Hi I have added a few pci things like a soundcard and etho card and this machine seems to be very fussy. Sometimes it won't boot when I add something so I change it to a different slot and it works but now it is just taking me to the bios and I really don't understand what to do. I downloaded the manual. The Mb is a Asus TUSL2-C. When the bios loads on the screen it takes me to the adavnced tab and on the right in red letters it says 'During the last boot-up your system hung for improper FSB/SDRAM/PCI Frequency ratio or/and CPU external frequency. Your system is not working in safe mode. To optimize the system performance and reliability, make sure the frequency combination conforms to the specifications of your CPU, SD RAM and other connected devices.' It all sounds logical but I am not getting it. On the left are things like CPU Internal frequency and it is set at MANUAL but can be changed to many different cpu speeds. Then there is CPU Frequency Multiple and that is set at 13.0x and is greyed out. Then FSB:SDRAM:PCI Freq. Ratio and that is changable.....phew there are too many things listed. I am really not sure with so many choices as to what to do. I haven't develded this deep into the bios before. Any advice would be useful! "The meaning of life is to be happy and useful" Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama

Are you trying to overclock your system? If not then Look into the Load Defaults option and click it and save and exit. It should reset the BIOS to the default settings for all the controls. Changing the Front Side Bus settings could fry your CPU and or damage your motherboard. It is best left to an expert in this matter or set to auto configuration. At the very least set it to your CPU rating and leave it alone till you research for more information. Operating Costs = the cost of operating a business Profits = revenues over and above the operating costs. Taxes = operating costs mandated by gov. TaxPayer = what you are called by the gov.

I have heard of the word overclocking but don't know what it is. Yes I did think after I posted this that I should set it back to default. The bios I mean. Yeah I don't know what the cpu rating is on this machine so I agree I will try and learn some more. That is why I asked the friendly folks here at computing.net to help out as I don't want to blow anything up....he he. It is a machine I collected from a council clean up I think and the other parts I put in from other machines. I know generationally what can go with what so that is ok. "The meaning of life is to be happy and useful" Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama

Well it seems somehow the machine has righted itself without me touching the bios. It is behaving very well so I won't try anything again unless it decides it doesn't like me again. Thanks so much! "The meaning of life is to be happy and useful" Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama

Your welcome! I would look into a possible heat issues...maybe the cables were blocking the air flow or a fan or heat sink was dusted up pretty much. Intel chip sets have a heat sensor that will auto shut down or lower the CPU speed (FSB) if its temp gets too high. Which may be the case that you are looking at. One other issue would be that the thermal paste has deteriorated to the point that it is not providing the heat transfer that it should....you mentioned adding other components...you may have jolted the cpu's heat sink and fan just enough to break the seal of the thermal paste. Operating Costs = the cost of operating a business Profits = revenues over and above the operating costs. Taxes = operating costs mandated by gov. TaxPayer = what you are called by the gov.

I gave the machine a good dusting when I got it a few weeks ago but haven't been near the cpu since. It was running well with all the programs I installed and changes I made to the system within windows. Then i let it sit for a few weeks because I trying to track down a monitor, keyboard and mouse for it. Now that I think about it I did reseat the ram and that is close to the cpu. Not sure. I added a soundcard, ethernet card and maybe the video card. Hard to remember as I have a few too many machines sitting here. I know about thermal paste as I had to take a cpu off a MB last week for the first time. Gee I am always learning. Will see how things go. Thanks for the tips! "The meaning of life is to be happy and useful" Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama