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.
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.
ahhh dead cpu.. well that kinda sucks.. but hey atleast you sorted it 
Yeah Sandra is a fantastic app!!!
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.
ahhhhhhhhh poo.
Good think you didnt buy a new cpu then.
Yeah you will need a new licence.