Missing 2nd processor

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I have a Vaio laptop with T2500 Core Duo processor - in other words, it has
two processors. I note that someone else on this list has posted about
performance being low with this processor - and I think it is because Vista
is not picking up the second processor. There is only one processor instance
in the Performance Diagnostic Console, and System Info shows only one
processor.

A pretty big error...

Laurie Miles

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Hi Laurie,

Are you sure you aren't confusing dual processors with a dual core
processor? A dual core processor, which is what I believe you have, is a
single processor that can handle two threads simultaneously - essentially
two processing units in one cpu. This is very different from a dual
processor system which would have two distinct and separate cpu's. What
model Viao is this? The specifications should tell us for certain.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Rick,

That's NOT what a dual core CPU is. You're confusing it with HyperThreading
on a single core cpu.

Dual core is two physical CPUs on a single chip and should show up as two
CPUs.

Although, in XP, so does Hyperthreading.

Tom
 
She has a dual-core processor that should appear as one physical processor
and two logical processors (the same as a single core cpu with
hyperthreading). However it does not follow that it works by allowing two
threads. I use a dual-core AMD64 that does not support hyperthreading and
shows up as two logical processors. A dual-core processor with
hyperthreading would show up as four processors.

XP Pro can handle two sockets, each of which would contain one physical
processor and (in a dual-core) two logical processors for a total of four
logical processors. With hyperthreading you would see eight logical
processors.

(XP Home can only handle one socket).

MS licensing is by socket (for server products like Exchange).
 
Crap, I didn't explain that very well, did I? Yes, a duo core is two
functional cpu's on a single chip, not hyperthreading. What I was trying to
convey (should'a thought more before sending) is that this "single" chip may
show up as so in Device Manager. The OP was intimating that they had two
physically separate cpu's, but in fact there is just one which contains two
processing units on it. I was trying (poorly) to explain why only one would
show up.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
It's one physical processor, with 2 cores, so it should show as one processor
in the device manager and system info. to verify that it is actually using
both cores, open the task manager and go to the performance tab. under cpu
usage history, it should show two graphs, one for each core. the performance
rating is based on actual performance, so if it is using both cores, it
should be fairly accurate.
 
:) Rick, to add to your pain, it is "core duo" not "duo core". Sorry, I
couldn't resist.
 
Grrrrrr! I have 2 Sony laptops not by choice, because they sold me a lemon;
a VGN-S260 & a VGN-S360!!!! I should only have one. Sony isn't in my
favorite lists of vendors, and they are not Vista capable.
 
Laurie Miles said:
I have a Vaio laptop with T2500 Core Duo processor - in other words, it has
two processors. I note that someone else on this list has posted about
performance being low with this processor - and I think it is because
Vista
is not picking up the second processor. There is only one processor
instance
in the Performance Diagnostic Console, and System Info shows only one
processor.

A pretty big error...

Laurie Miles

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...460&dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
Click to expand...

Intel *DOES NOT* make dual core processors. They fuse two dingle cores
together that can only communicate through the Northbridge chip (FSB). The
process diagnostic will not recognize your "Core Duo" (notice the subtle
play on words that Intel does) will only recognize one processor as it is
not capable of independent threads as is the AMD Athlon X2 (which is a true
dual core).

Bobby
 
Intel *DOES NOT* make dual core processors. <

Gee - I'm running a D955EE which is a "Dual-Core", "Hyper-Threading"
processor - shows up as 4 processors. Never say never - Intel does make
"dual-core processors".

Larry
 
It is possible that you have one of the processors turned off in your Bios
settings.
I have a Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading and on Vista I have 2 cpu's showing
in task manager as well as in device manager.
 
Just ignore him. He wanders into the Dell group occasionally with his 'AMD
is better, Intel sucks' message. Most people have him killfiled as an AMD
shill.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far.
Firstly, I have a Core duo two core T2500 processor in my Vaio, which
*showed* up in Win XP as two processors, and both processor instances could
be viewed in Performance Monotor.

I have installed Vista onto a separate partition on the laptop, so can still
boot into XP. Only one processor shows in Vista, as I mentioned before. BUT I
have now found that only one processor is now showing in XP as well - the
second processor is missing from multiple places that it could be viewed
previously in XP. And if I type SET at the command prompt the
Number_of_processors variable is set to 1.

There is no setting in the BIOS to turn off or on the second processor.

Vista appears to have disabled my second processor at boot time - the screen
offering Vista or previous version of Windows starts up before anything else
(after BIOS boot), and I suspect it is at this point that the second
processor is disabled.

So install Vista, and lose your second processor! Great...

By the way, Laurie is short for Laurence (as in Olivier) - I'm male :-)

Laurie Miles
 
The boot options screen is agnostic to this problem. It appears after the
POST but before boot. For some reason you may need to re-install the cpu
driver for XP. Then you need to find out if there is a cpu driver for
Vista. In any case, you should explore the manufacturer's support website
for your laptop. Vista shows my dual-core processor correctly and has not
affected the view from my XP Pro x64, so my guess is that it is not simply
Vista that is causing the issue.
 
AH - Thanks for the info. :-)

Larry

Tom Scales said:
Just ignore him. He wanders into the Dell group occasionally with his
'AMD is better, Intel sucks' message. Most people have him killfiled as
an AMD shill.
Click to expand...
 
I've found the best place to determine whether your second processor is
working is to check Programs/Accessories/System/System Information - two
processors should show there - and they were not showing on my Vaio.

I sorted the problem out eventually toda, in conjunction with Sony Support -
but ended up doing a complete wipe and reinstall of my laptop back to WinXP
in the process :-(

Although my BIOS did not have an option to turn off the second processor,
somehow it was not working properly. Setting my BIOS back to its default
settings worked. It seems that somehow Vista had screwed up the BIOS for my
laptop - the dual processors were working fine before I installed Vista.

Anyway, I saw enough of Vista to let me know that this memory hog is not
worth upgrading to - particularly with the UAC, which I had to disable to get
an essential medical program to work.

Laurie Miles
 
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