Hello Satnav1
Thanks for the clarification
When you say it "wont handle a very simple task without nearly crashing the whole computer." what are the symptoms as in does the system freeze for example.
How are you checking the CPU usage, is it in the task manager.
Below are the instructions that I have copy/paste from the user manual but please be aware that 1: The CPU may be locked in the BIOS and so no CPU settings can be adjusted and 2: The problems that you are having may not be CPU related and are in fact caused by something else such as the Ram or HDD.
Navigating the BIOS Utility;
There are six menu options: Information, Main, Advanced, Security, Boot, and Exit.Follow these instructions:
To choose a menu, use the left and right arrow keys.
To choose an item, use the up and down arrow keys.
To change the value of a parameter, press F5 or F6.
A plus sign (+) indicates the item has sub-items. Press Enter to expand this item.
Press Esc while you are in any of the menu options to go to the Exit menu.
In any menu, you can load default settings by pressing F9. You can also press F10 to save any
changes made and exit the BIOS Setup Utility.
NOTE: You can change the value of a parameter if it is enclosed in square brackets. Navigation keys for a
particular menu are shown on the bottom of the screen. Help for parameters are found in the Item
Specific Help part of the screen. Read this carefully when making changes to parameter.
Please note that system information is subject to different models.User guide
http://tim.id.au/lap.../aspire one.pdf (please note that it may take a while to download)
In effect what you are asking is how to overclock the CPU so if the directions above do not allow you to do this then it does suggest that the CPU settings are locked out as a precaution, if you are able to tweak the CPU but the issue remains I would restore the default settings as described in the user manual.
FWIW, Changing the default settings will most likely make the system more unstable and possibly inoperable so please be careful.