Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of spinsouth
spinsouthFlag for United States of America

asked on

Dell Optiplex won't come on... beeps 1-3-2

I recently bought a used/refurbished Dell Optiplex with Windows XP Pro on it as a backup in my home office. It was working fine but now, I can't get it to come on. It sounds like it's booting up but I only have one light on the front, and it is beeping once... then three times, then 2. I'm thinking it's something with the memory; maybe?

What can I do to fix this and/or troubleshoot the problem. I was able to get it to come up just fine once this morning, then it locked up and when I rebooted, I got the same results.
Avatar of thomasdavis
thomasdavis
Flag of United States of America image

boot to diag.  start the computer hit f12 run a diag test on the computer to see what it finds
Avatar of spinsouth

ASKER

Am I right... that I should tap the F12 key as I would F8 if I was going into safe mode? I tried that and it won't do anything but beep.
Hello,

Beeps 1-3-2 means either No memory installed or improperly seated memory.

Check your installed memory.
I still can't see anything on the screen at all. Don't know if that helps.
I'm going to open it and check the memory now. Back in a few moments with an update.
Avatar of Raymond Peng
Please refer below to a list of error codes / beeps, looks like errors with memory.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dfuj/beep.htm?c=us&l=en&s=gen
Yes, I feel pretty sure it's the memory. When you plug it in, both lights on the front (power and hard drive) come on as testing lights. Then when you turn it on, it immediately starts beeping and the hard drive light is only on for a second.

I checked the RAM and all seems to be seeded well. My question is... is there anything I can do to fix it, short of taking it to a repair person? It will still boot up normally once in a while but it's very intermittent. Any suggestions are appreciated.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Raymond Peng
Raymond Peng
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
I will do that. Thanks! And I will try the memory in one of my other PC's. I have three here in my office... and one is a similar Dell model. I'll report back ASAP.
Pulled out one of the RAM sticks and it booted up just fine. I'll test this stick in another computer when I get caught up with work. Thank you SO MUCH!!!! I always appreciate the assistance on here!
Fantastic, glad it worked out!

Ray