URGENT Wrong Processor Installed By Windows XP-2

[E. Barry Bruyea]

I've been having a gaggle of problems with my system since I
re-installed everything and like an idiot I checked everything, but
the first thing I should have checked. This morning I went into
Device Manager-Hardware and discovered that the *Wrong* damn processor
was installed by Windows. I have an AMD Athlon XP 2600+, but Windows
is showing an ACPI Uniprocessor PC! I tried to 'Update' the processor
through "Properties", but that came up empty. Surely there is a was
for me to correct this without going through a reinstall again (I
hope). It's worth my First Born for some immediate help.

 

[R. McCarty]

You might be mixing up two separate items. The Computer driver
is what you're describing. This is the HAL (Hardware Abstraction
Layer) the computer is using. On most setups, a Processor category
is shown in Device Manager.

The computer's BIOS is the controlling factor on what HAL is used.
At XP setup it polls the BIOS to determine it's ACPI compliancy &
what HAL works best. If setup used the wrong HAL then it's either
because the BIOS isn't up to date (Firmware) or the user keyed in a
force choice for which HAL ( computer driver ) to use. It's possible
the BIOS settings for the processor are set incorrectly that triggered
the use of the wrong HAL.

 

[DL]

Rather than looking in the hardware tab, what does General show? (ie
Computer)
What you see in hardware is correct

So after re-installing win you installed chipset & other drivers from
supplied cd's or manufacturers sites, or relied on default MS drivers?

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

Rather than looking in the hardware tab, what does General show? (ie
Computer)
What you see in hardware is correct

"General" shows the correct processor. Under "Hardware:, Computer, it
is showing the wrong processor as described below.

So after re-installing win you installed chipset & other drivers from
supplied cd's or manufacturers sites, or relied on default MS drivers?

The only thing changed was a new HD drive, which I Partitioned,
Formatted and Installed Windows XP-2 and I added additional RAM.

 

[John John]

That is what you have, an ACPI Uniprocessor PC, it would show up the
same if you had a similar Intel processor. Like R. McCarty said, its
the HAL type, not the name or model number of the processor. I doubt
that this is the cause of your problems, look somewhere else for your
problems.

John

 

[Gordon]

"General" shows the correct processor. Under "Hardware:, Computer, it
is showing the wrong processor as described below.

Does it really matter, if the machine is working OK?

 

[Bob I]

You have more than one processor? That CPU isn't dual core.

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

Does it really matter, if the machine is working OK?

That's the whole point, my friend, as I said in the original post, my
machine is not working worth a damn and hasn't been since I
re-installed everything. Prior to the re-install, under "computer" it
listed the correct processor; now, it is not.

 

[R. McCarty]

One solution is to do a Repair install and where XP setup prompts
for the F6 to use custom drivers - Press F5 this will cause setup to
stop and present a list of available HAL ( computer drivers ) to use.

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

You have more than one processor? That CPU isn't dual core.

I did not say that I had more than one processor. I said that Windows
has 'installed' the wrong processor by installed the wrong driver, I
suppose. In "General" it is showing my AMD processor but under device
driver it's showing under computer this ACPI Uniprocessor which I
understand is generic.

 

[R. McCarty]

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=309283

I did not say that I had more than one processor. I said that Windows
has 'installed' the wrong processor by installed the wrong driver, I
suppose. In "General" it is showing my AMD processor but under device
driver it's showing under computer this ACPI Uniprocessor which I
understand is generic.

 

[John John]

HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283

John

 

[Bob I]

I did not say that I had more than one processor. I said that Windows
has 'installed' the wrong processor by installed the wrong driver, I
suppose. In "General" it is showing my AMD processor but under device
driver it's showing under computer this ACPI Uniprocessor which I
understand is generic.

No "Standard PC" is generic, now maybe you had some "special HAL" from
the motherboard vendor? You may want to doublecheck all the motherboard
drivers got installed.

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283

Thanks, John, with any luck, it will solve my problem.

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=309283

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

[DL]

Its not working 'worth a damn' because you failed to install chipset & other
drivers but simply relied on default drivers

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

Its not working 'worth a damn' because you failed to install chipset & other
drivers but simply relied on default drivers

One of the things that I find interesting, is that there are far too
many people who seem to be able to operate & even understand
computers, but have the reading comprehension of a Tree. Makes one
really question the Education System.

 

[dobey]

In device manager, are you viewing devices by type, or by connection?

If you expand the ACPI Uniproccessor tree, your CPU will be listed there.

If you view Deviced by type, it would be listed under Processors.

 

[GMAN]

Does it really matter, if the machine is working OK?

Of course it matters, if its only thinking its got a single processor then a
multicore processor or multithreading wont function properly.

 

[V Green]

Of course it matters, if its only thinking its got a single processor then a
multicore processor or multithreading wont function properly.

Not necessarily true. You need to check with
Task Manager. If it shows multiple CPU's it's likely
that everything is fine.

Windows makes mistakes about the hardware it
"thinks" it sees on a regular basis - it's actually
not very good at it.