Microsoft Windows Stupidities
and How to Fix Them

My Computer Just Beeps at Start-up
and Does Nothing Else

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CONTENTS Now 53 Articles! Last updated 25-Jun-10 Introduction Another Way to Recover an Infected System ASUS Probe Doesn't Minimize Blue Screen of Death with LVCKAP.SYS Can I Use My Mouse and Keyboard to Access Both My Machines? CHKDSK Always Runs at Startup Do you want to display the nonsecure items? Feedback File Can't Be Deleted Folder Settings Aren't Retained How Can I Get Faster Browsing? How Can I Securely Erase My Old Hard Drive? How Can I Stop Microsoft Word Help from Using the Internet? How can I test new software,without damaging my system? How do I set up my own Virtual Private Network? How to Change Microsoft Office Language Settings How to Make an XP Boot Disk How to Multi-Boot XP and Vista How to Recover the Windows CD Key I Don't Want All These Annoying Balloon Tips Popping Up I Get Weird Sounds When I Move My Mouse! I'm the Only User, I Don't Want to Enter a Password at Logon Internet Explorer 8 Fails to Render Properly Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content Microsoft Outlook Always Opens .Doc Files in Reading Layout Microsoft Outlook Always Opens .Doc Files in Reading Layout Microsoft Outlook Bogs Down My Computer Microsoft Virtual PC Console is Invisible My Computer Just Beeps at Start-up and Does Nothing Else My System Continuously Reboots My System is Running Really, Really, Slowly My System Won't Hibernate! Nero Error advrcntr2.dll Open File - Security Warning Open File Security Warning Outlook Can't Open My InBox Outlook Has Started Showing a "Locate Link Browser" Error Outlook Should Minimise to the Tray PC Secure Has Infected My Computer! Some of My Taskbar Icons Are Missing The Easiest Way to Recover an Infected System This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer Vista Can't See My XP Machine on my Network VMplayer Runs Very, Very Slowly Where's Windows Explorer? Why Can't I Name a New Folder as con or CON? Why Does MS Office Want to Install Something? Windows Explorer Crashes When I Click on an AVI Movie File Windows Explorer Should Open to C:\ Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Has Taken Over Windows XP Won't Shut Down XPCOM:Event Receiver Error Grrrr..Stuff for which there is no fix Return to Introduction	When a computer starts up, the very first thing that happens is that a small program in the on-board BIOS gets control and starts executing. This start-up program is called the “bootstrap”; it is called this because of the image of a man bending down and holding onto the straps of his own boots, pulling them on, and standing up. Because this is the first thing the computer does, the bootstrap program is also called the "Power On Self Test" (POST). The first thing the bootstrap does is calculate a checksum of its own BIOS chip; if the checksum matches what was programmed into the chip, it continues with other tests. If it does not match, the bootstrap program knows there is a problem; it could be a defective addressing chip, a bad bit in the BIOS chip, a faulty or overheating CPU, whatever, but it now has to communicate with the outside world (you) that something is not kosher. It can’t use the monitor, as the graphics hardware has not been initialised yet. It has no physical means of attracting your attention, other that the built-in speaker. So it generates one or more beeps. Since there are various kinds of errors that can be detected; it generates different beeps. For example, a BIOS error might be a single long continuous beep. Bad RAM might be a series of short beeps. A missing graphics board or unaddressable graphics memory might be a long beep followed by two short beeps. The actual beep codes vary by manufacturer; there is no universal standard. What you need to do is open the case, inspect the motherboard and determine the manufacturer. Then do a Google search on the manufacturer name and “beep codes” (in quotations). You can’t do this on the defective machine, of course; you have to use another machine. You can also use these tables, which show the standard beep codes by BIOS manufacturer. Be warned that these codes could vary with the motherboard manufacturer. But they will give you a starting point. AMI BIOS beep codes 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 AWARD BIOS beep codes 1 long, 2 short Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information Any other beep(s) RAM problem IBM BIOS beep codes No beeps No power, loose card, or short 1 short beep Normal POST, computer is OK 2 short beeps POST error, look at screen for error code Continuous beep No power, loose card, or short circuit Repeating short beep No power, loose card, or short circuit One long and one short beep Motherboard problem One long and two short beeps Mono/CGA display video problem One long and three short beeps EGA display video problem Three long beeps Keyboard error One beep, blank or incorrect display Display video problem Macintosh startup tones Error tone (two sets of different tones) Problem with logic board or SCSI bus Startup tone, drive spins, no video Problem with video controller Powers on, no tone Logic board problem High Tone, four higher tones Memory problem Phoenix BIOS beep codes The beep codes are represented in the number of beeps; e..g. 1-1-2 would mean 1 beep, a pause, 1 beep, a pause, and 2 beeps. 1-1-2 CPU test failure. The CPU is faulty. Replace the CPU Low 1-1-2 System board select failure. The motherboard is having an undetermined fault. Replace the motherboard 1-1-3 CMOS read/write error. The real time clock/CMOS is faulty. Replace the CMOS if possible Low 1-1-3 Extended CMOS RAM failure. The extended portion of the CMOS RAM has failed. Replace the CMOS if possible 1-1-4 BIOS ROM checksum error. The BIOS ROM has failed. Replace the BIOS or upgrade if possible 1-2-1 PIT failure. The programmable interrupt timer has failed. Replace if possible 1-2-2 DMA failure. The DMA controller has failed. Replace the IC if possible 1-2-3 DMA read/write failure. The DMA controller has failed. Replace the IC if possible 1-3-1 RAM refresh failure. The RAM refresh controller has failed 1-3-2 64KB RAM failure. The test of the first 64KB RAM has failed to start 1-3-3 First 64KB RAM failure. The first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 1-3-4 First 64KB logic failure. The first RAM control logic has failed 1-4-1 Address line failure. The address line to the first 64KB RAM has failed 1-4-2 Parity RAM failure. The first RAM IC has failed. Replace if possible 1-4-3 EISA fail-safe timer test. Replace the motherboard 1-4-4 EISA NMI port 462 test. Replace the motherboard 2-1-1 64KB RAM failure. Bit 0; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-1-2 64KB RAM failure. Bit 1; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-1-3 64KB RAM failure. Bit 2; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-1-4 64KB RAM failure. Bit 3; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-2-1 64KB RAM failure. Bit 4; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-2-2 64KB RAM failure. Bit 5; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-2-3 64KB RAM failure. Bit 6; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-2-4 64KB RAM failure. Bit 7; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-3-1 64KB RAM failure. Bit 8; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-3-2 64KB RAM failure. Bit 9; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-3-3 64KB RAM failure. Bit 10; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-3-4 64KB RAM failure. Bit 11; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-4-1 64KB RAM failure. Bit 12; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-4-2 64KB RAM failure. Bit 13; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-4-3 64KB RAM failure. Bit 14; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 2-4-4 64KB RAM failure. Bit 15; This data bit on the first RAM IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 3-1-1 Slave DMA register failure. The DMA controller has failed. Replace the controller if possible 3-1-2 Master DMA register failure. The DMA controller had failed. Replace the controller if possible 3-1-3 Master interrupt mask register failure. The interrupt controller IC has failed 3-1-4 Slave interrupt mask register failure. The interrupt controller IC has failed 3-2-2 Interrupt vector error. The BIOS was unable to load the interrupt vectors into memory. Replace the motherboard 3-2-3 Reserved. 3-2-4 Keyboard controller failure. The keyboard controller has failed. Replace the IC if possible 3-3-1 CMOS RAM power bad. Replace the CMOS battery or CMOS RAM if possible 3-3-2 CMOS configuration error. The CMOS configuration has failed. Restore the configuration or replace the battery if possible 3-3-3 Reserved. 3-3-4 Video memory failure. There is a problem with the video memory. Replace the video adapter if possible 3-4-1 Video initialization failure. There is a problem with the video adapter. Reseat the adapter or replace the adapter if possible 4-2-1 Timer failure. The system's timer IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 4-2-2 Shutdown failure. The CMOS has failed. Replace the CMOS IC if possible 4-2-3 Gate A20 failure. The keyboard controller has failed. Replace the IC if possible 4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode. This is a CPU problem. Replace the CPU and retest 4-3-1 RAM test failure. System RAM addressing circuitry is faulty. Replace the motherboard 4-3-3 Interval timer channel 2 failure. The system timer IC has failed. Replace the IC if possible 4-3-4 Time of day clock failure. The real time clock/CMOS has failed. Replace the CMOS if possible 4-4-1 Serial port failure. A error has occurred in the serial port circuitry 4-4-2 Parallel port failure. A error has occurred in the parallel port circuitry 4-4-3 Math coprocessor failure. The math coprocessor has failed. If possible, replace the MPU 1-1-1-3 Verify real mode 1-1-2-1 Get CPU type 1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware 1-1-3-1 Initialize chipset registers with initial values 1-1-3-2 Set in POST flag 1-1-3-3 Initialize CPU registers 1-1-4-1 Initialize cache to initial values 1-1-4-3 Initialize I/O 1-2-1-1 Initialize power management 1-2-1-2 Load alternative registers with initial POST values 1-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch0 1-2-2-1 Initialize timer initialization 1-2-3-1 8254 timer initialization 1-2-3-3 8237 DMA controller initialization 1-2-4-1 Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller 1-3-2-1 Set ES segment register to 4GB 1-3-3-1 Autosize DRAM 1-3-3-3 Clear 512K base memory 1-3-4-1 Test 512K base address lines 1-3-4-3 Test 51K base memory 1-4-1-3 Test CPU bus-clock frequency 1-4-2-1 CMOS RAM read/write failure (this commonly indicates a problem on the ISA bus such as a card not seated) 1-4-2-4 Reinitialize the chipset 1-4-3-1 Shadow system BIOS ROM 1-4-3-2 Reinitialize the cache 1-4-3-3 Autosize the cache 1-4-4-1 Configure advanced chipset registers 1-4-4-2 Load alternate registers with CMOS values 2-1-1-1 Set initial CPU speed 2-1-1-3 Initialize interrupt vectors 2-1-2-1 Initialize BIOS interrupts 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice 2-1-2-4 Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs 2-1-3-1 Check video configuration against CMOS 2-1-3-2 Initialize PCI bus and devices 2-1-3-3 initialize all video adapters in system 2-1-4-1 Shadow video BIOS ROM 2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice 2-2-1-1 Display CPU type and speed 2-2-1-3 Test keyboard 2-2-2-1 Set key click if enabled 2-2-2-3 Enable keyboard 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts 2-2-3-3 Display prompt "Press F2 to enter setup" 2-2-4-1 Test RAM between 512K and 640K 2-3-1-1 Test expanded memory 2-3-1-3 Test extended memory address lines 2-3-2-1 Jump to UserPatch1 2-3-2-3 Enable external and CPU caches 2-3-2-3 Configure advanced cache registers 2-3-3-1 Enable external and CPU caches 2-3-3-2 Initialize SMI handler 2-3-3-3 Display external cache size 2-3-4-1 Display shadow message 2-3-4-3 Display non-disposable segments 2-4-1-1 Display error messages 2-4-1-3 Check for configuration errors 2-4-2-1 Test real-time clock 2-4-2-3 Check for keyboard errors 2-4-4-1 Setup hardware interrupt vectors 2-4-4-3 Test coprocessor if present 3-1-1-1 Disable onboard I/O ports 3-1-1-3 Detect and install external RS232 ports 3-1-2-1 Detect and install external parallel ports 3-1-2-3 Reinitialize onboard I/O ports 3-1-3-1 Initialize BIOS Data Area 3-1-3-3 Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area 3-1-4-1 Initialize floppy controller 3-2-1-1 Initialize hard disk controller 3-2-1-2 Initialize local bus hard disk controller 3-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch2 3-2-2-1 Disable A20 address line 3-2-2-3 Clear huge ES segment register 3-2-3-1 Search for option ROMs 3-2-3-3 Shadow option ROMs 3-2-4-1 Setup power management 3-2-4-3 Enable hardware interrupts 3-3-1-1 Set time of day 3-3-1-3 Check key lock 3-3-3-1 Erase F2 prompt 3-3-3-3 Scan for F2 keystroke 3-3-4-1 Enter SETUP 3-3-4-3 Clear in-POST flag 3-4-1-1 Check for errors 3-4-1-3 POST done - prepare to boot operating system 3-4-2-1 One beep 3-4-2-3 Check password (optional) 3-4-3-1 Clear global descriptor table 3-4-4-1 Clear parity checkers 3-4-4-3 Check virus and backup reminders 4-1-1-1 Try to boot with INT 19 4-2-1-1 Interrupt handler error 4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error 4-2-2-1 Pending interrupt error 4-2-2-3 Initialize option ROM error 4-2-3-1 Shutdown error 4-2-3-3 Extended Block Move 4-2-4-1 Shutdown 10 error 4-2-4-3 Keyboard Controller failure (most likely problem is with RAM or cache unless no video is present) 4-3-1-3 Initialize the chipset 4-3-1-4 Initialize refresh counter 4-3-2-1 Check for Forced Flash 4-3-2-2 BIOS ROM is OK 4-3-2-4 Do a complete RAM test 4-3-3-1 Do OEM initialization 4-3-3-2 Initialize interrupt controller 4-3-3-3 Read in bootstrap code 4-3-3-4 Initialize all vectors 4-3-4-2 Initialize the boot device 4-3-4-3 Boot code was read OK 13 August 2007

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