Dumb Tech Support Question

[neadods]

I've dusted off an elderly laptop for use in the living room, an Averatec 2200 series. (Once upon a time, I was quite impressed at its svelte weight - a mere 5 pounds!)

Anyway... I think the battery has died on it; no matter how long it's plugged in, the battery light keeps flashing amber/green and it says there's no charge being stored. This is not particularly a problem these days; I'm treating it as a mini desktop.

No, the problem is that the bastard keeps beeping at me. About every 2-3 minutes, unless I put it on mute, BEEP! ... BEEP!

I've looked through the sound settings and turned off all the alert beeps. The rest are customized, and this isn't one of the custom sounds. I believe this to be battery related, but I don't know how to turn it off.

What happens if I just pull the dang battery *out* and try to run it? Will it STFU then and let me watch YouTube BEEP videos in BEEP peace BEEP?


In a completely unrelated note: FANDOM FAIL! Why did you people not tell me that there was a Doctor Who/Sherlock Holmes crossover novel?

Comments

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Doctor Who/Sherlock Holmes/HP FUCKING LOVECRAFT crossover novel, technically :)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

OMG, really? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?


At least I snapped up the last cheap copy on half.com...

[ignescent-fic.livejournal.com]

Nearly all laptops will let you run without the battery in - and testing itwont hurt anything - the worst that would happen is that it wont turn on.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'll try that tomorrow and see if it ends the hideous beeping.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Which DW/Holmes novel's that??

[neadods.livejournal.com]

All Consuming Fire by Andy Lane.

Can't find his young Sherlock stuff in ebook, so will have to buy in paper, I think.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I shall have to see if I've got a copy. I bought a whole load of Seven/Ace/Benny novels but haven't yet got around to reading them all.

Ah - well I hope you can find them, and that you enjoy them. I felt the third didn't quite live up to the first two, but it wasn't dire!

ETA: Forgot to ask - are you going to read Anthony Horowitz's House of Silk? An official new Holmes novel? I've got a copy on order from the library as I have read quite a lot of AH's stuff, and think he'd write an interesting tale.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Found the first one at the library, so I'm going to check it out.

I've downloaded the sample chapter of House of Silk... it's now in my burgeoning virtual To Be Read queue.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh good!

Cool - I'm quite a long way down the reservations queue for HoS so it may be next week before I get my hands on it. Although I picked up Snuff yesterday, which was sooner than anticipated given the queue of 30+ people who'd reserved it!

And still on the subject of Sherlock - a friend bought me 'A Study in Sherlock' for my birthday - am looking forward to reading Neil Gaiman's story immensely!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Snuff, although I wonder where Pratchett is intending to take the arc he seems to have started.

You'll have to say how Study in Sherlock is. It's another book in the virtual queue.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I started Snuff yesterday evening...

Will do!

[calliopes_pen]

In a completely unrelated note: FANDOM FAIL! Why did you people not tell me that there was a Doctor Who/Sherlock Holmes crossover novel?

Technically, there are two. The other one involves Holmes and Watson (and tons of other guests) attending Bernice's wedding. The Master interrupts. The title to that one is Happy Endings. Written by Paul Cornell.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'll see what I think of the first one before I get to Bernice's wedding.

[calliopes_pen]

I bought those books back in the 90's, when I didn't have a clue what Doctor Who was, having never encountered it before. They were only available through a catalog that recommended Holmes related books and assorted science fiction stuff. I was completely lost, so skipped to where Holmes and Watson were and gave up on the rest. Someday, I do need to go back and read it again myself.

[lizvogel.livejournal.com]

The low-battery beep is probably a CMOS/BIOS setting, which may or may not be accessible via whatever version of Windows (or OSofChoice) is on it. Key combinations to access BIOS vary wildly; for an Averatec, try holding down F2 while it's booting. Then see if there's a way to shut it up in there.

And as ignescent_fic said, taking the battery out won't hurt anything. May or may not help, but it's worth a try.

[canaana.livejournal.com]

Second this. The most common keys are F2, F1, and Del. Holding it down may result in a keyboard error--if you have trouble, try tapping it once every half a second or so while the computer is booting.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

As long as I don't end up wiping the OS!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Good idea - I'll try that.

[nnwest.livejournal.com]

Let me check my PC at home this evening. I might have an electronic copy of All Consuming Fire (and/or Happy Endings). I shall let you know...

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I've ordered a copy of Fire from Half.com, so that's on its way in dead tree edition.