Not music problem but need smart person

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gibs

gibs

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I was going to show this site to a cousin of mine who is 15 and is in a band for the first time...my dad's computer started making this european ambulance/polce alarm sound and wouldn't stop...we weren't even on the internet..hadn't even touched the damn thing at all at that point, actually...my dad says it happens to him periodically and he just turns it off...of course it does it again later in a few hours or days...so that's no solution...it's a really annoying sound...
I called his ISP and got a person who sounded as though they took their training from Sears...they didn't know what I was talking about and couldn't help..I asked for another person, got the same response...phoned the comp store where dad got the thing, no help there, they said they've never heard of such a thing...what's the deal? Is this the only computer in the world this has happened to? The sound comes out of the comp tower and really does sound like the cop cars/ambulances on old James Bond movies...dad runs windows 95....has anybody heard of this or can anyone guess at a solution? An alarm sound must mean there's something to be alarmed about, right, I wonder if it's a weird virus thing or something........any help would be really appreciated......gibs
 
Where EXACTLY is the sound coming from ? You say it's coming from the tower, but where in the tower ? Is it coming from the PC speaker ?
I have heard that sound before, but it came from a heat detection card in the PC. The alarm would sound when things got hot, warning you of impending thermal disaster. But, you would probably know if one of those was installed.
Run the system with the case open and see if you can pinpoint the source of the sound. If it turns out to be the PC speaker then you can go from there. Look at system logs, run diagnostics, virus scanner, etc.
 
Comes from the pc speaker...I messed around in "help" and under one of the "sounds" categories I found "Sound Sentry" which is supposed to a give a visual pop-up when things happen...so I activated that...naturally, I'm not at my peep's house, but they haven't called to say it's done the alarm thing again, either..but I don't think that would fix it, just maybe tell me where to look...under "help" there's no reference to anything thermal dammit....but thanx loudnaybor for answering...it's an awful irritating sound when it happens.....gibs
 
If the machine is running normally outside of the annoying PC speakers sounds, just unplug the speaker from the motherboard.
 
Thanks Emeric, will try that if the tech lady from the place dad got the comp from doesn't return my call by Tuesday...damn thing did it again at 4pm Texas time today, and didn't give a visual either.....
 
Most PC's have a cute little 1.5 inch system speaker inside it. This sporty thing is the vile alarm telling you something is up. Yes you can unplug the wire if it just goes off. But odds are it is trying to tell you something. Most common (as noted) is heat. Is the PC overclocked? Overclocking can make it run a bit too hot. Second.. how old is it? the cooloing fan may be on its way out the door. You can run BIOS and check the temp settings. There will be a few options in there. It will offer to set the alarm for a higher or lower temp, or disable it all together. But at least check the fan to prevent cooking your processor if you ignor the issue.
 
I have an older computer and it has a battery on the motherboard. You don't suppose.......Just a thought.
 
Thanks for the replies, Even and Monty...Dad's pc is about two years old...I'm gonna check out Even's suggestions tomorrow if I have time...er....how do I run BIOS and what is it? I assume whatever it is, it will lead me to temp settings/overclocking info, etc? Novice here, chuckle......gibs
 
Ok BIOS or CMOS as it was once called is tricky place to be. So I stress right off the bat that you can really gum up the works in there if you get too button happy.
I will let you know the bottom line of the getting there but please be careful. When you fire up the system it will prolly say "hit delete to enter setup". Setup is BIOS. Generally a bright blue screen. You will want "CPU plug and play setup". Thats the one that has the temp settings. it is also the one that you may or may not have used to overclock this puppy. Try and set the temp settings in there if you want, exit, save.. and see what happens.
 
Thanks Even, I printed it out to use tomorrow....hope I don't screw up....lol...
 
Even, thank you so much...scared the piss out of me to mess around in there, but it worked, man....so far at least, it's been three days and no alarms...that BIOS place is a strange one to navigate, but it all fell into place...I just uped the temp settings by the first increment that was offered...chuckle..wish you'd warned me about no mouse in there, though, I thought I was screwed to the max.....lol...gibs
 
Excellent! I am so glad its working for you again. Sorry about the "use page up and page down" deal...

Just as a post note now that you seem to be back on track. Keep yer nose open just in case. Adjusting the temp settings by one notch is minor enough and if life is good than great. But if it beeps again or you smell burning plastic then you may seriousely want to consider investing the ten bucks on a newer and bigger cooling fan. They only take about ten minutes to swap. Some of these recording programs can really work a processor. Especially after an hour or so and 10 or more tracks. But good deal as it stands!
 
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