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My problem is, my laptop makes a loud beep once in a while, maybe once a day (if that). It doesn't seem to be in response to heavy load, or specifically at startup, or any pattern that I can figure out.

The long delay between beeps makes it very difficult to determine what's going on, plus there are really no other issues with the PC so I'm wondering if there are things I should be looking for to see what might be making the noise?

Here are the main parts:

  • Dell Vostro 1700
  • Windows 7 x86
  • Core 2 Duo T5270
  • SAMSUNG HM160HI SATA HDD
  • GeForce 8400M

I did a search for "vostro beep" and found the following, so maybe it's something in common with all vostros?

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/18925686/19048672.aspx

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/225347-so-uh-why-does-my-vostro-1400-beep-random.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/159535-beep-noise-once-while-vostro.html

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Its a bios beep, something is not playing nice with the bios. Look in the logs as suggested by Keltari. – Moab Aug 29 '11 at 22:26
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1 Answer

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Check the Windows event log for anything unusual. Also, check the BIOS event log, which many people forget to check.

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To be fair, not all machines have a user-accessible event log in the BIOS (especially consumer laptops), so if you go looking and can't find it, don't think you're crazy! – Shinrai Aug 29 '11 at 22:27
I just took a look and didn't see the BIOS log. I'll check out the Windows event log and see what's in there. – DHall Aug 29 '11 at 22:55
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