Windows updated with all critical patches?  Antivirus and firewall software up to date and running at all times?  Have you run antispyware software?

 

How do you check to see how fast your CPU is running? I know my comp is theoretically supposed to run at 3.2 GHz but how do I see what it is really running?

I have several other posts about the problems with my 5150 -- please check them out and help if you can

 

i spent LITERALY 3 hours today online chatting with dell techie support -- and they're all so clueless.  everything (stupid) thing they suggested to fix my problems, they said they were "confident this will resolve it"  but i had either tried it all before, or it was so insane -- but i did everything they asked and NOTHING was fixed.  we went through TONS of their "steps"  and they had NO IDEA what the actual problem was, nor the solution.  finally, they told me, after 3 hours, i just needed to format the HD and re-install the OS

dandy -- -that's what i wanna do.  that's a "cure-all" when techies dont have an answer.  re-format, that solves everything.  but sometimes it DOESNT solve everything.  if i reformat and LOSE everything i've done in the last 3 months, and it doesnt fix the problem, im going to FLY OFF THE HANDLE --- 

they coudlnt convince me that they had ANY IDEA whatsoever what the problem was -- nor that formatting would fix, so i didnt --    its a last resort.   i have done way too much to my system in 3 months --- its just so awful to format because your entire systm goes back t o square one.  and i would do it if i KNEW it would work -- but the techies told me i must be the ONLY person with a 5150 who has had t his problem (which i doubt, im sure its been reported numerous times.. all computer problems are) and they had no idea if its ever been reported or if it was ever fixed.  

its so frustrating --- every techie is taught "the consumer messed their own machine up, fix their idiocy"  and every techie i talked to kept repeating that mantra "what have you installed recently -- do you have spyware -- do you have adware --- what did you install - - what have you done?"    and all i kept saying is  "do you ship with spyware? do you ship systems with adware?  do you ship systems with virus?"  of course they said no -- then bugger off!!!!!   i told them OVER AND OVER that the first time i booted up the system, OUT OF THE BOX, it was JUST like th is --- so unless dell ships sytems with adware/spyware/viruses/conflicts/damaged hardware/faulty software then that's NOT the problem --- even if i was up to my eyeballs in that junk (which im not, cos i'm not some little 15 year old girl, and i have tons of protection) it wouldnt matter, because it came out of the box with these issues---

 

i just need help -- and from reading the forums -- the posters know more about these systems (and solutions to problems) than the great "dell support" techies

Kenneth, this is information from the current 5160's configuration details:

"Mobile Pentium® 4 Processor 518 w/HT Technology (2.80GHz, 533MHz FSB)" - I assume that HT means hyperthreading.

Also, system properties isn't a good place to check clock speed - it's notoriously inaccurate. And I thought that speedstep was only available on processors in mobile computers? I don't really understand your comment about desktop systems.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1034970&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=CADHS1

correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't realize the existence of a p4 2.8 on 533fsb being hyper threading capable...

just to tell another thing.. my desktop with a 2.4C p4 never shows different clock speed on the system properties.. it's constantly 2.40GHz same goes to my cousins desktop 2.8E so i assume it's the speedstep which causing speed down..

I don't understand your question... your CPU is already "clocked" at a certain speed. For overclocking advice, you can do a forum search. If all you want is to check your CPU's speed, try running FanGUI, as I believe it can monitor your CPU speed.

First, you should keep all of your information in one post... it's much harder to help you if you're posting the same thing multiple times, because the discussion gets fragmented.

Secondly, I think you're having a termination problem. Hyperthreading is something that your CPU does only in applications that have been optimized for hyperthreading, to optimize your CPU power. It has nothing to do with clock speeds.

Speedstep is the Intel name for your processor stepping down its speed when the power isn't needed - what you've been calling hyperthreading. It can be affected by options in the BIOS, and by your Power Options. Do a forum search for more information - there is more info on speedstep in these forums than you'll ever need.

There haven't been issues with 5150 users having consistent issues with either hyperthreading or speedstep, so as unpalatable as it seems, a reinstall is probably the best way of seeing whether the issue presents on a clean install. You say that the issue was there from the moment you got your computer, but unless that's when you called them, tech support needs to go through all of their steps to be sure they're dealing with the problem appropriately.

I still don't understand your fear of losing 3 months of work... there isn't anything on your computer that you can't back up. Try using the files and settings transfer wizard to save things like your folder settings. The only things you could lose would be if you downloaded programs, installed them, and then deleted the insall .zip or .exe (which isn't a very smart thing to do). I keep an "install" folder in My Documents, where I put all of these .exe files, and it's included in the backup to external drive that I do at least monthly, so that if I have to reinstall, or if my hard drive suddenly goes bad and has to be replaced, I have everything I need to get my system back quickly.

How do you clock your CPU????

thats what i meant sorry for being vague.  I know my CPU is supposed to be 3.2 Ghz but i wanted to know how fast it is truely running.. thats what i meant...sorry