Windows XP and Hyper-Threading (810231)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
- Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
- Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1
- Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
SUMMARYBoth Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional
treat a Hyper-Threading enabled computer as a multiple processor computer. You
can verify this by looking in Device Manager, under the
Computer and Processors nodes:
- In Computer, you can expect the computer
to be described as a multiprocessor PC.
- In Processors, you can expect multiple
processors to appear installed.
If the Hyper-Threading feature is disabled in the
computer's BIOS, Windows XP may describe the computer as a Uniprocessor PC and
may show only a single processor installed in Device
Manager. When Hyper-Threading is enabled in the computer's
BIOS, Windows XP automatically upgrades the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) if
it must use a multi-processor HAL, and an additional processor or processors
may be installed and listed under Processors in Device
Manager. The system will prompt you to restart so that the new
settings can take effect. MORE INFORMATIONHyper-Threading CPUs contain a second (virtual) CPU. With
this feature, multi-threaded applications can run threads in parallel in each
processor. As a result, you experience more efficient use of the processor
resources and better performance with multi-threaded applications.Windows XP HomeNote: Windows XP Home can use a maximum of one (1) physical processor.
However, because Hyper-Threading is supported, the operating system takes
advantage of the second (virtual) processor.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/19/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kbhowto KB810231 kbAudOEM kbAudDeveloper kbAudEndUser |
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