My computer is an 8 year old Pentium running Windows 95. There is a persistent beep that comes from the computer tower. They generally come in a burst of 4 or 5 beeps, over the period of one or two seconds. They do not appear to cause any problem - except stopping the processor for a second or two. The beeps come irrespective of whether I am connected to the internet or not. They seem to be more common when the computer has been on for a period of time. My concern is that I do not know if they are causing some other problem.

I am unsure why the computer would be emitting a system beep. If Windows has completely frozen and the user tries to move the mouse or type then beeps would be emitted from the PC speaker. However, your computer hasn’t frozen up. It could always be a background application giving you an indication of something, but of course I can’t say for sure, as it depends on what you are running on your computer. You mentioned that the beeps are more common when the computer has been on for a period of time. A possibility is that the beep is a temperature warning. This could be the case if your CPU fan is not properly functioning and the CPU is overheating. I have seen CPU fans which are completely clogged with dust and won’t move. Since your computer is quite old, this could have happened. If you want to check this yourself, unplug your computer from the power outlet, open up your computer, ground yourself (using an antistatic wrist strap which is grounded), and have a look at the CPU fan. If it is clogged they are very difficult to clean so you are probably up for a new one (fortunately they are a very cheap component). Even if it doesn’t look clogged you may still want to have it checked out by a professional as, if it is overheating, you could be doing some damage by ignoring the problem.