Beeping Hard Drive

[Gooblah]

I already ran a few google searches on this.

Anyways, I recently uncovered my sister's old HP xe1000 (?) series laptop (I don't know the exact number, sadly). It was abandoned since it refused to boot up properly, and the screen didn't show anything. I opened it up, cleaned out the dust, checked the connections, and everything appeared to be in fine order. So I booted it up. Power was on, battery was charging, and suddenly:

BEEEEP <Pause> BEEEEP <Pause> BEEEEP (3 Long Beeps).

I checked online and found out that this indicates the keyboard isn't plugged in properly. I checked, fixed the problem, reconnected the power cord, and booted it up again.

BEEEEP <Pause> BEEEEP <Pause> BEEEEP <Pause> BEEEEP <Pause> <Repeat>
(4 Long Beeps)

Now, the Hard Drive is IBM Travelstar. Not great. It also has only 20 GB. Also not great. I checked online again, and nothing, I repeat nothing, described the AIM beep sequence with 4 long beeps. I'm inclined to think this is a motherboard or hard drive problem and/or a faulty monitor, but I can't be sure.

So, do any computer experts know the meaning of 4 long beeps, and if so, can they help me? Thanks in advance!

 

[Speedo]

Is the machine refusing to POST at all? If so it's almost definetly a mobo/CPU/memory issue. The comp really shouldn't care about the HDD until it gets to the point of booting an OS. Even if the HDD was failing a S.M.A.R.T. test or etc, I'd expect it to be giving you a warning during POST, rather than completely refusing to start.

 

[Gooblah]

It's definitely POSTing- the beeps are the hard drive's way of telling you the results of its POST.

I'm considering it may be a drive problem; you can get quality drives for this kinda computer starting at $70, with the best at $95. Plus, there's a 3-year warranty on these, so...yeah. If the new drive doesn't help either, then I'll check the monitor, or just get a new laptop. Whatever. Thanks though.

EDIT: Okay, checked around the web some more. Apparently 4 Beeps in AMI BIOS Code indicates a non-functional timer. A cause of which is a faulty motherboard. However, there is a chance that the timer battery is screwed up to, which means I might be able to replace it and solve (partially) the problem..

 

[Speedo]

It's definitely POSTing- the beeps are the hard drive's way of telling you the results of its POST.

Um, beeps are the way the mobo tells you that (and why) it can't POST. If it's able to power on, it will show any errors during the POST. A hard drive issue should never prevent a computer from completing POST.