# Ridiculously slow PC after BIOS Update



## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

Hi, i recently update the BIOS for my Asus A8R-MVP from 0503 to 0605 using an update tool in windows. 
(sadly my Mobo does not support EZ flash and i do not have a floopy drive installed)

I did this because the update said it would fix startup crashes when you had memory hole enabled
(Which i did because it wasn't detecting all 4GB of RAM)

After i did this, i tried booting up and Windows now runs STUPIDLY slow. I mean i only have Avast Antivirus, Catalyst Control Centre and Steam loading on startup, but it took 45 minutes for Steam to finally log in. It has massive trouble doing the most mundane tasks (Such as loading an application,) Can't load task manager and when we tried to run a virus scan, it was doing it at 0.2MB/s.

EDIT: We managed to get task manager up, and it says my physical memory is constantly at 98-99% usage.

I have now taken out the New RAM (Back to 2GB) and have disabled Memory hole (Everything is default values)
I believe it may have something to do with the memory timings in the BIOS, as i forgot to record these before i updated and have now got it set to Auto for everything.

INFO:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
GPU: Radeon HD 6770
MOBO: Asus A8R-MVP
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
RAM: 2/4 sticks of 1GB PC3200 DDR
PSU: 550W

Please help.
John.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Have you used the Clear CMOS jumper on the motherboard to reset the BIOS?


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

No i haven't. About to try it now, reporting back in about 20 minutes.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

Ok, it didn't help.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

I really could use some help on this. I've tried installing the old BIOS (Unsucessfully, as it's difficult to flash a BIOS with a CD without a floppy drive available) and clearing CMOS hasn't had an effect.

I Don't want to have to fork out £250 for a new motherboard, CPU and RAM (If i'm gonig to get one it may aswell be good) especially since i've spent around £480 in these past few weeks and my insurance needs paying next month so thats another £350.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Have you verified that the transfer mode in the BIOS for the hard drive is DMA and not PIO? Also check the temps in the BIOS and report those.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

Hi,
There are multiple settings for PIO and DMA, not just an On/Off switch. The chocies are:
PIO: AUTO , 0-4
DMA: AUTO, SWD 0-2, MWD 0-2, UDMA 0-6

It is a SATA 500GB, not sure what make but the model is ST500DM002-1BC142.
The temperatures for the CPU and MOBO were 37C and 25C respectively.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

We tried setting PIO to 0 and DMA to Auto but that didn't help.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

OK update: I managed to get system information open in windows and it says my system has 4GB of RAM available (I put the other 2GB back in) BUT it is only using 256MB. WHAT THE FECK.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Set the DMA settings to Auto.

So the usable memory in Windows 7 is only showing as 256MB? That's why its running so slow.

See here for suggestions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978610
Especially check the Maximum Memory setting in MSCONFIG.


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## Jobo789 (Sep 3, 2011)

Yeah i unchecked the Max Memory box and it works perfectly now.

Thanks for your help but for some reason my PC still wont bootup with Memory Hole Enabled. Oh well, i guess i'll live with 3 usable Gigs ¬_¬

EDIT: I just found out from another person with the same problem in the Steam User Forums that my Motherboard's chipset is simply to old to allow memory remapping. Even though it supports 8GB ¬_¬


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

If any 3 of the 4 memory modules are used in any of the 4 slots, does the PC work? The reason I ask is that the problem could be the slot or one of the sticks.

I also vaguely remember that some older AMD processors had issues when 4 double sided memory modules being used, but I don't remember which processors or the exact details.


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