Can't find the manual; must be in a box we haven't unpacked yet. And it's too old for HP's site to offer much help.

After lots of time reading Google hits for "HP PC beep codes" I found a site that said one short-one long means problem with the memory. So I pulled all 4 SIMMs, reseated them, plugged the power cord in and hit the on/off button.

It booted up. So I took my oldest external HD, deleted everything on it, and copied every file of hers that I could find. (Sure would have been nice if she had better folder structure, like I've been telling her for many years. But I digress.)

Then I turned it off.

We'll give it a shot tonight and if it gives us trouble, then we'll be forced to go shopping. Still haven't had any luck finding her copy of Office circa 2011 nor my version of Office Pro 2013. They should have been thrown into boxes from the flood demo crew or her coworkers who came to help, but I wouldn't put it past any of her coworkers from having sticky fingers. I've heard enough stories from her over the past 2 years that some of those people are 100% assholes.

no motherboard diagram at HP's web site so I can't see where the bios chip is. Also, no obvious wording on any visible chip saying AMI or Phoenix or the other bios maker.

It came on last night; however, the screen was black until she mouse clicked. Then it continued with the start-up routine. Said maybe we can go to the Goodwill computer store and get up a replacement for $200. She adamantly said no, saying that the IT guys at work said it will come with one or more viruses (I pretty much doubt that). So we're looking at $399 - $499 range for new at Best Buy. We do have a mom and pop shop in the area but they did such a shitty job repairing it 2 years ago that they guaranteed that I'll never be their customer again.