Can't POST!

[jmoore2001]

Ok, well first of all, I've been having some crashes lately in Windows XP (I'm not sure if that has anything to do with anything..) and I've been having to restart often because of my computer just suddenly freezing.

Well when I restart it always comes up with the message:
"CPU is unworkable or has been changed. Please check the BIOS"

I know this happens when you install a processor for the first time, but why is it doing it now? (it also recognized my Athlon XP 2100+ simply as "Unknown CPU."

The problem is that when my computer starts up, it comes up with that message and it's set at 1300 Mhz. Then I go into my BIOS (Abit NF7-M) and change it to 2100 Mhz and save it, but when it restarts after the changes it just sits there...blank screen...fans running. The monitor light just blinks like nothing is happening. Hard drive lights aren't going or making any noise, only my case fans are doing something.

Anyone know what I could do?

[calmhorizons]

Clear your cmos, boot and go into bios. Set bios to default settings and/or load optimized defaults. See if that works. Also, MAKE SURE that you only change 1 or 2 settings at a time in bios. This is critical because the nfroce2 bios' are very flaky.

[jmichna]

Another thing to double check is the vCore setting. Make sure it is at default. If possible, and your board supports it, use jumpers to set vCore to default for your particular CPU (assuming XP2100 Palomino it's 1.75) and then try seeing if it holds the proper bus speed 133 versus 100mHz.

I had a mobo I was swapping and had the vCore set too low for the CPU I was using and got the same kind of issues you are describing.