Vista tip that people might not know

Hello,
Today I was reading the latest custom pc Magazine and noticed a vista tip.
The article said that at start-up on vista as default only one processor core is used.
you can change this in MSconfig. go to the boot tab. click on advanced options. put a tick in the number of processors box. in the drop down menu select the number of processors you have. apply close all programs and reboot.
I am guessing it will only show the amount you have. in my case 4. Boot time, loading desktop and application launch is defiantly faster.

btw xp has the same option. msconfig,boot.ini. click on advanced options.
tick the box next to /numproc=. select number of processors from the drop down menu. apply close all programs and reboot.

 

Hello lodore Nice tip indeed,when I check mine it only showed one.I changed per your instructions and Wala it made a difference for sure.now the question is why in the world would MS do these things by default, do the not want users to experience the best possiable experience.I wonder what logical reason there would be for this to default a mutil core processor to boot on single.

 

That tip is a common misconception. That option in msconfig is intended specifically for programmers to test their code with a single/multiple core CPU. That way, when they only need to test their program with a single core CPU, they don't have to switch to another machine that uses a single core CPU.

By default, Vista uses all your CPU cores at boot up.

 

Then why does my vista boot faster its not the imagination here I see it with my eyes.one example My nod32 splash and system tray icons load and appear super fast.

 

From latest issue (holiday 2008 ) of Maximum PC:

"...We tried the upping the setting to 2 on a dual-core system, and guess what, no change in boot time whatsoever. Turns out this is just a debug setting for coders who want to test how programs load on single-core machines without having to physically go to a less-sophisticated PC. It can be completely ignored. By default Windows uses all your cores.

Don't do it."

 

If you research this further you will find that the dual core processors are in fact treated as a single processor for the purposes of this setting; it is intended for n-way processor configurations, that is, those with more than one physical processor chip.

 

I'd be interested is seeing actual boot times from those who noticed an improvement after changing the setting. Before and after boot times would be informative.

 

Perhaps it's just me but I didn't see much of a difference.I do have a dual core and only one was ticked as said above.I'll surf for a while and do another reboot and see what happens.Would this be considered safe?

 

Makes no noticeable difference on my core 2 duo laptop, both tests ended up around 50 seconds for startup.

 

A Core 2 Duo has only one proccessor chip, although there are two on that one chip, so for the purposes of this setting you have one processor.

 

Didn't notice any difference here eother. ( Darn).

 

I didn't notice a difference, but once I checked the RAM (maximum memory) to be used, start-up was definitely quicker.

See image below. Noticed a few other vista tips online that also recommended checking the RAM option - and adding your maximum RAM.

 

The tip is a lie.
(no need to keep it alive)

/thread.

 

When I tried this little tweak I didn't remember setting my max ram as shown above.Has anyone kept this setting on their computer with their ram set to max?

 

since the tip doesnt do anything thread can be closed. i thought custom pc would of done their research first.

 

I have since set my pc back to the original setting.Heck it even seems snappier!

 

So it's all just nothing but snake oil?

Sometimes snake oil is good, if you think it works!

 

well seems it is for coders to test their apps on less cpu's than the computer has.