Hi,
Okay been around computers for years, 1st one in "96" Win98 AMD 350mhz, 10Gb HDD, 350MB RAM, on waiting list for 3 months for DSL. This is our 3rd computer and it's getting old, WinXP Pro SP3, AMD AthlonXP 2000+, 300Gb HDD, 1GB RAM ASUS A7V333 fixing all hardware and software problems myself over the years has been an experiance, doing everything wrong and taking forever to solve problems. I am not here to offer advice, but once in awhile to ask for some.
Thru the years by reading forums such as this one as well as visiting Mfg's knowledge base sites etc. I have usually been able to fix what ever problems show up. Replacing power supplies, upgrading or adding RAM, processor, fans, network cards, graphic & sound cards AGP or PCI, hard drives, monitors, BIOS etc.
I have noticed thru the years when certain problems seem to come and then go as a solution is found. And then there are those that seem to defy any logic at all. Okay, windows Blue Screen Of Death ALL of them...this computer would have. Some would be during boot-up before windows even loads, or randomly when running, I forget the codes but you know 0.0000000021's , 007's, 0005's, 00008's etc. Error messages about hardware, software, drivers, dll's, Kernal, etc. Common solutions would be to reinstall operating system, remove all hardware and reinstall one at a time seaching for driver causing problem, virus, malware etc. Driver conflicts, Hardware conflicts, Software conflicts, I cannot tell you how many times I have been told it's a Virus.
OKAY, this will push someones button, I run NO ANTI VIRUS software, we have had DSL for 11 years being one of the first in our area, use a wired router for home networking and there has never been a Virus found on any of the computers. I do run a scan from time to time (I'm not that crazy) and it is not luck! I do not recommend it to others, just thought I would mention it, it's like the FLU some people don't worry about it, some do and get a Flu shot, except some of those who got a Flu shot still get the Flu don't they?
Getting late and rambling, Okay back to the Fix for all the BSOD's, 100's of crashes, memory problems, etc. I know your gonna laugh but it worked...slowed the processor from 1.66Ghz down to1.57Ghz in Bios. Computer rock stable, wife works on animations with very large files, runs three software programs at the same time, has many files open at the same time, never crashes anymore and seems faster than it ever was.
Just thought I would throw that to the wolves for bait, I must say in all my research (that's a lot) I never read to try slowing the processor to fix any of the problems. So now can anyone tell me why it worked? I'll come back to check for an answer in a day or two and by the way this site is one of the best TECH, just hope you don't pull my membership before I have a question!
D Cherry