ThinkPad Keyboard Beeps Fixed
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.”
Thanks,
I never realized how many words contain the letters “oun” in sucession and was learning to hate every last one of them.
get a usb and not a ps2 keyboard by turning the beep sound off your not fixing the problem you just cant hear it any more but the keys you are trying to press still will not work
Is that same beep the one that signals errors and low battery or AC connect/disconnect? If so, then turning it off seems risky. Luckily I’m a two finger “typist”.
THANK YOU! Thanks for publishing this fix to the incredibly annoying keyboard beep. I agree with you…what a stupid feature. Grazie! David
I have to thank you. I hava an R61…. Pretty often I’ve been typing on my computer with my headphones pretty loud and then the BEEEEEP came out from nowhere… It scared the hell out of me a couple of times…. This is like a relieve…. Thank you again…
Your solution indeed disables the beep, but the cause for the beep is still there: the keyboard cannot process some basic key combinations and annoyingly enough drops letters. For instance, on my Thinkpad X61s, I cannot type “BT” (as in “BTW”) with the shift depressed, unless I first release the B and only then type the T. The same happens in other older Thinkpad models. Any solution??
Thank you a lot. I really hate that sound.
This is truly awesome. And I totally agree… this is a moronic ‘feature.’ Almost as the shrieking beep when I press capslock when I’ve got my headphones on.
OMG! Thank you so much!!!
I just spent (believe it or not) 45 minutes trying to find out how to disable the beeping noise for keyboard errors. It always seems to happen when I’m focused and in a zone…then…BAM! I jump out of my skin.
I am soooo grateful!!!
As of yesterday, My Thinkpad R60, decided to give me a strange sequence of beeps every few hours. There is nothing on the keyboard and nothing new is plugged into it that wasnt there before the beeps started. Any ideas?
I’d look for a failing power supply producing marginal current or voltage. This can trigger beeps as the supply crosses from good to bad and back.
Thanks a ton for this! I’m a student and often have to use headphones while watching recordings of lectures from class. This God-awful beep has haunted me the past year as I try to take notes while reviewing the recordings. If I get to typing to fast while taking notes –BEEP!! right through the headphones and busting my eardrum over and over and over again. Thanks tons.
Hi….I left a message a couple weeks back thanking you for the directions to turn off that Beep. However .. :-( .. the darn noise seems to be back! Is there a way that the change done in the registry can be permanent?
Thanks!
Lisa
I’ve found this blog post whilst googling about power on/off beeps. Good thing now I have disabled these. =)
T61 user here, and I’m just leaving a comment to report on my incident this morning. In the middle of Media Bay drive swap, the fizzlepad started beeping incessantly. I’m suspecting this is b/c I’ve completed this process in the middle of PC boot-up, and the beeping only ceased only when it finished booting. (good thing I wasn’t in public, yikes!). Moreover, in this 30-second+ beeping session, the fizzlepad was able to ‘mix’ 2 types of beeps: power supply unplug/plug beep & the good old keyboard beep. Brilliant, music to my ears!
In the end, this may well be just limited to my computer, but I’m just reporting it here (the gathering of like-minded people w/ contempt for ThinkPad beeps!) as ‘the-more-you-know’-type of thing & to feel good that I would’ve saved others from potential future embarrassments.
My problem is not that it beeps. I am using a music charting program right now where I need to hold 3+4+5 down (chords) at the same time while moving forward with the arrows for note durations. Currently the system does not allow me to do this. Does anyone know how to stop this “protection”?
Hi Paul,
I checked this issue with several Thinkpads (manufactured between 2004 and 2008) and as far as I can tell, all of them have this bug; the Thinkpad keyboard simply cannot handle several combination of three or more keys. Maybe we should call their support center and report this; I am amazed that a company like IBM/Lenovo would put such a low quality keyboard into an otherwise excellent laptop.
The only solution I know of is using an external keyboard.
wow this was extremely helpful. thanks a lot!!!!!
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?
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.
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!!!!
You are my hero, I just got my lenovo and that beep was driving me crazy, thanks!
I just got a Thinkpad T400 and that beep was driving me nuts. Thank you so much for this article!
I found a setting in the T400 BIOS called something like “beep on invalid key combinations”. Setting it to false stopped the beeping for me.
[…] navigate to “Driver” tab and click over “Stop”. The solution illustrated by several screenshots is here (Elliot Lee Blog). The solution may fit for other brands too. vidmantas's […]
Thank you for this very much. I’ve been looking for a fix for this problem for a long time. Such a great help.
When an error occurs on the computer, the beeps are there to tell you what kind of error it is. Some errors can be identified by the beep sequence produced.
I’d just like to say thank you for posting a solution to this problem. I was making many typos while coding on my T61p until I found this page.