Q: I dropped my Dell Inspiron laptop on a hard tile floor. Fortunately, the PC still runs properly, and I ran some diagnostic tests that found nothing wrong. But now, every time the PC starts it gives a series of five beeps that are repeated five times. Do the beeps mean something is wrong? If not, how do I get rid of the beeps?
—Bruce Burton, Bloomington, Minnesota
A: The beeps a PC makes at startup are a warning code, although the meaning varies from one PC brand to another. On a Dell Inspiron laptop, five beeps means that the CMOS battery on the main circuit board has failed (see tinyurl.com/35af53tn).
