Solve : PC Shuts down then beeps on boot up?

1.	Solve : PC Shuts down then beeps on boot up?
Answer» I turned my computer on this morning and left to get breakfast. When I came back 20 minutes later the thing had shut down and my monitor was on standby. The power wasn't out and all the connections looked fine so I turned the computer back on. When I turned it back on, it beeped 4 times (1 long, 1 short, 1 long, 1 short) and my monitor said it was recieving no signal and went back to standby. Everything else in the computer sounded fine and working, but I have no clue what made it shut down and beep at me. My question is, what the problem is and what can I do to test/fix it? My computer is home built running Win XP, 512 mb RAM, ATI Radeon 9000 vid card, 300w PSU and an Intel motherboard with integrated sound card. If you need anymore info about my computer, let me know. Thanks in advance for any help.No signal MEANS the monitor is not getting a proper signal from the vid-card...check the cabling first. If that appears NORMAL then power down and unhook all power to the PC's power supply. Being careful to ground yourself remove a side panel and re-seat your vid-card. LEAVE the panel off for now. Re-connect everything including the PSU and re-boot. Use a flashlight tocheck all fans are working inside the case while it is booting. It should now power up normally and the monitor should be working. Post back with your results if not...Okay, so I did everything you said to do then boot up my PC. I didn't make any beeps this time but an screen came up beforw windows loaded that said my CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be serviced. The odd thing was that my PC was only on for about 40 minutes to an hour before this. So how can I remedy this situation?I think you gave the answer: CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be servicedA thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating. What's your machine?indo...... Quote My computer is home built How long has this pc been running ? When you built it , did you use a good quality thermal paste ? Is the cooling fan which is mounted on the heat sink working ok ? The beep code you described sounds like its telling you about a mobo issue. dl65 Quote A thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating. What's your machine? Built it with a friend around July 04. Is there anyway for me to test the mobo, processor and sensors on my own or would I have to take them to geek squad/ fry's etc? dl65, I didn't use thermal paste, I never knew I had too. The cooling fan seemed to be working fine when I booted it up last time. As for the heatsink, how do I test it to check if it's working properly?Here's some suggestions for testing your system: With the system entirely cool, start up in your normal configuration (normal hardware, closed case, etc.). Does it start normally without beeps, error codes or other failures? Yes, go to next suggestion. If no, then you have more than a heating problem, although it MAY have been caused by overheating or your system may have thought your cooling system failed (fans, etc.). Yes it starts normally - let it reach normal operating temperatures. Make sure your fans are working. Monitor the system until it fails or restarts. Monitor the processor temperature (if you have the capability with your system). If all your fans are not working, shut down, check your power supply. If power supply is good, replace faulty fan(s). Continue... When it fails/restarts, did you notice any garbage on the monitor just beforehand? Any warning messages? Or did it just restart/shutdown? Garbage on the monitor may indicate that your graphics card is failing (due to overheat possibly). Warning messages? Tell us what they say. No warning, just shuts down/restarts. Could be a power supply, motherboard, cooling system or processor failure. Does it restart normally (immediately while still hot)? Do you get beep codes/other sounds at POST? Are the beeps/sounds always the same every time it fails? The same beep codes indicate specific problem areas. Random beep codes (changes each time you restart) indicate your motherboard/processor logic may be bad. The meanings are BIOS dependent so it's important you tell us what your is (make/model/version). I know some of the above may be repeating what you've already tried, but it's important to do the tests from a cold starting point. How it behaves when cold vs. operating temp can tell you a lot about your problems. Note: tech/repair types SOMETIMES use canned compressed air to isolate overheat type problems. Suspected components can be cycled hot/cold until it's found. I don't recommend you do this unless you are competent around sensitive electronics and are willing to risk your hardware. Dell

Answer»

I turned my computer on this morning and left to get breakfast. When I came back 20 minutes later the thing had shut down and my monitor was on standby. The power wasn't out and all the connections looked fine so I turned the computer back on. When I turned it back on, it beeped 4 times (1 long, 1 short, 1 long, 1 short) and my monitor said it was recieving no signal and went back to standby. Everything else in the computer sounded fine and working, but I have no clue what made it shut down and beep at me. My question is, what the problem is and what can I do to test/fix it?

My computer is home built running Win XP, 512 mb RAM, ATI Radeon 9000 vid card, 300w PSU and an Intel motherboard with integrated sound card. If you need anymore info about my computer, let me know.

Thanks in advance for any help.No signal MEANS the monitor is not getting a proper signal from the vid-card...check the cabling first. If that appears NORMAL then power down and unhook all power to the PC's power supply.
Being careful to ground yourself remove a side panel and re-seat your vid-card. LEAVE the panel off for now.
Re-connect everything including the PSU and re-boot. Use a flashlight tocheck all fans are working inside the case while it is booting.
It should now power up normally and the monitor should be working.
Post back with your results if not...Okay, so I did everything you said to do then boot up my PC. I didn't make any beeps this time but an screen came up beforw windows loaded that said my CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be serviced. The odd thing was that my PC was only on for about 40 minutes to an hour before this. So how can I remedy this situation?I think you gave the answer:

CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be servicedA thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating.

What's your machine?indo......
Quote

My computer is home built

How long has this pc been running ?
When you built it , did you use a good quality thermal paste ?
Is the cooling fan which is mounted on the heat sink working ok ?

The beep code you described sounds like its telling you about a mobo issue.

dl65
Quote

A thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating.

What's your machine?

Built it with a friend around July 04. Is there anyway for me to test the mobo, processor and sensors on my own or would I have to take them to geek squad/ fry's etc?

dl65, I didn't use thermal paste, I never knew I had too.
The cooling fan seemed to be working fine when I booted it up last time. As for the heatsink, how do I test it to check if it's working properly?Here's some suggestions for testing your system:

With the system entirely cool, start up in your normal configuration (normal hardware, closed case, etc.).

Does it start normally without beeps, error codes or other failures? Yes, go to next suggestion. If no, then you have more than a heating problem, although it MAY have been caused by overheating or your system may have thought your cooling system failed (fans, etc.).

Yes it starts normally - let it reach normal operating temperatures. Make sure your fans are working. Monitor the system until it fails or restarts. Monitor the processor temperature (if you have the capability with your system). If all your fans are not working, shut down, check your power supply. If power supply is good, replace faulty fan(s). Continue...

When it fails/restarts, did you notice any garbage on the monitor just beforehand? Any warning messages? Or did it just restart/shutdown?

Garbage on the monitor may indicate that your graphics card is failing (due to overheat possibly).

Warning messages? Tell us what they say.

No warning, just shuts down/restarts. Could be a power supply, motherboard, cooling system or processor failure.

Does it restart normally (immediately while still hot)? Do you get beep codes/other sounds at POST? Are the beeps/sounds always the same every time it fails? The same beep codes indicate specific problem areas. Random beep codes (changes each time you restart) indicate your motherboard/processor logic may be bad. The meanings are BIOS dependent so it's important you tell us what your is (make/model/version).

I know some of the above may be repeating what you've already tried, but it's important to do the tests from a cold starting point. How it behaves when cold vs. operating temp can tell you a lot about your problems.

Note: tech/repair types SOMETIMES use canned compressed air to isolate overheat type problems. Suspected components can be cycled hot/cold until it's found. I don't recommend you do this unless you are competent around sensitive electronics and are willing to risk your hardware.

Dell

Solve : PC Shuts down then beeps on boot up?

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