hp pavillion xl753 cpu freezes when playing audio

[tortuga]

hp pavilion xl753
Mainboard Model HAWK
Intel Celeron Coppermine 668.3 MHz
Socket 370 FC-PGA (0x4)
Chipset
Northbridge Intel i810E rev. A3
Southbridge Intel 82801AA (ICH) rev. 02
Memory Type SDRAM
Memory Size 320 MBytes
DIMM # 1 = 256 MBytes PC133 (133 MHz)
DIMM # 2 = 64 MBytes PC100 (100 MHz)

Audio device
Location bus 1 (0x01), device 8 (0x08), function 0 (0x00)

Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c

i have noticed that the cpu (as found in task manager) spends more time riding at 100% than it spends below 50% when i am listening to any audio and doing research online. i tend to do a fair bit of research online, and if i am listening to music or talk radio, it is through my pc. i added an extra 30 GB hard drive and CD RW (both came out of another HP pavillion of the same era which is where i got the extra 64 MB ram) to accommodate my music habit:). the sound card is integrated into the dial-up modem, which died on me a couple years ago. i did find some evidence of overheating near where the phone line plugs into the modem, but the audio was fine until about a week ago, when it quit in the middle of a live radio show i was listening to. i took it out, inspected it for further heat damage, cleaned out the dust (which i try to do regularly) and put it back in. after that, i could get 'winamp' to play, but no system sounds, no volume control, and the device manager did not even recognize that there was an audio device connected to my machine. in trying to get the device manager to see the audio card, i crashed the system, and had to wipe my primary hard drive. (luckily, i had already backed up my music and files) i re-installed xp, and now it just bogs down, but will (grudgingly) play the audio files i ask it to.

now that you have my machine's history, my question is:
can my cpu or ram or both be upgraded enough to handle all the work i ask it to do (with a better sound card) plus run a PCI USB 2.0 so i can back up to an external hard drive, or should i just make it into a 'NAS' and get a faster machine?
there is now high speed ethernet here, so i no longer need the fried modem, but it is still in the machine. any suggestions would be helpful, since i have balked at spending even $100 on another machine, but have been getting very frustrated with the browser freezing up just because i want to listen to the radio :(

[tortuga]

if anyone can decode the cpuid cpu-z report just ask me for it, as my machine is tired and unwilling to attach it to this message

[caperjack]

you computer is at or below recommended hardware configuration to run winxp effectively,any upgrade it could take will not be enough to help, new machine is in order ,
i repair ans sell used computer and would throw something like your away !

[tortuga]

thank you for your honest opinion, but at the moment i cannot afford a new machine. i may be able to save up for a few months for a cheep 'bare bones' type system, but at the moment even that is out of reach .... i do appreciate your time in replying to my plea for advice and help with this issue

[caperjack]

thank you for your honest opinion, but at the moment i cannot afford a new machine. i may be able to save up for a few months for a cheep 'bare bones' type system, but at the moment even that is out of reach .... i do appreciate your time in replying to my plea for advice and help with this issue

hi this is from your first post
' or should i just make it into a 'NAS' and get a faster machine.'

hence my answer ,,you board is so old that the biggest cpu it will take is not much bigger than the one in it now ,so any money spent on it is just a wast

[tortuga]

hi this is from your first post
' or should i just make it into a 'NAS' and get a faster machine.'

hence my answer ,,you board is so old that the biggest cpu it will take is not much bigger than the one in it now ,so any money spent on it is just a wast

i guess that means i need to start saving some money up, so i can get a better machine. do you have any suggestions where i might find a cheap machine that has a faster cpu? i would like one that is at least as easy to take apart and clean/add hardware as the one i have. i do have 3 small capacity hard drives (2@ 30GB, 1@ 327MB) out of old machines, and a few cd-rw and floppy drives, as well as some other spare parts. all i would need in the box (other than the mobo and cpu) would be a sound card and usb2.0 ports, and a free pci slot.
sorry i got impatient about there not being a way to get my old 'frankenstein' to handle all the sh** i ask it to do. i just have to get some extra money together :$
i do appreciate your help and time

[caperjack]

i guess that means i need to start saving some money up, so i can get a better machine. do you have any suggestions where i might find a cheap machine that has a faster cpu? i would like one that is at least as easy to take apart and clean/add hardware as the one i have. i do have 3 small capacity hard drives (2@ 30GB, 1@ 327MB) out of old machines, and a few cd-rw and floppy drives, as well as some other spare parts. all i would need in the box (other than the mobo and cpu) would be a sound card and usb2.0 ports, and a free pci slot.
sorry i got impatient about there not being a way to get my old 'frankenstein' to handle all the sh** i ask it to do. i just have to get some extra money together :$
i do appreciate your help and time

your welcome ,as to where to find something half decent cheat im in Canada and people around here use local backyard repair guys and e-bay and www.Kijiji.com classified

[tortuga]

your welcome ,as to where to find something half decent cheat im in Canada and people around here use local backyard repair guys and e-bay and www.Kijiji.com classified

thanks for the link .. i did check it out, but only found one ad for computers in the state where i live, and that was for a store on the other side of the state .. then i remembered http://www.craigslist.org and checked there .. i placed an ad stating my minimum requirements in the 'barter' section, and already got 2 replies to the ad .. it seems this problem may be solved
thanks again