Need help w/Powerleap adapter problem

[adkmom]

Howdy all-

Not too sure if there's anyone here who's even tried a Powerleap but...doesn't hurt to ask.

Been running great since Christmas- no troubles whatsoever.

Couple of days ago, starting having major freeze which required hard shutdown (hold in power button to shut off). Upon boot, may or may not come up, with or without checkdisk (Win2000Pro). No real pattern.

Ran full tests at PCPitstop which sees the Celeron CPU as 1.3Ghz BUT only running at a clockspeed of 200mhz.

Any ideas here?

Mom

 

[ski]

There may be a problem with the adapter, CPU, heatsink, or fan. Swap it out with a different CPU.

Or it could be a problem with another hardware item(swap out power supply, MB, memory, video card), or caused by overhaeting(make sure all fans are running, and run the system with the case cover remover).

 

[adkmom]

Hi Ski-

Well yes, it could be any or all of those things that you mentioned. However, as there were no indications of any failing hardware I went on the assumption that once I had firmly reseated all add-in cards, there must be something more that I could do besides that eternal "chase the tail" of pushing/pulling/handling all of my cards (possibly damaging them in the process).

Here is the solution I tried & it did work. I went into my BIOS and reset the configuration data. I used this one other time long ago on a friend's PC & I was lucky enough to have remembered it this time. Once enabled, it disables itself after one boot up so you don't have to go back in & do this manually. FYI

Problem solved-- maybe this will work for others here with similar issues at some point?

Thank you very much for your time & reply,

Mom

 

[ski]

Congratulations on solving your problem!
Yes, sometimes a change in BIOS will do the trick.

However, random freezing is usually caused by a hardware problem, and hence the reason for my recommending that you swap out items.

 

[adkmom]

Hi Ski-

I agree that freezes generally can point to hardware issues except, that in my particular case, all indications were that there were no hardware problems. I use a couple of good programs that oversee hardware configs & monitor them fairly closely. Everything was coming up A-OK.

I'm thinking now that it is all linked to a beta online game that I've started playing called "There". I'm wondering if the game install did something to my settings and started this whole thing. I'm actually hoping that's it because I SO do not want to think that my good old 440BX Dell mobo is dying out. I installed the Powerleap adapter- which is simply amazing- around Christmas to update my system from the original 450mhz to 1.3Ghz. Also added a Promise controller. This system just zooms now compared to before.

Anyhow, thanks again for your time & interest- it's appreciated,

Mom

 

[ski]

Monitoring the status of system hardware components with a software program or programs is always a good idea. Do the same thing myself.
However, these programs do not necessarily tell the user about everything that's happening inside the case which can cause a freezing problem, i.e., a card can become partially loose in its slot, a video card can overheat without it's temp. showing up in the software, a metal standoff can be intermittently contacting a MB circuit trace, the power supply module, a MB component, the CPU, a memory module, or a card can be failing, etc.
In these cases, opening up the case and either checking these items or swapping them out is the only way to determine the cause of the problem.

Installing a game will not affect BIOS settings, which seemed to be the cause of your problem.
The only things that will change those settings are manual modifications by the user, flashing the BIOS, a failing CMOS battery, or a defective BIOS chip.