My Windows Vista Basic 32-bit won't use all four cores. Help?

2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
How do I get my Windows Vista Basic 32-bit Service Pack 2 to use all four cores of my Phenom II 940?

I looked in my Windows Task Manager and noticed my operating system is only using two cores. So attempted to do the following: I opened my Flight Simulator X, did a virus scan and played a movie all at the same time. The operating system is only using two cores, the other two are just idling and doing nothing while two cores are working at 90 to 100 percent.

The BIOS version on my motherboard is F3i. My motherboard model is in my signature.

My Linux Ubuntu operating system uses all four cores by my Windows does not. Any ideas?
 
linkin

linkin

VIP Member
Hmmm i would say it is a limitation of the basic version, but i don't know.

maybe a google search to see how many it can use? Or maybe microsoft has it listed on their site.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
Everytime I disable the cool and quiet in my BIOS my computer freezes during the operating system boot up. That is very strange. When I enable the cool and quiet in my BIOS everything works fine.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
Well, this is disappointing to me. The reason I got a Phenom II 940 Quad-Core was so it could give me better performance when doing Flight Simulator X. I might as well dump this motherboard and sell the Phenom II 940.

I could get a GIGABYTE GA-MA78LM-S2H motherboard and a Phenom II 555 Dual-Core and get the same performance and lower my power bill.
 
S

Sean89

New Member
2048Megabytes said:
Everytime I disable the cool and quiet in my BIOS my computer freezes during the operating system boot up. That is very strange. When I enable the cool and quiet in my BIOS everything works fine.
Click to expand...

Maybe a newer bios would solve that? Could even be a faulty cpu.
 
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2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
Thanks for trying to help guys. I know the processor is not faulty because my Linux Ubuntu Operating System uses all four cores of my Phenom II 940 processor. I am having an educated guess that the fault lies with the Windows Operating System I am using. I don't want to buy another operating system because this one is working fine only using two cores of my processor.

I already updated my BIOS to the most recent BIOS that has been released for this motherboard. I think I will likely sell the processor and the motherboard in the future when I feel like it and go with a Phenom II 555. I hate having to reinstall all the software though because it will take hours.

Also my Flight Simulator X and other programs are running fine with my current system so I will likely just stay with what I have for a while. It is a bummer that my Windows Vista doesn't fully utilize all the hardware I bought. Oh well, you can't have everything.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah I have a feeling Vista basic is your problem. It was a low end version that was designed for slower systems and not the higher/faster processors that are available today.
 
J

Jamin43

banned
Did you upgrade from a Dual core to a quad core CPU while keeping an older MOBO - without re-installing the Operating System?

If so, that's probably your problem.
 
lovely?

lovely?

Active Member
never had a problem like that, but i guess its always possible. i'd try flashing bios too, then if that doesnt work, reinstall windows would be my next try. don't return anything if its all known good hardware, that'd just be a waste of your cash. if nothing works, get windows 7 and be done with it. that will utilize your quad nicely, and be a bit easier than vista to run.
 
linkin

linkin

VIP Member
Seems like a reinstall is needed?

You could try uninstalling all the CPU's from device manager and rebooting. that trick saved me a reformat when i went from my E4500 to my Pentium E6300.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
linkin said:
Seems like a reinstall is needed?

You could try uninstalling all the CPU's from device manager and rebooting. that trick saved me a reformat when i went from my E4500 to my Pentium E6300.
Click to expand...

I just tried to do that in Device Manager. It didn't work. I guess if I really want to feel the power of my quad-core I am going to have to do a reinstall of my operating system.
 
H

heydockyle

New Member
Go msconfig, then boot, then advanced and make sure # of processors is set to 4.

It's probably already set to 4 though since it is showing the other cores, but not using them.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
heydockyle said:
Go msconfig, then boot, then advanced and make sure # of processors is set to 4.

It's probably already set to 4 though since it is showing the other cores, but not using them.
Click to expand...

I already tried to do this as well. I can only select between one and two cores. The Windows operating system only shows two cores when I pull up task manager. However my Linux Ubuntu shows all four cores and they are all being used when I am using Linux.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
In msconfig under boot/advanced. Dont pick one or two processor. Uncheck Number of processors click ok and reboot and see if all 4 cores show up.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
Well, I reinstalled Linux Ubuntu and Windows Vista. My Vista 32-bit now utilizes all four cores of my Phenom II Quad-core Processor.

I can't wait to try it out Flight Simulator X soon. :)
 
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