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Stubb063

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Stubb063

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June 17th, 2005 20:00

Processor not being used correctly by system?

I have an Inspiron 8200 with a 2.4 Ghz P4 in it and 512 MB of RAM installed.  For the past 2.5 years that I've owned it, I've had no problems, until now.
 
Two days ago, I turned my computer on and found it to be running incredibly slow.  I did all the normal things one would do (remove any spyware, uninstall bulky programs, close background applications, etc), but to no avail.  Finally, I backed everything up to my external hard drive and completely formatted the system and started from scratch.  I reinstalled the OS and that's it.  No other programs were on it and it was still running just as slow as it was before the formatting. 
 
So, I checked the system properties under My Computer and it recognizes that it has a 2.4 Ghz processor installed, but says it's only running at 598 Mhz?!?!?!  I'm not running off batteries either, so it shouldn't be doing this to save power or anything like that.
 
Anyone run into this before? 
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    Stubb063

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    Posted June 17th, 2005 22:00

    Thanks for the reply.

     

    I didn't have the patch originally installed (I didn't even know it existed until I saw your post).  I installed it, rebooted, and it's still doing the same thing. 

    Also, I've noticed the fan has been running nonstop since this has occurred.  I'd imagine that's because I essentially have a 600 mhz processor trying to power a machine built around a 2.4 Ghz, but i thought I'd throw that out there anyways.

    Message Edited by Stubb063 on 06-17-2005 06:04 PM

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    scottatah

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    Posted June 18th, 2005 00:00

    You could run the diags to verify everyting is cooperating together.  Sounds almost like the processor is running slower cause it's too hot (cool down method for some pc's).   I'd also try updating to the latest BIOS and resetting any defaults.

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    Stubb063

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    Posted June 18th, 2005 00:00

    I updated my BIOS from version A08 to version A11 and it worked beautifully.  It seems a little strange to me for the processor to just suddenly go out of sync like that, old BIOS or not, though.
     
    Anyways, thank you very much to those who responded.  I can now get back to my normal computing life. 

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