Some tough... issues

optyks · 06-24-2009, 01:48 PM

My girlfriends computer here has been running god awful slowly, so we've opted to put in some extra RAM.
i've built computers before, never had any issues either. But I cannot figure this out.

Some background info to get started:
Compaq Presario (could be the problem right there....) Running WinXP Home Ed, SP3

3300+ AMD Athlon 64 processor, rated to run at 2.4 Ghz

Came with 512 Mb PC3200 DDR memory

Mobo is ASUS A8000 (not much info out on the net for this board.)

So i opened up the case, swapped the 512 mem for a pc3200 DDR 1 gig stick, restarted computer, went into MSCONFIG> BOOT.INI> ADV.> MAXMEM= no limit, check, apply.

Rebooted, went into BIOS setup, the option for memory was grayed out, saying 512 was available, and couldnt do anything about it. Grudgingly i continued, started up, looked at the system profile, and I am runnin on 384 megs of RAM (low even for a 512 stick) and processor is runnin at 1.8 Ghz... 25% slower than it should be.

Anything i can do about this? We're tired of waiting literally 25 minutes for the computer to boot and become functional.

Also edited startup services, took out a few, yet no performance increase.

This shouldn't be this hard!

Thanks for any help.

**speedster123** · 06-25-2009, 10:11 AM

Replace the cmos battery, otherwise

cmos reset-
turn the computer off
remove the power lead from the back
take the side off/destatic by grabbing the unpainted part of the case
remove the cmos battery [for 20 min.] then push the on/off button a couple of times to discharge
move the cmos jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3 and the back to pins 1 and 2
reinsert the battery
put the side on
replug in the power lead
boot the computer
reset any custom settings in the bios

06-24-2009, 01:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
optyks Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1 OS: WinXP SP3	Some tough... issues My girlfriends computer here has been running god awful slowly, so we've opted to put in some extra RAM. i've built computers before, never had any issues either. But I cannot figure this out. Some background info to get started: Compaq Presario (could be the problem right there....) Running WinXP Home Ed, SP3 3300+ AMD Athlon 64 processor, rated to run at 2.4 Ghz Came with 512 Mb PC3200 DDR memory Mobo is ASUS A8000 (not much info out on the net for this board.) So i opened up the case, swapped the 512 mem for a pc3200 DDR 1 gig stick, restarted computer, went into MSCONFIG> BOOT.INI> ADV.> MAXMEM= no limit, check, apply. Rebooted, went into BIOS setup, the option for memory was grayed out, saying 512 was available, and couldnt do anything about it. Grudgingly i continued, started up, looked at the system profile, and I am runnin on 384 megs of RAM (low even for a 512 stick) and processor is runnin at 1.8 Ghz... 25% slower than it should be. Anything i can do about this? We're tired of waiting literally 25 minutes for the computer to boot and become functional. Also edited startup services, took out a few, yet no performance increase. This shouldn't be this hard! Thanks for any help.

06-25-2009, 10:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
speedster123 Mentor Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United States-New York-Long Island Posts: 5,223 OS: xp pro SP3	Re: Some tough... issues Replace the cmos battery, otherwise cmos reset- turn the computer off remove the power lead from the back take the side off/destatic by grabbing the unpainted part of the case remove the cmos battery [for 20 min.] then push the on/off button a couple of times to discharge move the cmos jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3 and the back to pins 1 and 2 reinsert the battery put the side on replug in the power lead boot the computer reset any custom settings in the bios __________________