Strange Program Sound with CS

[Scud]

Not enough info, believe it or not. I'm not convinced this is a "software-related" beeping. It's more probably an error code coming from your system BIOS. To troubleshoot you'd need to know the manufacturer of the BIOS (Phoenix, for instance). The beep you describe is 2 short, 1 long. The manufacturer will have a list of error codes and you'd just look for the ones you're hearing. If it is hardware-related it will probably get worse. If software, as you suspect, then it could fix itself.

Failing that, if it's a desktop, power it down and unplug, then open the case. Touch a metal chassis part to discharge any static on your body. Blow out any dust, trying not to actually touch any components. Believe it or not, but a leaf blower is great for this. Pay special attention to the heat sink on the CPU. It will have a fan on top of it. The heat sink itself is a metal block with slotted grooves in it. Blow out all the dust there.

If you have a graphics card, maybe reseat it? Can't hurt. Should be installed in the closest slot to the CPU. Also (software), see if there's a driver update for it.

Visually inspect the motherboard. Check the capacitors, little round things with a cross notched on the silver tops. Are any bulging, like a bad battery might in a flashlight? Look for any loose fan connections to the motherboard. It's OK to plug in and turn on with the cover off, to verify all fans are running. Then see if the problem reoccurs.

If it does, it gets more complicated. You might have a failing power supply, but you'd need another one to test. (Volt/ohm meters won't work, since it has to have a load). Could be bad RAM, faulty motherboard, etc. AND let's not forget Windows, if software related. In fact, if you really believe that's the issue, then start with Windows. You could try a Windows repair. Regardless, really hard to troubleshoot. Be a lot easier if the thing just failed and shut itself off.

If this is a laptop, I don't recommend trying to open it unless you know what you're doing. However, you can try finding the air intake/outtake and blowing air through it (both ways) to get out any dust. The intake is usually on the bottom, the outtake on the side.

Does it ever happen with other programs? Do you have anything else open when playing the game? Any weird process running in the background (control-alt-delete < task manager)?

Ugh, so many areas to diagnose. I feel your pain. Let us know what your techies discover.

Dave