4 beeps is a RAM failure.
Reseat your RAM and run this:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
Here… Check this out. Page 27.
http://support.dell.com/support…A01.pdf
It’s the Dell manual so has the Dell bios beep codes.
I’ve not had a big look (got to go out), but I’m guessing RAM. (Never seen a bios code to complain about power supply or harddrive.) Assuming you’ve got more than one stick of ram try taking one out, swapping them round, try different slots, etc. You get the idea.
All that “resetting the bios” does is clear the non-volatile settings… like resetting n-track back to basic settings. You can try it, but in my experience it won’t sort the problem.
I can’t even boot it. I’ll try re-seating the RAM and such. Glad it’s not the hard drive.
Quote: (Mark A @ Jun. 13 2011, 2:52 PM)
Here.. Check this out. Page 27.
http://support.dell.com/support....A01.pdf
It's the Dell manual so has the Dell bios beep codes.
I've not had a big look (got to go out), but I'm guessing RAM. (Never seen a bios code to complain about power supply or harddrive.) Assuming you've got more than one stick of ram try taking one out, swapping them round, try different slots, etc. You get the idea.
All that "resetting the bios" does is clear the non-volatile settings... like resetting n-track back to basic settings. You can try it, but in my experience it won't sort the problem.
Correct me if I'm wrong but if weak power supply that is unable to refresh the ram especially on older PC's, won't it create the error beeps? I wasn't suggesting that error codes can tell you the power supply is bad, but I seem to remember a failed boot drive will post a beep. In any case, I think were all pointing in one direction, memory. As a course of action even though Mark says it probably wouldn't make any difference, before I would go out and buy any new memory, in the process of eliminating any hardware conflicts, I would reset the BIOS as part of the process, just to rule it out IMO.
PACO
2 seconds with a multimeter will rule out the PSU as low voltage can create some very screwy and misleading results. Also, see my link… test the RAM. You boot from an ISO, so the base operating system doesn’t have to be up.
Pulled out the RAM thingies and put them back in, and voilà ! You guys sure know your stuff. Also, the back plate was loose. I wonder if the box was not subject to agitation by one of the younger generation who hang around here. They’re not talking.
So, now, fix my monitor. 
Thanks, guys!
Quote: (TomS @ Jun. 14 2011, 12:32 PM)
Pulled out the RAM thingies and put them back in, and voilà !
Excellent!! 
PACO
Quote: (TomS @ Jun. 13 2011, 5:32 PM)
So, now, fix my monitor.
Did it go all one color? Bad cable.
I mean the powered speaker thingie. You know, what we used to call monitors before we had the kind of monitors that go with computers.
Go mac
Mac? Haven’t heard from him in years.
Quote: (TomS @ Jun. 14 2011, 3:55 PM)
Mac?
Haven't heard from him in years.
He went to audiominds and became a user of a different DAW.
I stop by there very occasionally.
He was still there last time I looked.
Now, where's Limey?
That's what I want to know.
And Jezar.
I miss that little green bugger too!
dontcare
I had a Dell at work that wouldn’t boot out of the box. The video card had come loose, but that wasn’t ultimately the problem. The video card was loose because the screw to secure the card in the AGP slot had forced the card up and out of the slot just enough to be loose. The fix was to bend the tab down on the video card so the card would stay flush when installed ‘properly’ and tightened. This machine could have never booted if it had been tested after being fully assembled. Testing before tightening the screws and it would be fine. Quality control at its best.