this has happened quite often and then all of a sudden it will be ok. I turn it on and it sounds like its starting up, it makes one long beep and 2 quick ones, then nothing, the cd and dvd trays can eject. it seems like its on but its not registering.
when it turns on the screen makes a loud pop, or maybe its the speakers?
someone told me they think it must be something to do with the power cable/ extension lead holding too much power and not fully discharging when i turn it off .
i spoke to live support for usa but they said its different for the uk models and i need the uk support for the bleeps to be recognised, he said they indicate a problem. i cant find the uk support now.
please help!

its an emachine 570 model 133919

kerry, March 2006

For UK support on emachines, please contact PC ServiceCall on 0870 901 3000.

I would try to get into the BIOS first by tapping Del. If you can, check the hard drive is registering. If you cannot get into the BIOS, it could be of misplaced components on the motherboard (eg. RAM, graphics card, modem). However, if you havent moved the pc at all, then it is likely that you will require a motherboard to be replaced, and the slight possibility of a power supply because of compatibility.

Kash, April 2006

going on from what terry said the beeps are part of the post (power on self test) operation .find the m/board bios version and do a search on google for the boards bios beeps codes it will tell you what is faulty. probably the ram memory or graphics card these are the two most common faults

mark, March 2006

thank-you for your advice, I will try find a manual.

kerry, March 2006

First of all the two things that you have been told so far are rubbish. "power cables holding elecricity"? I have rarely heard such nonsense.

The beeps are part of the start up diagnostic process controlled by a part of the computer called the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) They are mostly based on the old IBM BIOS. They are used to report on the system start up process before the screen is active. What you describe can mean a configuration problem or a problem that needs a repair. See if you can download a maintenance manul for yorur machine from the manufacturers web site. If you can't try downloading the maintenance manual for any old PC from the IBM site, it should tell what one long and two short beeps mean.

As to US machines having different BIOS to UK ones - that was either an idiot or a clever person trying to avoid helping you. Emachines should have a UK web site try google or Yahoo.

Terry, March 2006