Computer Skipping/Lagging/Freezing Help

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Hi All,

New to the board, thanks to anyone who can help me.

Currently having problems with my computer. I am able to use it normally right now at the moment but it often has problems recently with skipping/lagging/freezing. Meaning if I am doing something the mouse slows/action slows and will often lag or sometimes even freeze and force me to reboot.

A little history on when this started happening. About 2 weeks ago, computer just turned off one day, all by itself. I thought maybe it overheated, so I took it apart, there were all kinds of dustbunnies in all the fans. I did a thorough cleaning of all the dustbunnies and made sure it is getting adequate ventilation.

Since then, the computer will often lag. There are even times I cannot get past the ASUS BIOS splash screen. It will just stay there indefinitely until I reboot a couple of dozen times. When it finally does load it will often go into the BIOS/CMOS settings and then a screen that states: WARNING, YOUR CPU SPEED MAY NOT BE SET PROPERLY, PLEASE CHECK SETTINGS. Important to note, I have NEVER tampered with BIOS settings in the past. So I am unsure why it's even going to this screen unless the chip or motherboard are damaged in some way? I have no idea.

I usually just set BIOS settings to default and then it continues to load Windows XP normally. Then it may or may not work normally. I noticed that before I started having this problem, the little blue Windows XP Loading Bar used to load without pausing. Now, when it starts loading windows, that blue loading bar will often slow down or even stop completely...almost as if my computer is having issues loading Windows.

System Specs

Asus A7V8X Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
Windows XP SP2

Things I have ALREADY tried
  1. Ran complete antivirus
  2. Reformatted Hard Drive/Reinstalled Windows XP
  3. Cleaned out dustbunnies and ensured fans are all working
  4. Installed CPU Temp monitor to ensure there is no overheating. There is none, but can't say there hasn't been any in the past.
  5. Replaced memory sticks in case it was a bad memory stick.
  6. Removed Heat Sink, cleaned it out and replaced.
  7. Checked Hard Drive for errors. It checks out normal.

Some others told me it could possibly be power supply or motherboard problem. Just wondering if anyone has any other input on this issue. As of right now I am surfing the net fine, but I know that in time, I will start getting lag and eventually my computer will lock up if I use Photoshop too much or surf websites that are too intensive.

Thanks for any assistance.
 
You need to make sure that your BIOS is setup!!! You cant set it to defaults and expect it to work. You need to set up the clock speeds and memory latency timings. Check your equipments timings and place them in the bios.
 
I never changed the BIOS settings. But regardless of that, I checked the settings and they are exactly as they should be.

What I was saying was that the BIOS warning message was coming up without me changing anything. Regardless if I put it on default or put in the proper settings. System still freezing up.
 
Have you tried applying a BIOS Flash update? You might want to go the the Motherboards manufacturer site and see if they have any BIOS updates.
 
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