By now, most people are probably familiar with the annoying beep a PC makes when you turn it on. It’s short and obnoxious. What many users don’t realise is what that annoying beep is used for – when you have a problem, it’s an essential diagnostic tool.
If your PC won’t turn on and instead beeps – it’s time to learn what those beeps mean. Refer to the following table for descriptions:
| 1 short beep | Normal POST – system is ok |
| 2 short beeps | POST Error – the error should be visible on screen |
| No beep | Power supply or system board problem |
| Continuous beep | Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem |
| Repeating short beeps | Power supply or system board problem |
| 1 long, 1 short beep | System board problem |
| 1 long, 2 short beeps | Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA) (open up the case and make sure the display adapter is seated properly – sometimes removing and reseating the card resolves this issue) |
| 1 long, 3 short beeps | Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) (refer to above advice) |
| 3 long beeps | 3270 keyboard card |