[Seria]

Hi, I have just done a mobo swap with 2 of my comps and I am trying to install windows. But I have a problem,

When I turn the comp on there is an error message in the DOS boot screen that says: "CPU is unworkable or has been changed. Please recheck - CPU SOFT MENU".

well, first of all the CPU had better be workable cuz its freakin new. second of all I say "duh" the 'or has been changed' part of the error.

I have gone into bios and have done the "load fail-safe defaults" thing.... nothing changes

I have gone into the "SoftMenu III Setup" which I think is the 'CPU SOFT MENU' the error was talking about but there is nothing in there I can change or know what to change things to.

My question: What do I do?

FYI:
mobo: ABIT NF7-M
cpu: AMD 1500+
os (as soon as I get past this problem): WinXPproSP1

pre-thanx for your assistance.

[Seria]

anybody have any ideas?

[Apokalipse]

try taking out the battery for a minute, and unplug the pwoer. this should erase the memory in the CMOS, so it will not have any record of previous CPU's (which it may have been tested with)

[Seria]

wont that make it loose bios all together?

[Seria]

is there any any danger in removing the battery?

[comrad]

no there isnt, you probably have a CMOS clearing thing, just look in the manual for it and it will say how. But i have the same Brand mobo, Abit IC7-G and it sometimes says that but i just enter the bios and then exit and its done.

[Apokalipse]

it will lose power and not retain the options, therefore resetting them to default, the main BIOS software is permanent

[Samm]

Clear Bios as suggested & make sure the CPU settings (FSB, voltage etc) are correct. The error message you are getting does not always mean there's anything wrong with the CPU or it's settings.
If you still get a problem after this, look for the setting that determines which errors cause the system to halt - usually termed something like 'halt on ...all errors' etc. If you have such a setting, try changing it to halt on 'no errors' or 'disk & key only'.

Regardless of whether you change anything in the Bios or not, save the settings anyway & do a warm reboot immediately after the system restarts (ie CTRL-ALT-DEL). I usually find this stops the message coming up again.