[missfixit]

Please help!

I have a Gateway 3200s that I recently wiped the hard drive. When I went to go restart it like it told me to all I get is a constant beeping noise. It wont do anything else. I dont know what to do as I am completely stuck. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Depending on the beeping it might be that your Memory Modules (RAM) is faulty or not seated properly.

It might be because when you say you wiped cleaned the hd did you use the restore option of Gateway or did you used another program, if I am asking is that you might have erase the restore partition (if you have one) and now it is looking for it on boot.

Do you have a restore cd/dvd that came with your pc, if yes put it in your cd/dvd drive.

Can you enter your BIOS settings, if yes make sure all your hardware are detected.

[Alzeimer]

Depending on the beeping it might be that your Memory Modules (RAM) is faulty or not seated properly.

It might be because when you say you wiped cleaned the hd did you use the restore option of Gateway or did you used another program, if I am asking is that you might have erase the restore partition (if you have one) and now it is looking for it on boot.

Do you have a restore cd/dvd that came with your pc, if yes put it in your cd/dvd drive.

Can you enter your BIOS settings, if yes make sure all your hardware are detected.

[missfixit]

That's the problem. When I rebooted it goes to the Gateway screen and constantly beeps. I cant do anything. No F2 or F10. NOTHING. NO I dont have the CD as this computer was given to me and I cant afford to buy the cd right now but I desperately need this computer back up and running.

[Alzeimer]

What are the beeps (short, long, short & long) sequence.

Sometimes a simple reset of the CMOS settings (shorting pin 2-3 for 30 seconds) will help.

The Gateway 3200s is suppose to have been shipped with a System Recovery partition to reset to factory default settings so to access this you need to press F11 (I am guessing you used this option to wipe clean your HD) but as you say it freezes and beeps right away so no option to press F11.

The fact it freezes right away and beeps indicates that it is hardware related.

Could be RAM, HD CD/DVD drive, Power Supply ect. Depending on the beeps we might ba able to tell if it is RAM (big chance) or other.

[missfixit]

Ummmm just short beeps. Well I cant even access the F11 feature as its seems stuck on the Gateway window. No I used KILL DISK to wipe it clean. Was I not supposed to ? I actually didnt see anywhere that I could press F11 which I thought was weird.

I will try the RAM and see if that helps.

[Alzeimer]

If you used the KILLDISK program there is a big chance that you formated the whole HDD (including any possible recovery partition) and you will now probably need a Windows CD/DVD to reinstall your OS.

Attached are some of the beeps codes if your PC does not boot.



Count the number of beeps if short ones (ex: 2 shorts a small pause, 2 shorts a small pause ect)

[missfixit]

All I get is a short beep pause , short beep pause , short beep pause. Basically it sounds like a ticking time bomb.

[missfixit]

It does short beeps for about 30 times then stops. Then it does another 30 short beeps then stops. I am able to hit F2 and it says "can not detect Hard drive" then it makes this god awful sound and then it beeps those 30 short ones and then does that sound again. So right now I shut it off and unplugged it before it explodes.

[Alzeimer]

When you hit F2 I am guessing you enter the BIOS Setup, when in your BIOS it is unable to detect your HD. Did you verify if your connection to your HD is secure (both data and power connection).

If you can enter the BIOS again try to see if under Power Management (or similar) you have the option to check the HARDWARE MONITOR to verify your system temps.

If your system cannot detect your HD you can try to either change the cable that connects it to your motherboard and exchange the power connection for another one (if available) from your Power Supply and if still not detected try to connect your HD to another computer to verify if it would be detected.

Also one other thing Gateway beep codes might also mean that your system is trying to either detect a Boot HD (not detected) or a recovery partition (not detected) so it beeps. All your problems started after you wiped clean your HD using KILLDISK so when the wiping was done it said to reboot and then the beeping started.

So if my guess is right you would need to change the boot order in your BIOS to have the cd-rom as first boot, then get a CD of windows XP (either the OEM Home or Pro version) and the same Service Pack number as writtem om the sticker on your computer (if you have one) and then boot from the cd and install XP using the key product on the sticker.

So the first thing is to make sure if your BIOS detects the HD or not and if the message is only to say it cannot find anywhere to boot from (no boot sector since wiped clean and no recovery partition).

[missfixit]

Sorry took me so long to respond but Im still not getting anywhere. All the computer does is beep , then makes a strange noise and then beeps again. It wont detect the hard drives and when I change the boot order for CD it still doesnt work. I think my computer is toast

[Alzeimer]

Sorry took me so long to respond but Im still not getting anywhere. All the computer does is beep , then makes a strange noise and then beeps again. It wont detect the hard drives and when I change the boot order for CD it still doesnt work. I think my computer is toast

It's ok we all have a life to live.

Everything points to faulty memory sticks (ram). Depending on how many modules (sticks) you have installed if I was you I would first try to reseat your sticks if that does not help then try to use only one in the appropriate slots for single module configuration (for your motherboard) if still beeping try any other sticks you have one by one.

If none of these helps you can try a known good working memory stick to see if that makes a difference.

[missfixit]

I checked my memory and reseated one at a time but still constantly beeps. I then took GOOD memory from another working computer and still it constantly beeps. Finally I decided to swap out the 2 hard drives and place one that I have been using that has windows and the beeping stopped. I also tried the 2 hard drives in another working computer and they both constantly beeped. SO my hard drives are fried Now I have to see if I have enough money to purchase another hard drive