Control Panel displays incorrect info. Is there any way to edit i

[andrew732]

On the general tab of Control Panel:System, one of the text fields is
"Computer." The text for me is:

Computer: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

whereas is should read:

Computer: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

I know that having hyperthreading enabled in the BIOS can cause this
particular text to display two CPUs like this, but I currently have
hyperthreading disabled. I'm also aware that it's possible to edit
oeminfo.ini to customize some parts of the general tab, but this apparently
has nothing to do with the "Computer" section of the general tab.

My question is: is there any way to edit the text following "Computer" so
that it reads correctly? There is no ini file that I can find that seems to
contain this information. Where does it reside? Somewhere in the registry?
Is it possible to edit?

I know it's no big deal, but this has bugged me for years now! Thanks very
much for any help the experts here can give.

 

[duke]

On the general tab of Control Panel:System, one of the text fields is
"Computer."  The text for me is:

Computer:  Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

whereas is should read:

Computer:  Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

I know that having hyperthreading enabled in the BIOS can cause this
particular text to display two CPUs like this, but I currently have
hyperthreading disabled.  I'm also aware that it's possible to edit
oeminfo.ini to customize some parts of the general tab, but this apparently
has nothing to do with the "Computer" section of the general tab.

My question is: is there any way to edit the text following "Computer" so
that it reads correctly?  There is no ini file that I can find that seems to
contain this information.  Where does it reside?  Somewhere in the registry?  
Is it possible to edit?

I know it's no big deal, but this has bugged me for years now!  Thanks very
much for any help the experts here can give.

You really should take up something else for a hobby, computers /
software are starting to get the best of you.

 

[John John - MVP]

The information that you see there is obtained from the
ProcessorNameString value at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0

The information in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\ key is
built from information obtained from the firmware (BIOS) by NTDETECT.COM
during the early booting stage of the operating system.

If you want you can go to the key and manually change the information or
you can make use of a batch file and\or a .reg file to automatically
change the information after Windows is booted, you will have to do this
after each reboot as the key is rebuilt at each reboot.

The only other way around this would be to verify if the manufacturer
has addressed the issue with a newer BIOS version and flash the BIOS if
a newer version addresses the issue. Be warned that flashing the BIOS
is not without risks and that the minor cosmetic annoyance might not be
worth the risks.

John

 

[andrew732]

So it's some glitch in the BIOS then and not with Windows? Interesting.
Well, that's exactly what I wanted to know! Thank you sir.

 

[andrew732]

Hmmm, I tried editing that key and although it does edit part of the string,
it doesn't change the whole string. For example, I changed the key from

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz

to

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 foo CPU 3.00GHz

and then the text on the General tab was changed from

Computer: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

to

Computer: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 foo CPU 3.00GHz 3.00GHz, 2.0 GB of RAM

Where does the rest of that text come from? A search all the way through
the registry for all occurances of "GB of RAM" did not turn up anything.
Also a search for all text in all files on the entire computer did not turn
up any meaningful occurances of "GB of RAM." Surely that text must come from
somewhere! Anybody know?

 

[John John - MVP]

You're welcome.

John

So it's some glitch in the BIOS then and not with Windows? Interesting.
Well, that's exactly what I wanted to know! Thank you sir.

 

[andrew732]

Yes that will do it, but I still would like to know where the rest of the
text comes from because, for example, the amount of RAM specified is
incorrect on another XP machine of mine and it clearly does not come from
that registry entry. Anybody know? Is this one of those things that even
Microsoft engineers would have a hard time tracking down in the depths of the
source code?

 

[John John - MVP]

I think that this is normal, the processor speed might just be part of
the processor description that is supplied by the BIOS and then the
operating system (Windows) shows additional information which includes
clock speed and installed RAM. My System Properties shows the same
thing but it shows it on 2 separate lines:

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/johnjohn1/images/detail/#197/sysprop2.jpg

If you look at the image here showing the equivalent on a Vista machine
you will see that the clock speed is also shown twice, (but the RAM is
shown on a different line):

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2347-10878_11-303638-330435.html?seq=21&tag=leftCol;post-866

If you have XP Pro you can use WMI to get the processor name at a
command prompt and you might see the clock speed along with the name:

wmic cpu get name

(I don't think that WMIC is included with XP Home).

Why are you seeing all of the information on one line instead of 2? I
don't know, my guess is that this might be a glitch caused by a
formating error in the OEMINFO.INI file.

As for the amount of RAM that you say is incorrect, how is it incorrect?
Do you have 4GB or more of RAM installed in the machine?

John

 

[andrew732]

OK, thanks John. Fair enough. Regarding the RAM amount: it says "1.99 GB"
on computer A, which actually has 2 GB and it says "2.0 GB" on computer B,
which also has 2 GB. So clearly, it is capable of giving the exact correct
amount, but doesn't for whatever reason on computer A. A very minor
annoyance to be sure, I was just wondering if you or any of the other experts
knew where that info comes from and whether it can be changed. Thanks again
for your time, I appreciate it!

 

[John John - MVP]

You're welcome, thanks for the follow up.

John

OK, thanks John. Fair enough. Regarding the RAM amount: it says "1.99 GB"
on computer A, which actually has 2 GB and it says "2.0 GB" on computer B,
which also has 2 GB. So clearly, it is capable of giving the exact correct
amount, but doesn't for whatever reason on computer A. A very minor
annoyance to be sure, I was just wondering if you or any of the other experts
knew where that info comes from and whether it can be changed. Thanks again
for your time, I appreciate it!

 

[andrew732]

So, any thoughts on the RAM text issue in my last post?

 

[John John - MVP]

Nope. What does msinfo32 report? Are the 2 computers you mentioned
identical?

John

 

[andrew732]

The two machines are not identical, although both have 2 Gb RAM. In System
Properties->General, machine A says: "1.99 GB of RAM" and in msinfo32,
machine A says: "Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB." In System
Properties->General, machine B says: "2.00 GB of RAM" and in msinfo32,
machine B says: "Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB." I guess it's just a
glitch in what the bios is reporting?

 

[John John - MVP]

If you have XP Pro at a Command Prompt you could run:

wmic computersystem get TotalPhysicalMemory

and you might yet get another different number. The above reports in
bytes, you will have to convert to GB or MB, this is a handy tool for
all kinds of conversions:
http://joshmadison.com/software/convert-for-windows/

I really don't know why the System Properties reports a slightly smaller
amount, it might be a glitch in the operating system on your particular
machine.

John

 

[andrew732]

OK, thanks so much John! I will let it rest as something that must remain a
mystery!