"Exray" wrote in message
news:tR1Mb.18651$5V2.31235@attbi_s53...
I am now engaged in a reinstall of XP. A clean reinstall. I'm doing it
this time, after having failed a few other times, with the CPU cache
(duron
700) turned off.

My suspicion is that either the L1 or the L2 cache in the CPU has become
slightly baked, and a reinstall and successful operation of XP with the
cache disabled.will tend to convince me that my guess is correct.

This stupid motherboard, for no reason that I can understand, has always
refused to run a 1200 Athlon, in spite of my having an adequate power
supply, adequate fan, and latest bios flashed into it. I don't even
remember the manufacturer, some el-cheapo with a SiS chipset and
integrated
everything.

If anybody has any thoughts as to whether a slightly cooked CPU could be
the
cause of my problem and perhaps yours, I'd love to read 'em.

It actually sounds to me like your PS has gone flakey, or your mobo has
blown a capacitor. I'd try a new PS first, don't bother with brand names,
they don't get you any better quality than a no-name power supply, so just
go with as cheap as you can get, with about the same Wattage ratings as your
current PS or better. The days of "quality" vs. "non-quality" power supplies
are over, they're all good for a while, and they all go bad after a little
longer while.

Yousuf Khan