Crazy beeps on boot

[rusgan99]

A cold boot (not a reboot) of my computer produces a cacophony of beeps, hi and low, in no identifiable pattern that goes on for 5 to 10 minutes, even after Windows XP opens and is usable. Then it stops and everything works normally. There are no error messages.

The processor is Athlon AMD-K7, speed 548 MHz, 320 MB of RAM.
Bios is "Licensed AWARD BIOS, 2M bit FLASH RAM." Their web site
says that only video problems are reported (none here) and and any other beeps mean a memory problem. However, Windows Memory Diagnostic program reports "No errors found."

I have two hard drives: C: with Windows XP and D: which I use for backup and partitions for Linux. Linux is booted from a floppy disk.

I'm not sure when this problem first appeared. It was long after I installed the second hard drive. It might have been after I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[sharp]

perhaps
it is the cpu's problem
you'd better change a cpu for trying

 

[rusgan99]

Thanks to MicroBell and sharp. I'm taking this one step at a time. I did check my operating temps. After about 2 hours, system temp was 33 degrees C and CPU temp was 37 degrees C. I think these are O.K., but here's an interesting wrinkle - I turned on (enabled) the "CPU fan fail alarm" and immediately got the siren warning. The CPU warning temperature is set for 70 degrees C. Does this help any?

 

[rusgan99]

When the "Fan fail alarm" is enabled, the alarm sounds even though the fan is running. Maybe that's why "Disabled" is the default setting.

Replacing the motherboard battery had no effect. Same wild beeping as before. The computer seems to work fine otherwise, so, for the present, I have disconnected the speaker while I figure out what to do next.

Thanks again.