Computer Geeks.. Need your help!

[Michael_Lambert]

Alright so 5 months ago .. i traded a used comptuer system for a used tank..

I have now recived through a post on a other forum this..

ATTENTION MR LAMBERT

Hey there..........the computer I got from you keeps getting scrambled and losing programs etc. there is no virus. I have to turn my firewall off to run the computer, otherwise it just freezes. I can however run to check for viruses and I can do updates to make sure I'm up on the latest ones. I have sent several messages asking you to give me the link and the instructions to wipe out the hard drive and reprogram the system but I have not heard from you. It is not being overdriven at 600 mhz for a pentium 3 and I have taken windows off and put it back on several times. I run scan disk in thorough mode and it finds nothing. Once I download the operating system.......again, it runs good for a while and then starts to sputter with all kinds of error messages and lost files.................please advise.

Now this computer was taded with Windows ME installed and it was a Celeron Pentium 366 i think.. Either way he has overclocked it to 600.. his choice.. when i traded the computer everything was at stock settings!

He is now getting these errors.. witch could show a Hard drive Failure.. but he is able to reinstall .. and run scandisk with no errors.. he says once he reinstalls windows it runs great for a while..

I have no idea.. Expect to think that he must be installing somthing or running somthing that is causing the conflict.. I can not think that there is anythihg wrong hardware wize.

Thanks for all your input!

Michael.

[Curtswearing]

Do a google on Boot Sector viruses.

There's a lot more.Google

Could also be overclocking. Or the hard drive could be failing.

[Scooterman]

If he over clocked it by that much it will cause freez-ups, he needs to tune it down or go stock.

[nivek]

Agree with Curt on the hard drive failing. What he can do is try reformating the hard disk. Do a fdisk on the hard drive then reformat and reinstall everything back.

[Scooterman]

also 5 months is long, over clocking a celeron is crazy at the least, he may of damaged memory, even if it runs fine for a while memory can go bad. I bet he isn't telling all that happened, If he had problems upon delivery I'd say yes you should see about it, but If this guy wanted his trade back after a few months I'd bet either he doesn't know what he is doing and is causing the crashing or he damaged it by trying to over clock it. Unless I had every detail about this computer it would be near impossible to be sure but these are my expert opinions on this matter.

[Michael_Lambert]

its all Aprecieated..

The details.. are..

Brand new computer. Custom made....
By me..

Celeron 466, 256 megs ram ( single Chip) ASUS Socket 7 board. Everything worked fine.. I set it up for him..showed him how to use it and the camera that was included.. Just as we finished loaded the tank that i traded him for.. his buddy overclocked it to 600.. right away..

And he called me not too long after saying it was locking up i then told him to tone it down.. well now he is having all these issues.. 5 months later!!

[Witfull]

if you know for a fact that it was overclocked,,,, that voids all warranties. over clocking can damage (or Kill) a prossessor if not properly cooled. also simple lock ups are very common on overclocking and with each lock up there is the possibility of "bit drop" which means the harddrive flips a 0 to a 1 or visa versa and programs act eradically or fail completely. reinstalling will correct this,but the cycle will also restart.

if it was overclocked by his friend, tell him to talk to the friend about it, not you.

[Scooterman]

yep, sounds like he should be complaining to his friend, heat is a big issue with over clocking, & that is too much without some extream cooling.

[Willmsbrg]

Definetely agree with the overclocking problem.. Celeron are especially bad for that.. seeing how they are 66MHz. If it IS a Celeron 366Mhz.. it can't be clocked to 600Mhz.

Since a Celeron 366 is "locked" by Intel at a 5.5x multiplier, it cannot be forced to run at 6.0 x 100MHz. Instead the CPU will either refuse to boot the machine, or will boot up at 1/2 of the proper speed (200MHz or so). To get around this limitation, Celeron overclockers must resort to higher FSB speeds to jack up the core's power.

Example:

That same Intel(r) Celeron(tm) processor 366 when clocked as follows (5.5 x 100MHz) now turns 550MHz core speed.

Remember however that you do need standard PC-100 SDRAM to utilize the 100MHz bus speed.


CPU Speed Success Rate
Intel(r) Celeron(tm) processor 366
5.5 x 75MHz = 413MHz 100%
5.5 x 83MHz = 457MHz 90%
5.5 x 100MHz = 550MHz 10%
5.5 x 103MHz = 567MHz 5%
5.5 x 112MHz = 616MHz Unknown
5.5 x 117MHz = 644MHz Unknown

CPU Speed Success Rate
Intel(r) Celeron(tm) processor 466 (PPGA Only)
7.0 x 75MHz = 525MHz 75%
7.0 x 83MHz = 581MHz 15%
7.0 x 100MHz = 700MHz Unknown
7.0 x 103MHz = 721MHz Unknown
7.0 x 112MHz = 784MHz Unknown
7.0 x 117MHz = 819MHz Unknown


In any case... you are NOT at fault... it is his friends fault.....
Hope that helps....

[mps9506]

If he is dead set on running an oced cpu then maybe you need to give him a link to purchase an old AMD K6-2 cpu . I ran a K6-3 overclocked for years. I think it was a 400mhz oc'ed to 600 if I recall... Those were the days, I don't know diddly about cpu's now, I just plug em in
Regardless, this is why I never build systems for friends. I send em to Dell dude.
Mike

[Reef Geek]

5 months ago .. and he overclocked it??
What is this guy thinking?
First off, did you imply or offer any type of a warranty? When I get old computer equipment from people it is unsaid, but understood, that no warranty is included with purchase. If you sold a Celeron 266 to the guy, and now he says its a P3 600, obviously he has either switched out the processor or he is overclocking it. Both of those would negate any type of warranty even if one were implied in the original purchase.
Even with that said, I know you (TooLoud) are a nice guy and are going to try and help the idiot fix his puter. Try this:
Maybe the problem is in the windows disk he is reinstalling with? Is it a bootleg version? I hope he isn't trying to install XP. He should stick to 2000, ME or 98SE on a slower celeron such as this.
If he is going to overclock make sure that he is at the default settings while installing his OS, then he can overclock. High FSB setting play havoc with IDE drives, and are usually the first to show signs of an overly aggressive overclock.

Good Luck
If it were me I would tell the guy to shove off.

[fidojoe]

If it were me I would tell the guy to shove off.

Ditto!

I have a 566 Smelleron in my PC, with 384 mb of 66/100 ram, and I'm running XP no prob, My HD is a 40gb with 8mb of cache mem tho, so that is probably why I don't have any probs.

[mattie]

what a turkey to bother you with him overclocking the cpu without being prepared for the risk.