Random beeps occur while computer is running, but idle

Sometimes, while my computer is running, it starts to beep.

The beeping only starts after several hours of user inactivity, and it ends when I press a key or move the mouse.

The beeps are not of a uniform length - there might be short beeps alongside long beeps. However I think that, on each beeping seizure, the beeps become longer and longer until they become continuous.

I think that the beeps are coming from the speaker inside the computer, as their sound is similar to the startup beep.

What can cause those beeps and how can I find what is causing them in my case?

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate, Service Pack 1

Processor (from System Properties window): Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz

(If some other data is needed then please ask and I will edit it in.)

1 Answer

The beep might be a hardware problem, but if caused by a a program then it should be easy to identify :

While the beeping is going on, right-click the audio icon in the notification area and click on Open Volume Mixer. Under "Applications" you can see which application(s) is currently playing audio.

Another method would be to useProcess Explorerto search for open handles by entering CTRL+Fand searching for common extensions like .wav and .mp3 etc.