Dell Won't Boot

My daughter has a 5 1/2 year old desk top Dell. When she tries to boot it, all she gets an alarm. I've heard it over the phone. It is not a beep. It sounds like a loud buzz. It is not constant. There is a buzz, then a pause, then another buzz. Any ideas?

 

then what happens, anything displayed on screen? check all cables are in properly (keyboard etc.). Check against these beep codes
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

 

Nothing on screen and it is not beeps. Beeps would have to spaced ,such as 1 then pause ,then 2 . This is a buzz then a second later another and so on.

 

Maybe you can find help in the Dell forum, http://en.community.dell.com/

You will need the exact model of the computer. You can also go to the support site and enter the Service Tag to get the manuals and documentation, which should describe the beep codes.

 

I have a copy of the beep codes. It isn't beeping.

 

Buzzing could be anything. It could be an "alarm" as you said but it could be a mechanical fault. Is the buzz regular and predictable, giving the impression that it is indeed an on-purpose "alarm" as opposed to, for example, the noise of a loose connector dangling in a fan blade?

I know you can't do it over the phone but among first things I might try is opening the case and trying to figure out the exact source of the sound.

Can she get into BIOS setup screens?

 

It is a perfectly spaced noise. Not like a fan blade hitting something or a hard drive bearing noise. I'm trying to get her to bring it to me. She is about 85 miles away.

 

Well, now that I refresh my memory, I've heard Dells beep as most people would understand beep but I think I've had other Dells "beep" with more of a "buzzing" tone, so you may as well follow up on the beep code interpretation and see what you might find.

 

The Beep Codes are sequences of beeps,such as 1-2-1. This is just a one second buzz,one second silence, one second buzz continuously.

 

It could be anything until you get your hands on it such as Power Supply and or fan in it, Case Cooling Fan motor dying and if the Processor has a cooling fan I have an old Dell Dimension 8200 the power supply made a small buzzing sound till I replaced it with an after market unit!

TH