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| Thread ID: 29867 | 2003-02-04 23:42:00 | Boot error | Curly (487) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 118469 | 2003-02-04 23:42:00 | Sytem Win98, 128 Mb RAM, Award Bios. On boot POST signals all OK with a single beep, detects RAM, disk drives etc Win98 splash screen shows Beeps 1xlong and 3xshort, screen goes black with curser blinking in top left. Beeps again, 1xlong and 3xshort POST hands over to the op sys which then loads with no further problems Have checked RAM both in reseating it and moving it to different banks. It must be OK as win98 reports it as detected. control panel/system/performance shows all OK control panel/system/device manager shows all OK Config.sys and autoexec.bat are both empty files. In MSconfig.exe, I removed all startups and now only explorer is running. None of the above helped. I decided to reload win98 but received an eror message to the effect that either a virus progie or BIOS virus detection was enabled and preventing Win98 setup from working. This particular computer has never been connected to the net so no antivirus is installed and BIOS shows that virus detection is disabled. The computer now will not shut down, instead it always reboots two seconds after shut down. The only way to switch off is to pull the power plug, yet this does not cause scandisk to activate on the next boot. I need help to isolate and remove the beeps on startup and whatever to allow me to reload windows. Incidently, win98 is a legit copy with a certificate and product code. And Bruce, in case you read this - not using spell check, as despite your assurance is works - it dumped me again. This is the third attempt to post :-( |
Curly (487) | ||
| 118470 | 2003-02-05 00:06:00 | 1 long and 3 short beeps is the Award BIOS code for display adapter Graphics card / Chipset) error. | godfather (25) | ||
| 118471 | 2003-02-05 01:48:00 | Thanks Godfather, you just can never tell as there are so many variations when dealing with computers - another site, cybertechhelp indicated it was to do with system memory!! Hey but thanks, I will look into it. Bye the way, do you know if the contents of the win98 cdrom are stored in the computer. If it is, can I run reinstall from there, as it might just solve this endless problem of reinstall from the origional disk and the error message that prevents it from happening? |
Curly (487) | ||
| 118472 | 2003-02-05 02:11:00 | Godfather, it does not look like anything to do with the display or adapter. I moved the card to another slot but no change. Also it has been detected fine, with no conflicts etc in device manager. Substituted another video card and after that another monitor, but problem was exactly the same on both occasions :-( Still searching for answers... |
Curly (487) | ||
| 118473 | 2003-02-05 02:51:00 | This is an odd one. The beeps arent 'normal' beep error codes as the video has already been detected viz. the windows splash screen, in fact POST has already finished and the OS is being loaded starting with IO.sys Goes away to try and puzzle this one out................. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 118474 | 2003-02-05 07:15:00 | Is there any way the Win splash screen can be turned off so that the underlying DOS screen is displayed (may also require Echo to be turned on via autoexec.bat)? The base DOS screen may then show error messages. | Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 118475 | 2003-02-05 08:16:00 | Following up on Robins suggestion, the splash screen can be disabled via TweakUI. I'm inclining towards a beeping virus even though you say there is no internet connection. An infected floppy could be a source, anyway it would pay to run an AV. If you dont have one installed you could try the dos based F-Prot, or one you can run from virus free certified floppies made up from another computer that is known to be virus free. I just cant think what else would produce those beeps at that stage of the boot process other than an infected .com or .exe executable, like command.com. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 118476 | 2003-02-05 08:24:00 | In Windows 9x and ME I think you just press ESC during the Windows screen to show what's behind the curtains. In Win2k/XP you have to add the command /nogui to the startup command but that just displays a blank screen and you still don't know what's going on behind the scenes. | Kame (312) | ||
| 118477 | 2003-02-05 09:24:00 | GodFather, Terry Porritt, Robin S_, Kame - PROGRESS guys. By a lengthy process of elimination, I found that it was 'GoBack' that was stopping Win98 from re-installing, nothing to do with a virus application at all. After a sucessful over the top install, beeps have gone :-) and the problem of the desktop icons bunching up on the left of the screen has also gone :-). The only problem now is on selecting 'shutdown', it does, but two seconds later commences to reboot again. No on/off switch on the computer power supply, so must pull the plug out. Damned awkward and inconvienent :-( , any thoughts? Thanks for the replies. |
Curly (487) | ||
| 118478 | 2003-02-05 09:35:00 | Well done Curly. I wonder why the beeps? Shutdown problems maybe look at tomorrow, but there is a Microsoft shutdown patch, and there is also the usual advice to check that fast shut down is disabled in msconfig. 'Night. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
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