PC won't start after power cut

[linxit]

We had a massive power cut which took out the power in 2500 properties for about an hour on Saturday morning. Afterwards everything came back apart from the Windows PC. When I tried to power it on it emitted 3 long beeps followed by 2 short beeps, which seemed to indicate memory failure from what I've read in the manual.

It had a single 8GB DDR4 stick in it, with two slots, so I ordered two compatible ones from Crucial and put those in. Still the same beeping problem. I was convinced the power outage had fried the memory, but can there be another explanation? The PC is quite new, only bought it a couple of months ago.

[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

I don't like to be the bearer of bad news but,...

I would think the motherboard memory controller is damaged if you installed compatible Crucial memory.

A damaged memory controller is a damaged motherboard. Try one stick of new memory in each slot. Start the PC each time with one memory stick installed to see what happens.

Power outages and the resultant power surge which occurs when power is restored can do this to sensitive components.

Think about getting a UPS for expensive components to mitigate future power outage/power surge damage.

I disconnect stuff from AC power when a power outage occurs.

Regards

[linxit]

Yep, I think you're right. I took it back to the shop as it's still under warranty.

It's the first time I've had anything bad happen due to a power cut in 20 years, and my other two PCs survived unscathed so I don't think a UPS is worth the expense. I keep all my data backed up in the cloud so I think I'll take the risk!

Thanks,

Andy