Some GPUs will also beep if you forget to plug in their auxiliary power connectors. Though with an HP computer that old, I doubt it even has a separate GPU.

Also, you should open it up and clean all the dust out. Sometimes dust alone is enough to cause these problems. You should see my parents' computer...

It actually has separate GPU, PNY something I installed a long loooong time ago, but it has no power connectors at all it's just plugged in to the motherboard

Should be fine then, unless it has failed for other reasons. If you have good ears you might be able to tell if there are multiple speakers, and which one is beeping.

I'd check out the capacitors like Matias suggests. My old motherboard broke with no beeps, but with odd behaviour, like instant reboots, blue screens and the like. Opening it up I saw all the caps next to the CPU were worse than in Matias's first picures - they looked like little volcanoes that had erupted!

I'm with frob, you should be able to pick up a desktop with that specifications altist for free. Move the hard disk and reinstall.

Voila, a Nice fresh machine for your relatives :)

Calculating machines of that vintage often had batteries on the mainboard to keep the BIOS settings while the system power was not supplied, and those batteries needed replacing every few years. They're a small silvery disc about the size of a US quarter dollar. If you get into the BIOS screen and the settings are all weird, or don't save between reboots, that's your problems right there. You can usually still get these components at electronics vendors like Radio Shack or Wal-Mart and they're usually easy to replace.

Try removing hardware one item at a time and see if the symptom goes away.

My bet is that the beeps are caused by a dodgy keyboard - is the Keyboard as old as the rest of the pc?

You said the Beeps continue as windows tries to boot?

I think you have multiple failed components though and the beeps are the symptom of just one.

How much is your time worth? It is Probably cheaper to go and get a replacement second hand windows 98 pc from Craigslist or similar.

Good luck! :D

...How much is your time worth? It is Probably cheaper to go and get a replacement second hand windows 98 pc from Craigslist or similar...

i was just about to mention this. Even If you were to figure out what the problem is, you may not even be able to replace the part. And even if you do find the part, its totally not worth it. I always see Dell Core2Duo machines on craigslist between $50-$100. It sounds like they barely do anything with it. After resitting all parts in the HP (taking ram out/putting back in. same with video card, checking all connectors, etc) if it still doesnt start up, Id just buy them a good decent working used PC and be done. Maybe with a replacement PC they may want to do a little more than just play Solitaire on it.

Sorry for very late reply! (I was traveling in Latvia)

The (first) problem was what braindigitalis said, the keyboard was causing the beeps. I replaced the keyboard with my old keyboard and the beeps were gone. However when shutting down the PC it gives a BSOD that refers to RAM failure. So I'll try my old PC's RAM if that makes a difference (in a few days or so).

I've already changed PSU for that PC in the past (because the old one died). Kinda challenging to keep that PC going after all these years... haha...eh

My relatives already said "we'll buy a laptop".. Okay buy a laptop but I'll do my best with this...

PS. There are no places or websites to replace PC parts/etc like that in the country where I live (or at least nearby. I guess I could get one from craigslist but.. no offense don't trust that site). So I'm pretty much going here with limited choices and limited services. But I have alot of spare old PC parts.