping with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary.

No Beeps - No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
1 Short Beep - Normal POST, computer is ok.
2 Short Beep - POST error, review screen for error code.
Continuous Beep - No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
Repeating Short Beep - No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
1 Long and 1 Short Beep - Motherboard issue.
1 Long and 2 Short Beeps - Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue.
1 Long and 3 Short Beeps. - Video (EGA) Display Circuitry.
3 Long Beeps - Keyboard or Keyboard card error.
1 Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display - Video Display Circuitry.

 

[johnbl]

it is old machine most likely the CMOS batter backup on the motherboard has died and would need to be replaced and the BIOS reconfigured.
These batteries tend to last about 5 years from the date of install.

because of the age of the machine (windows vista time frame) I would not spend much time or effort getting it to run. (unless you do it for fun)