The computer shop thought it was possibly something to do with the surge protector I plug my computer into – as that was the only thing different between the two machines (and now).

But thanks for your help!

I’m glad your computer is working now, but my experience tells me that this is a temporary “fix”. Intermittent problems of this nature are the most difficult to troubleshoot.

Those beeps you hear when it’s not working properly are BIOS diagnostic codes, so if you Google your BIOS manufacturer and “diagnostic beeps”, you might get a little more insight into the problem. Your BIOS manufacturer should be displayed on the screen as soon as you power-up the computer.

Since it’s working now, I wouldn’t mess with it any more, but if you start having trouble again, here are a couple more things to check:

Make sure your CPU fan is working and the heat sink is not covered in dust and gunk. Excessive heat can cause these kinds of stupid little problems. Check the power supply fan too and keep the case vent holes free from dust.

Make sure everything that plugs into the motherboard is connected snugly. Loose memory sticks, cards, and power plugs can act stupid too when coupled with too much heat and poor air flow.

I sent you some advice via Twitter, but it did not appear. When you twittered your computer worked in one location and not another, I said “you live in Wales, maybe computers haven’t been invented in one of those locations” I don’t know where that went… It’s lost in cyberspace.