Journal #5329

Symptoms?

beeping and stuff when it boots, monitor wont turn on
like, i know whats wrong (sort of) just got to figure out what the beeps are telling me...
if that makes sense

Got a motherboard manual?

It'll tell you. If not, look up your motherboard on Google.

about that.... i dont know, well you see, i bought this old compaq 98 off the school when they were replacing computers so i needed one for mapping that was cheap and faster then the 95 i was using. so really, ill have to have a look

Sounds like you should just get an entirely new computer.

Depending on the number of beeps or a continuous beep you can tell what problem you have with it .

But first , you must know what BIOS you're using .

There are 3 BIOS types in the world :

1-AMI BIOS
2-AWARD BIOS
3-IBM BIOS

Usually the name is printed on the chip , so all you have to do is to take the case off and read the name from the BIOS chip .

After that , turn on your computer . Listen carefully the nature/number of the beeps . Then check this page :
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

Remember , this may solve your problem if it's a simple one. (for example your RAM chips aren't well placed . In this case you should take them off completely and put the magin in their position)

If the problem is more complicated you should request help on forum with hardware gurus.

So, when you start it, it beeps and stuff, like it should when it boots?

I dont know what cstriker is on about the beeps, never tried looking into that. Its probably like the "service engine" codes on your car, you look it up and it doesn't tell you crap except what you already knew.

This happened to me 2 times before. Once it was the monitor, the other it was a buggered graphics card. If you have another computer, perhaps test the monitor there? If it works, then it would be the graphics card. (also try testing the card in a different computer.) And lastly, perhaps your power supply is acting up, doubtful though, considering the symptoms.

If none of the stuff i just mentioned works, then buy a better computer, which might be the better option altogether.

"I dont know what cstriker is on about the beeps, never tried looking into that. Its probably like the "service engine" codes on your car, you look it up and it doesn't tell you crap except what you already knew.
"

Actualy those things helped me repair my old pentium 2 .

Indeed. The beeps are the only way your motherboard has of communicating with you when there's a problem. (More modern motherboards attempt to speak, like the time I came home to find mine repeating endlessly, "System halted, CPU hot" in a voice like Yoda with a bad head cold.) Look up the number/type of beeps, and it will tell you whether the problem is with your RAM, your video card, or whatever...

My guess is RAM -- but it really could be anything.

ok its stopped beeping (fixed) but now the monitor goes on standby (powersaving) mode and now THAT doesnt work