Computer Expert Needed! Memory problems and the difference between BIOS speaker beep and PC speaker beep?

Question

here's what happened from the beginning:
My machine: Inspiron 8600, Windows XP sp2, 512 MB ram, 150gig HD

1) install of Adobe Photoshop 7.0

2) during installation there was mentioned something about allocating enough memory for the program and that another external hard drive might be useful. i clicked ok thinking i had enough memory since i was only going to use this program for a short and easy project that was not memory intensive.

3)the next day i noticed how slow my computer was running so i decided to uninstall Adobe photoshop 7.0 from my system to free up the memory. everything went well with that i assume, but my computer was still running relatively slow (making me think that the memory was not reset/allocated back to what it was prior to the photoshop installation)

4)restart computer and boom! two short BIOS speaker beeps and the message "The amount of system memory has changed. Strike F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility." appeared

5)i pressed F1 computer starts normally if not a little slower. All 512 MB of RAM were recognized as far as i could tell. In a subsequent reboot i tried F2, but the BIOS set up didn't reveal any ways i could change the system memory from there.

6) researched online a bit about the memory problems. Found links where the error message means the memory is now bad and i need to get new RAM, but the computers in question that those links were about did not recognize all the RAM like mine does (again as far as i can tell) so i figured i had a different problem.

7)changed the Virtual Memory from "custom" to "System Managed size" in the advanced tabs of the System Properties.

8)restart again. still had the beep and error message as number 4.

9)since i'm in the library my focus shifts to turning off that system beep. i find out about the BIOS speaker and how you have to go to the motherboard directly to disconnect it. Since i'm on a laptop that's a semi-tricky surgery. Find out about the Registry change in the hkey_current_user\control panel\sound and change Beep to "no" and extendsounds to "no"

10) MAIN QUESTIONS:
A)What's going on with my memory and do i really have to replace it considering the computer is running fine now recognizing all 512 MB of memory (i think, how do i check for this?)?

B)Is the BIOS beep really turned off now because i tried once with just changing the beep to "no" and that didnt' work. (haven't checked the reboot yet with extendsounds set to "no")


sorry for the length, but i wanted to give you as much information as possible to help diagnose my problem. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I am sure the beep is gone if you shut it off which you shouldnt have. At this point, I would reset the bios to default settings and reboot. I doubt seriously that you did anything to hurt your ram. Adobe may have also left some remnants in the registry.

Answer 2

the 1st element i could do is examine administration panel > sound and audio gadgets to make beneficial no longer something is muted. in case you plug the headphones back in and you get sound, then that is probable no longer the sound card. i be responsive to you probable checked all of this, yet i will point out it besides... some computers have on-board sound on the MB as nicely to a sound card. as a effect you will have 2 attainable "eco-friendly" output ports to plug interior the cable. be sure you're utilising the main appropriate one if it particularly is the case. additionally, some modems have ports for sound additionally. be sure you're no longer mistakenly utilising one in each of those. I had an occasion the place I mounted someones workstation at my residing house and each thing worked completely. whilst the guy introduced it residing house he mentioned he had no sound. I went by way of each thing back just to make certain that the audio equipment he replaced into utilising had a turn on them to compliment an "enter gadget." Do your audio equipment have one in each of those change? finally, if all else fails i could basically reinstall the sound card drivers. you probable have them on a disc that got here with the workstation. If no longer you will get them from Gateway or Realtek.

Answer 3

Was photoshop complaining about your memory or your harddrive space?

It sounds like your RAM is bad. Have you tried reseating it? Have you tried one stick at a time in each different DIMM? BIOS won't load is your memory is shot.



I wouldn't suggest disabling the beeps, they're trying to tell you something. ;)