Receiving message: CPU is unworkable...

When I first start up, I receive a message that states that my
Main Processor is a Pentium III 333 MHz. CPU is unworkable
or has been changed. Please recheck "Soft Menu III setup".
My CPU is a Pentium III 500 MHz.
Can you tell me how to perform this soft menu setup?

Also, my computer frequently freezes up and the only way
to escape is to turn it off. Could this "soft menu" problem
cause this infernal device to be so contrary?

Thanks,
Elaine in Dallas

 

Hi,

According to this link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/96q3/960701/index.html

you should be able to access your "soft menu" by going through your BIOS. Just press del or F10 or whichever key enables you to access the BIOS at startup, and you should be able to navigate to the "soft menu" from there.
I imagine that you'll have to change some setting in there, that is incorrectly reporting the clock speed of your processor.
Apparently, these "soft menus" are coming out to replace jumpers and switches on the motherboards, (which allow the user to manually alter certain CPU settings, like voltage, speed, etc.).

Good Luck

P.S- This should probably be in the hardware forum

 

When you first boot there is a message that says “to enter setup xxx”. It is often delete but it varies between computers.

Once you are in your BIOS things look different also from BIOS to BIOS. There might be an auto detect for the processor or a series of choices. If there aren’t any you will probably have to set your bus speed and multiplier. If you don’t have a choice on the processor and the auto-detect isn’t there get back.