Topic: 2 problems: Processor won't show up in System Properties - System always beeps

[nouseforaname]

Before jumping to conclusions, look at this picture THEN read everything I'm asking



Two problems. Well three. I just got my computer today and when I put it on, there were no issues at all. When I get a computer, I reinstall XP.

Before reinstalling XP Showing the EXACT totals:

3.40ghz processor
2gb of ram

After reinstalling XP:
1.99gb of ram

Why's it not showing the exact total any more? I know that it usually doesn't but it showed up as 2gb before I reinstalled XP.



Second issue: Processor will NOT show up at all in system properties but it's obviously working because I'm using my computer right now. Why is this? It's bothering me.


Third issue: There's a system beep during normal operation. It's a short beep coming from the tower, not my speakers. Someone said it could be the CMOS battery needing to be changed but I thought it'd warn me of that every time I'd restart my computer and the system clock would be reset. I thought it was the ram but I checked that. I changed the dvd drives out and it's not that. I can't test the hard drive because it's SATA and I only have one.

Does ANYONE know why this is happening?

[Geemonster]

The beeping might indicate little HD space left.
As for you processor,it's obviously not talking to whatever tells you it's there.
  Might need a BIOS battery.
Sorry!  That's all i can think of i've been up almost 24hrs.

[nouseforaname]

Nope. Harddrive has a ton of empty space left. It's still beeping. I took out a ram stick that didn't go along with the others but that didn't effect anything obviously since it's still beeing.

Is the BIOS battery that nickel battery that's on the motherboard? How sure are you about it being that?

[Geemonster]

I think the BIOS battery's under the keyboard.
The CMOS battery is the one on the motherboard,that might need a look see.
  I believe there might be a BIOS battery on the motherboard too.
I've never had any problems with mine,my comps just 2 yrs old.
  Not much knowledge in that area im afraid.

[Geemonster]

I know this is a double post,but perhaps you could download an app called CPU-Z.
Gives you CPU,RAM,Graphics all info,use the one with the installer,it's better
http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz/cpuz_152_setup.exe

[dweez]

BIOS battery and CMOS battery are the same thing.  I don't think it's a battery issue as you are correct, you would see that the system clock (in the BIOS) would reset every time you shut down the computer (as in power it down all the way and unplug it...even off but plugged in, the mobo still gets some juice.

The beep is a system beep...something is amiss.  You might try reseating all your PCI cards, as well as verifying all the cables are completely connected (including the PSU cables to the motherboard).  Cables and cards can shift when you move the case around.

Can you check in System Information and see if the ram and proc are properly designated? (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information).  Also, check the Device Manager to see if there are any "Unknown Devices" with yellow bangs () next to them.  This usually signifies that a driver for a device is missing.

Also, is this a franken-puter (did you build it yourself) or is it a name brand?  If it's one you built, you should check out the mobo manual.  It should have an explanation for what the error beeps signify.  If it's a name brand, go to the computer manufacturer's site and search their support section for the info.

[dweez]

I know this is a double post,but perhaps you could download an app called CPU-Z.
Gives you CPU,RAM,Graphics all info,use the one with the installer,it's better
http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz/cpuz_152_setup.exe

Double posts are perfectly acceptable on these fora (just don't go uber nuts with the multiple postings).

[nouseforaname]

BIOS battery and CMOS battery are the same thing.  I don't think it's a battery issue as you are correct, you would see that the system clock (in the BIOS) would reset every time you shut down the computer (as in power it down all the way and unplug it...even off but plugged in, the mobo still gets some juice.

The beep is a system beep...something is amiss.  You might try reseating all your PCI cards, as well as verifying all the cables are completely connected (including the PSU cables to the motherboard).  Cables and cards can shift when you move the case around.

Can you check in System Information and see if the ram and proc are properly designated? (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information).  Also, check the Device Manager to see if there are any "Unknown Devices" with yellow bangs () next to them.  This usually signifies that a driver for a device is missing.

Also, is this a franken-puter (did you build it yourself) or is it a name brand?  If it's one you built, you should check out the mobo manual.  It should have an explanation for what the error beeps signify.  If it's a name brand, go to the computer manufacturer's site and search their support section for the info.

I did what you said about the system information. I don't know what I'm looking for at all. There aren't an question marks or anything in my hardware manager crap. It just randomly beeps while I'm just online or whatever. Right now I'm using my laptop. I assumed XP installed incorrectly but go figure, it was even beeping during installation. I did change around the PCI cards, took out the PCI-e video card because it was loud and replaced it with my PCI card. No real issues except that beeping. There is a card full of USB ports that's connected to the power supply. I was thinking of taking that out but the only thing that came to mind was the ram.

My computer is a Dell Dimension 4700. I know, old but that's not the point. I just got it this morning in the mail hoping I'd have no issues and here I am, a beeping that's annoying me so much right now. I checked the site for what can be wrong with it. I even posted there myself. I asked on yahoo answers and people said it's the CMOS battery. I know it's not that.

But yeah, I did what you said about the system information. I don't know what I'm looking for. There's this Conflicts/Sharing thing and a bunch of devices there but I don't know if that's good or bad. I'll send a picture when I get the computer running in a few minutes.

[dweez]

System Information was just to see if the CPU and RAM show up properly.  Sorry, I forgot that System Information has a bunch of stuff.  I only ever look at the System Summary part.

Is there  a patter to the beeping?  For instance, I know 3 beeps, pause, 3 beeps, pause, etc, usually means the vid card isn't seated correctly.  Can you determine if there is a pattern?

Also, did you turn the computer on for any length of time before reinstalling it?  And if so, did the beeping occur then?  Maybe it's a heat issue.  Can you verify that the CPU fan is spinning?

[nouseforaname]

It's a high pitched beep. Like a chirping. It randomly happens. A single high pitched beep randomly. I'm afraid it might be the motherboard and if so, I'm screwed because I bought this from ebay. The dvd burner doesn't even work and the system beeps randomly which is real annoying to me. I want to figure out WHY before I get pissed off at the seller.

[Geemonster]

How old is your machine?

[nouseforaname]

It's a Dell Dimension 4700 back from 2005 I believe. I'm saying for sure it's not the CMOS batter. It can't be the motherboard because, well, I'm using the pc to type out this message right now. Before I went to bed, I was thinking it was the power supply... You see, when I had my Dell Dimension 2400, the fan on the CPU never went above OEM requirements. On this one, it goes up whenever the CPU gets hot. I'm thinking that whenever there's a bunch of things going on (well my case like two damn windows being opened) it chirps. As if the computer is freezing.

I read somewhere to test this out. You know how if you hold down a bunch of keys, the computer will beep? I've done this and there's no beep at all. I've held down Shift and that error doesn't pop up saying some crap about holding shift down for 5 seconds. Whenever you hold down a bunch of keys, the system beeps. Mine doesn't. It makes me wonder. I'm not sure what it could be but some reason I believe it's the power supply and I don't have enough money to buy a new one and test it out.

This sucks. I've wanted this specific tower and I get a piece of crap. If the seller from ebay won't take it back, I'll sell it back on ebay or craigslist to get back my money. What a shame. Either or, I want to figure out WHY it beeps like this.

[Geemonster]

Another good comp forum is Afterdawn,they might be worth a try.

[nouseforaname]

I called Tiger Direct and asked for some ideas. One said it could be the onboard speaker failing. I assuming it could be the power supply but all of these would show up as errors in the device manager. I don't know. The employee said they can check it out if I bring it up there so I'm going to do just that tomorrow and hopefully they can find out what's up.

I spoke to the seller who sold it to me on ebay. He said that he'd take it back but I'm not sure I'd get all my money back from it. Even if I did, I'm going to be charged to ship it back which will be around $30 or so. I don't know if it's worth it.

[nouseforaname]

Okay. I don't know if it's fixed or not but MAYBE this is why it was beeping...

The pc was sent with 2gb of ram. I noticed whenever a process was opened or opened, it'd beep/chirp. Correct me if I'm wrong but whenever a process opens, it requires memory - ram.

I opened up my computer since I have been like crazy lately and looked at the ram. I've been using Everest and looking at what's wrong. All the ram matched up except one. It was just a lower MHz so I assumed because it's ram, all the ram would run at that.

I didn't consider them being mixed though. Since there are four slots, I have four sticks totalling in 2gb of ram. I have two PNY 512mb 533mhz PC2-4200 (I believe but my system doesn't allow 4200, it says 4300 and cruical totally says otherwise) and the other two sticks didn't match at all. When I said I took out the ram, I took out the PNY ones, not the mismatched ones. Stupid me.

The reason why this is a big deal to me and my pc is that when I went to crucial.com and scanned my pc, there are those questions that people usually ask and it answers it right there. One of them is "Do I have to install matching pairs?" I didn't consider that at all. Go figure what the answer was.

Hopefully this fixed the problem. There hasn't been a beep since I took out the two sticks that didn't match. Since my motherboard has dual-channel support, I put the PNY sticks in the right spots. They seem to fully load up in my System properties as 1.0gb.


I hope this was it. If not, I don't know. It beeped during start up stating the memory was different so that's good. Though these PNY sticks are DDR2 PC2-4200, my pc says it only takes DDR2 PC2-4300. Crucial says I can put in DDR2 PC2-5300 and DDR2 PC2-6400.

Though in the Crucial page where it shows the currently installed memory, it says there's DDR2 PC2-5200. I don't know why.

And go figure. It bless'ed beeps.