Old System Won't Boot | No Bios | One Beep

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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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Someone gave me one of their old systems that they didn't need anymore and I have been unable to get it to boot. When I power it on it starts by making one short beep. Then A blank yellow screen pops up and after that the screen goes black and then switches to a blank white screen. It never gets past this white screen. I also can't seem to access the bios while it is starting up.

In addition the computer has 1Gb of ram an old Radeon ATI video card and two hard drives in which I do not know what is on either of them.

Any Ideas what the problem might be?

If you need any more information or have any questions let me know.
 
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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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What do you mean by reinstalling? I cant get into an OS, the most I can do is reseat it and clean out the port and I have done that.
 
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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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see I always thought 1 beep meant RAM failure. I would suggest re-seating the RAM, or trying another stick of RAM if you have it. As for if it may be the graphics card, I would just remove it, and try booting up without it. Your resolutions will look goofy for a bit, but it should work fine without it.

Generically speaking, 1 beep is a RAM issue, either accessing the RAM because its bad, or because the motherboard is failing and cannot access it. I've had PCs do this to me before, sometimes if you remove the RAM and try another slot, or just take it and and check for dust and re-seat the RAM in the same slot it'll at least get you into a boot screen.
 
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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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Yeah I thought I heard somewhere that 1 beep either meant ram or some sort of successful boot (Obviously not in this case). I tried re-seating the ram but to no avail. I will try switching and cleaning the ports and taking out the video card. If all that doesnt work I guess my best bet is to try to buy some ram somewhere? Or is there some way I can test to see if it is the motherboard?
 
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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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Well I will see with what I can do with what I have for now then.
 
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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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I don't believe so, I'm probably going to need to buy any new hardware that I need if I feel its worth it.
 
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Adelphius

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May 31, 2014
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Yeah I don't plan on buying anything unless I'm sure of the issue and I can get something that wont cost more than buying a separate cheap PC.
 
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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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I'd talk to the guy you got it from. Maybe he has an extra stick lying around somewhere. I know from all the PCs I've tore apart over the years I've got old RAM and HDDs and various other parts everywhere. They aren't really much good for anything aside from helping people out with older systems. I work on my friends' old junkers all the time. I just add a little more RAM and do a fresh install of Windows, VOILA, seems like a brand new PC to them.

You could possibly try another hard drive. I've heard of bad installations causing issues like this before too, just not with the BIOs beeps. Just from guessing, I'd say that PC is going on 15 years old now, at least that motherboard anyway. The RAM is going to cost you a pretty penny. DDR1 RAM is quite high. My suggestion would be to not spend any money on the system unless you're really really on a tight budget.

EDIT: Not bashing, but you'd be hard pressed to get a reliable PC for 300 bucks, with an operating system.
 
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Dat_Robot

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Jul 24, 2014
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Dont get a legit version of windows if you're into budget just take Ubuntu + Steam. Although its a little more complicated its free and ,i think, its the best option for OS. If you are a windows fanboy just torrent it and get a product key online.

You can get a Athlon 5330 and a R7 240 in a 300$ gaming build (Check Austin's Boson)
 
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