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From: Ritter197 on 10 Apr 2010 19:59
Well, what an experience. I do thank Paul for his continued support!
I downloaded EasyBCD and installed it. When I used it then it showed 1 Core
open. I changed it to 4 and then closed it down.
That's when trouble (but also success!) started.
The computer would not boot up any longer. No F key would get me anywhere.
Just a black screen (not even blue!).

I finally re-installed Windows 7 and after some additional downloads for
latest updates it worked again.

Now the good part! Running PassMark Performance Test 7.0 it now shows 4
cores (open?) and the results are dramatically improved. From an overall
score of 655 to 1104!
All individual areas show improvements, but the biggest by FAR in the CPU
area. So, without Paul's good advice I would have never got where I am
now.!!!!

Thanks a lot again

Karl

"Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message
news:hpoclr$epn$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
> Ritter197 wrote:
>> Here is what I find:
>>
>> Device Manager:
>> Computer
>> ACPIx64 based PC
>>
>> I cannot drill down further meaningfully. It says device is working
>> properly. It also says (when trying to update drivers) that this device
>> does not need drivers.
>
> I've been working on your problem (a bit).
>
> I installed Version 7100 of Windows 7 in Virtual PC. I got to Device
> Manager and looked at the Computer Entry. Now, my version of Windows 7
> is only the 32 bit edition, but at least I could see the HAL was only
> ACPI on mine as well. I attempted to do the "Driver Update" and
> basically wasn't offered any options at all. But this could be
> considered normal, because my copy of VPC2007 only seems to expose one
> core of my dual core processor. So Windows 7 isn't even detecting two
> cores, due to the software limitations of my virtual environment.
>
> Along the way, one other option came to mind. Apparently, the boot manager
> has an option which declares the number of cores. So, if a user wanted
> to artificially limit the number of cores on their PC (say, for software
> testing), there is apparently a boot option that controls that.
>
> In Windows 7, I tried to run bcdedit (assuming that is the tool to use),
> and I suspect it runs in a command window. The command window flashed, and
> disappeared (just like it would in WinXP). I opened a command window, and
> typed "bcdedit" in there, and it told me I needed to be the administrator.
> Well, I can't be bothered figuring out how to fix that :-)
>
> So I downloaded EasyBCD from Neosmart (version 1.7.2).
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyBCD
>
> After installation, I used the "Advanced Options". Just above the
> "Apply Settings" button, is a "Limit Windows to X CPUs". You might
> try setting that to 4, if it isn't there already. Mine says "0"
> right now, which presumably means "use as many as you can find".
> If your value was set to "1", then that would explain why your
> system is running on 1 core. I think it is possible WinXP might
> have had a similar option, like MaxCPUs.
>
> Since this is a WinXP group, you might want to find a Windows 7 group
> for more help. I tried to find more information on Windows 7 HAL options
> and how to force them, and I didn't manage to find anything to help
> you. The Microsoft KB was strangely unhelpful.
>
> Paul
>
>>
>> "Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message
>> news:hpm7m0$mo9$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
>>> Ritter197 wrote:
>>>> I can now report after hitting F10 (BIOS)
>>>>
>>>> Under POWER I have only 2 options:
>>>> After power failure Automatic
>>>> XD(Execute Disable) Enable
>>>> Nothing for Suspend modes.
>>>> Nothing there for ACPI 2.0 support or anything re ACPI
>>>>
>>>
>>> Have you gone to the Device Manager, and right clicked on the
>>> ACPI x64 thing, and tried to do a Driver Update ? What did
>>> it report as install options ? Is one of the options
>>> for "Multiprocessor" ?
>>>
>>> For example, on my machine, when I drill down:
>>>
>>> "Don't search. I will choose the driver to install."
>>>
>>> ACPI Multiprocessor PC <--- My
>>> current HAL choice
>>> Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (APCI) PC <--- Equiv. to
>>> your HAL
>>> MPS Multiprocessor PC <--- from an
>>> earlier era...
>>> Standard PC <--- Don't use
>>> this...
>>>
>>> You want to see an option like the Multiprocessor one, in
>>> your list. And note any error messages, if it doesn't work.
>>>
>>> HTH,
>>> Paul
>>
From: Paul on 11 Apr 2010 00:15
Ritter197 wrote:
> Well, what an experience. I do thank Paul for his continued support!
> I downloaded EasyBCD and installed it. When I used it then it showed 1
> Core open. I changed it to 4 and then closed it down.
> That's when trouble (but also success!) started.
> The computer would not boot up any longer. No F key would get me
> anywhere. Just a black screen (not even blue!).
>
> I finally re-installed Windows 7 and after some additional downloads for
> latest updates it worked again.
>
> Now the good part! Running PassMark Performance Test 7.0 it now shows 4
> cores (open?) and the results are dramatically improved. From an overall
> score of 655 to 1104!
> All individual areas show improvements, but the biggest by FAR in the
> CPU area. So, without Paul's good advice I would have never got where I
> am now.!!!!
>
> Thanks a lot again
>
> Karl

Weird. I would never have expected a change like that, to cause the
box to "fall over".

It raises the question though, of how did the box get in that state in
the first place. Does a Windows 7 computer have the ability to change
the HAL, based on "how it is feeling" ? The computer, as shipped by HP,
must have had all four cores enabled. The HAL and the BCD boot options
should have been set up for that. It would be interesting to find
out, how the OS would end up running on just one core. I mean, it
could happen to you again, if there is a behavior of Windows 7 that
does that kind of thing.

Doing a little bit of research, I see that Microsoft has changed from
the simple to understand "boot.ini" file, to the BCD. And the BCD, is
like a registry hive. Which changes what used to be a simple task,
into something a lot more complicated. Yeah, that sounds like progress
to me...

Paul
From: Ritter197 on 11 Apr 2010 18:47
Paul, you are so right , unfortunately!
I will try to find out what changes, but last night I got the score of 1122
(highest ever) and I saw in Task Manager 4 windows next to the CPU.
I went to bed, got up this am and just for the heck of it ran all tests
again.
What do you think????
Back to the low 700. Ran it twice. More or less same result. AND in Task
Manager it shows 1 (one) CPU.

There are some people who do not care as long as their computer works, but
that is definitely not the case here. I like to tweak, until I have the
highest performance and then leave it (but test it again to make sure all is
at peak performance)

I used to have 3 BMW's and I did the same things to them. ALWAYS got them
running better than any mechanic at the BMW place would do it.



"Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message
news:hpric5$cs8$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
> Ritter197 wrote:
>> Well, what an experience. I do thank Paul for his continued support!
>> I downloaded EasyBCD and installed it. When I used it then it showed 1
>> Core open. I changed it to 4 and then closed it down.
>> That's when trouble (but also success!) started.
>> The computer would not boot up any longer. No F key would get me
>> anywhere. Just a black screen (not even blue!).
>>
>> I finally re-installed Windows 7 and after some additional downloads for
>> latest updates it worked again.
>>
>> Now the good part! Running PassMark Performance Test 7.0 it now shows 4
>> cores (open?) and the results are dramatically improved. From an overall
>> score of 655 to 1104!
>> All individual areas show improvements, but the biggest by FAR in the CPU
>> area. So, without Paul's good advice I would have never got where I am
>> now.!!!!
>>
>> Thanks a lot again
>>
>> Karl
>
> Weird. I would never have expected a change like that, to cause the
> box to "fall over".
>
> It raises the question though, of how did the box get in that state in
> the first place. Does a Windows 7 computer have the ability to change
> the HAL, based on "how it is feeling" ? The computer, as shipped by HP,
> must have had all four cores enabled. The HAL and the BCD boot options
> should have been set up for that. It would be interesting to find
> out, how the OS would end up running on just one core. I mean, it
> could happen to you again, if there is a behavior of Windows 7 that
> does that kind of thing.
>
> Doing a little bit of research, I see that Microsoft has changed from
> the simple to understand "boot.ini" file, to the BCD. And the BCD, is
> like a registry hive. Which changes what used to be a simple task,
> into something a lot more complicated. Yeah, that sounds like progress
> to me...
>
> Paul

From: Paul on 11 Apr 2010 19:43
Ritter197 wrote:
> Paul, you are so right , unfortunately!
> I will try to find out what changes, but last night I got the score of
> 1122 (highest ever) and I saw in Task Manager 4 windows next to the CPU.
> I went to bed, got up this am and just for the heck of it ran all tests
> again.
> What do you think????
> Back to the low 700. Ran it twice. More or less same result. AND in Task
> Manager it shows 1 (one) CPU.
>
> There are some people who do not care as long as their computer works,
> but that is definitely not the case here. I like to tweak, until I have
> the highest performance and then leave it (but test it again to make
> sure all is at peak performance)
>
> I used to have 3 BMW's and I did the same things to them. ALWAYS got
> them running better than any mechanic at the BMW place would do it.
>

Does the Windows 7 machine have an Event Viewer ? Perhaps you could
look in there, for some error.

(Again, I don't understand the Windows 7 design intent. I managed to
find the Event Viewer, but it wasn't exactly easy. It is found via
Control Panels, but I had to use the "search" box at the top of the
dialog to find it.)

I don't know if I'm going to be able to find anything relevant
to help with this. Keywords would be "HAL, Multiprocessor, MAXCPUs, Windows 7"
but I was finding very little the other day. If I find some
"bread crumbs" I'll report back :-)

Paul
From: Paul on 11 Apr 2010 19:49
Ritter197 wrote:
> Paul, you are so right , unfortunately!
> I will try to find out what changes, but last night I got the score of
> 1122 (highest ever) and I saw in Task Manager 4 windows next to the CPU.
> I went to bed, got up this am and just for the heck of it ran all tests
> again.
> What do you think????
> Back to the low 700. Ran it twice. More or less same result. AND in Task
> Manager it shows 1 (one) CPU.
>
> There are some people who do not care as long as their computer works,
> but that is definitely not the case here. I like to tweak, until I have
> the highest performance and then leave it (but test it again to make
> sure all is at peak performance)
>
> I used to have 3 BMW's and I did the same things to them. ALWAYS got
> them running better than any mechanic at the BMW place would do it.
>

Oh, and by the way, I discovered you can use "msconfig" on Windows 7, to
change the MAXCPU setting to 4 cores. But I expect the result would
have been no different than your previous experience with EasyBCD.
(Another black screen etc.) Windows 7 has some kind of Repair option
as well, which might have worked and been faster than a reinstall.

Paul
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