Re: Siren Noise!!

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance


"Danielle" <Danielle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7911564F-2F3E-4E5B-8D23-CC8817F8CBF8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have a computer thats only about 3 years old. It is a Windows XP
Professional. Lately when my computer is on it will just start making a
very
loud siren noise and I have to shut it down immediately. Nothing appears
on
the screen when this happens to let me know whats happening. It doesnt
matter
which web site I am on it just seems to happen anytime.It started only
occuring once every month or so but now it happens everday. The noise is
coming from the hard drive, not the screen or speakers, it almost sounds
like
a really loud alarm clock and wont stop until the computer is off. I need
some help with this, thanks!

I assume when you say "hard disk" you mean the box?

The siren noise will be coming from the internal speaker on the computer.
The one that goes beep once when you start the computer.

From your description It sounds like an overheat alarm. It's not a Windows
alarm it is a hardware alarm generated from the BIOS.

Your PC has been filling up with fluff over the years and it has reached the
stage where the heatsink and fan can't get rid of the heat fast enough.
It could also be your CPU fan is not working properly or has stopped working
completely.

For a start you will need to remove the side panel from the PC. Turn the PC
on and look to see if all of the fans are spinning. If the fan located on
the big chunk of metal isn't spinning it will need to be replaced. If you
give it a poke it may start spinning. In this instance you need to replace
the fan before you can use the PC again.

If all of the fans appear to be spinning, as a temp measure you could go
into the BIOS and adjust the temperature alarm by a few degrees to stop the
alarm for the moment. Leaving the side off the case and having a desktop fan
blow on the computer innards can work also but you need to fix the problem.
Something you should have addressed when it first began happening.

When your PC overheats it will freeze up and stop working completely, in
some cases it can destroy the CPU, but the heatsink would basically need to
fall off completely for this to happen.

HTH.

As others will tell you, this is not a Windows problem, so you might find
better help in a hardware group.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A story about fans, oil, and glue!
    ... None are small enough to fit on the window sill. ... Then buy a fan that fits INTO the window opening. ... only overheated because the blade wasn't spinning fast enough to blow ... spinning is pretty much a short circuit. ...
    (alt.home.repair)
  • Re: Computer Randomly Beeps
    ... may cause the beeps to start. ... Sounds like either an overtemp warning, or no fan,, ... the CPU, chipset, CPU fan and 2 other fans, voltages. ... There will likely be a setting for the alarm on CPU temp, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: OT EQ5 file problems
    ... there's no longer a danger about "over" spinning anymore. ... for your drive aren't the cheap crappy ones that they used to use and are ... is a fan and space heater. ... I bought smart enough to mean low energy bills!! ...
    (rec.crafts.textiles.quilting)
  • Re: Computer keeps shutting down without warning
    ... PSU Fan- Are the actually spinning and clean? ... Video Card fan/capacitors - check to make sure the fan is spinning ... CPU Fan/Heatsink - make sure that the heat sink is clean and that the ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: PSU problems
    ... that voltage measurement? ... A fan spinning or not spinning tells little. ... > shotgun surgery", especially as with your approach your next step is ...
    (uk.comp.homebuilt)