Tuesday, November 16, 2010

How to change XP from single to multiple procs?

Is there a process to follow to change a single CPU installation of XP Pro to a Multi-processor installation after installing a new Dual-Core chip? Or does it happen automatically?How to change XP from single to multiple procs?
With Windows XP and higher, windows handles the change for you, as part of Plug and Play.How to change XP from single to multiple procs?
Windows XP supports dual core chips. There should be nothing extra you need to do. However, if you discover that you need drivers for the chip, they are available from Intel and AMD but I don't think you will need them as XP is designed to run on multiple core chips.



You might have had to worry about it if it were multiple processors but since it is a single dual core processor there is nothing special you need to do.
According to Microsoft's own Windows XP Comparison Guide, XP Home does not support multiple processors (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/h only XP Professional does. I believe this also extends to dual-core processors.



Also, multi-processor detection may only occur during XP installation. Simply upgrading the processor may not result in XP automatically detecting it's dual-core. You may have to re-install XP for this to take effect.

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