windowsupdate

[val2]

yep I positive HT is enabled in the bios. I'll try what you say.

[val2]

what about powersuppy problems? I have turned off automatic restart in windows and to keep a log of errors but nothing is showing up as that. It's like someone is turning the machine off. It will be fine for hours then cycle through a series of shutdowns and then be fine for a while again. the bios has also said that the speed of the CPU's have changed and I should check it in the setup.

rerender,

get your taxes done?

oh yah it magically went to four buckets while I slept. ???????

[RErender]

that things possessed!

you might try http://www.discountcatholicstore.com/holywater.htm

Taxes? filed an extension :P

[DaForce]

yeah it could be powersupply... unlikely tho i reckon.. but you never know. If you have a spare one around or one you can pinch from another computer for a day or so it might be worth while testing.

And it went to 4 buckets overnight!!! that is just weird!!

[val2]

heh, well after taking the whole thing apart putting it back together and testing each stick of ram seperately clearing the bios by removing the battery and moving the jumper over and back the machine isn't crapping out anymore (for a while) but I'm back to two buckets. heres a question How do you know if both CPU's are running? I have two CPUs showing up in device manager but couldn't it be one is virtual? or is that just stupid on my part? wouldn't four show up? I can't rember what it looked like before. I'm inclined to take one off, test the machine then take the other off put it in the number one slot and test the machine again. (maybe hyper threading is working and all I have is one cpu) I think I might be losing my marbles on this one.

[DaForce]

with both cpus running and HT on you should have 4 cpu graphs in taskmanager.
I dont know if there is a way in XP to tell what you actually have running.. like 2 cpus with no HT or one CPU with HT... you might need to download a diagnostic program like sisoft sandra to confirm that i think.

That is damn weird tho.

Also make sure to test all the ram together, not just seperatly, as bad ram may work by itself but not in pairs or quads.

[val2]

hah! I figured it out! The CPU had died. i took out one put it in the first slot and the machine runs fine (with two buckets) took it out and put in the second in thwe first slot. got a red light on the mother board and no booting. man what a pain that was.

sisoft sandra is a great application. thank you.

[DaForce]

ahhh dead cpu.. well that kinda sucks.. but hey atleast you sorted it

Yeah Sandra is a fantastic app!!!

[val2]

heh, boy am I dumb. I went through every thing again today and found that the CPUs actually are fine I just had miss seated one of them once. but I was taking the mother board out to return the whole mess back to the place I bought it from and noticed one of the small capacitors was just hanging there. so the second bay was shorting out. the reason it would be ok and not ok was it was ok when it was lying flat on the ground and when I would stand the tower up it would then be jarred out of it's place. so I need a new motherboard. I geuss I have to contact the chaos gang for a new liscence. doesn't it look at the network card or something like that? my network card is on the motherboard.

[DaForce]

ahhhhhhhhh poo.
Good think you didnt buy a new cpu then.

Yeah you will need a new licence.