I’ve discovered the fix to the elusive keyboard beeps which occurred whenever I pressed certain combinations of three (3) keys. Using experimentation, I came up with this rule:
The computer beeps when I press any three key combination all in the same row including at least two of these keys: 4567rtyufghjvbnm.
Some Google searching found me the fix in a ThinkPad mailing list. At first, I thought they were talking about Linux. But no, it was Windows, and yes, it worked. Another person blogged it too (the original link to his blog was broken, so I feel it is especially important for me to blog it and clarify the instructions). Here’s what you do:
1. Open the Device Manager. You can do this from My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager.
2. Show Hidden Devices. You can do this from View -> Show hidden devices. This is where I was stuck: I didn’t know the Device Manager had hidden devices.
3. Under Non-Plug and Play Drivers, open the properties for Beep. Go to Driver -> Stop, and the beeping will cease. I think you can also Disable the device, but for me, this would require a reboot.
I believe the Beep device is the most stupid device ever invented. It’s really the stupidest. It serves only as an annoyance, in very strange instances. And I’ve only seen this on the ThinkPad, after using lots of other computers.
Can anybody explain to me why this beep even exists?!
Anyway, I hope somebody found this interesting, or maybe, if you had one of the beeping ThinkPads, found it useful. I’m on a Z61t by the way.
Update: I reinstalled Windows Vista on my ThinkPad and had the same problem again. The steps are similar, but here are updated Vista screenshots to ensure nobody’s confused on what they’re looking for to fix this. Sorry for the low quality, but Microsoft Paint doesn’t compress images very well.
Make sure you select “Show hidden devices”.
There’s that dreaded beep, listed under “Non-Plug and Play Drivers”.
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I just got a Thinkpad T400 and that beep was driving me nuts. Thank you so much for this article!
You are my hero, I just got my lenovo and that beep was driving me crazy, thanks!
Thank you so much!!!!! I tried everything, I thought the problem would be in the sounds setting. You saved me from a headache that lasted 2 weeks, plus I get to gloat to my boyfriend hehe. The cat stays off the laptop as of now. THANK YOU!!!!
Sam, do you have “Show hidden devices” checked?
yeah I do have it checked. I originally had stopped it and it returned after restart. So I had the bright idea to uninstall the device. Now I have the beep with out even having the device.
Ok never mind I checked again. and now it shows up. I stopped it and then disabled it. Thanks.
Hey I thought that I would add my two cents. I attempted to fix this issue by installing the beep device. That is a bad idea. After the required restart the beep is back and now there is no device in the device manager that I can use to stop the beeping. I use my thinkpad to take notes in class and this beep can be kinda distracting to me and others in my classes. So what can I do to fix this?