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

Hi dcherry



Your story is not too different from many of our Members.
We are all here to learn, and hopefully we do.

As to asking questions... you are welcome.
As to sharing experiences, operating practices, and solutions you have found useful.... you are welcome.

Where people sometimes "stumble" is if they instruct another Member to adopt their practices when such practices may provoke unnecessary risk.

For instance, running behind a NAT Router without anti-virus seems to have "worked" for you over the years.
OK, fine.
But for most ordinary users we recommend security software, and unfortunately with the internet environment the way it is, it seems the need for security is increasing while effectiveness of software solutions is lagging.
We also acknowledge that no matter how much security software a user may have loaded, the human brain and user's choices in computer and internet browsing habits is a dominant factor.
_________________

As for your "under-clocking", that is a well recognized tactic and is automated on most laptops and some desktops.

The major benefit is "heat reduction".

You seem to have found reasonable settings for your particular machine's best stability.

From the description you give of maintenance, service and usage, I'd guess that you keep a pretty "clean" machine.
But if it's been a while since you blew out the lint and dust-bunnies, it may be time to crack open that case and go to work with a can of compressed air.
An additional case fan may also benefit your machine and allow you to run that CPU at factory settings instead of you under-clocked settings.
It's up to you, and since your plan is working... well.... "if it ain't broke, don't be fixin' on it."

Glad to have you as a new Member.

Enjoy.

p.s. beyond responding to your introduction, when you have a specific question or concern you may get more and better responses by posting directly into one of our related sub-Forums such as Windows or Hardware.

dcherry
.
Welcome to WTT.

Hmmm, interesting concepts. Glad it all works for you but I'm too frightenened of all the baddies out there to try and live with no AV. As it is, the malware-writing freaks are finding new ways of skipping past firewalls and AVs at such a rate that the good guys are having trouble keeping up.

Good that you have joined this great forum and I hope you'll continue to offer your thoughts.

Regards

Satchfan

On being asked by a friend to help resolve problems on her laptop and on doing a virus check found that she had (wait for it) over 180 viruses! Anyone courageous not to use an antivirus program and be free of them amazes me!

dcherry

Interesting introduction, I enjoyed the read.
I can only imagine that some very safe surfing practices have been going on(excluding having anti-virus software installed).

I recommend to everyone that they use an anti-virus program.



Regards,
Jkc73



@Doug
Well put, yet again. I don't know how you keep stealing my lines.