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Tech Tips / Windows 2000 Professional / Hardware and Drivers

Getting your second CPU recognized

In most cases, Windows 2000 correctly detects your system hardware on a multi-CPU system and installs the correct system driver. On rare occasions, though, Setup might not properly detect the second CPU and install a single-CPU driver, which prevents Windows 2000 from using both CPUs. Here are three ways to tell if Windows 2000 is using a multi-CPU system driver:

• Open the System Information | System Summary branch in the Computer Management console and look for more than one CPU in the list.
• Check the Computer branch in Device Manager to see if Windows 2000 lists a multiprocessor PC driver.
• Open the Performance console, right-click in the right pane and choose Add Counters. Select Processor from the Performance Object drop-down list and look for more than one CPU instance.

You can try to replace the system driver with the correct one, but a reinstall is the best option since the first option could leave the system unbootable. If you want to try replacing the driver, back up the system, then change the driver in Device Manager | Computer. If you want to reinstall, run Setup again and press [F5] when you see the message, "Setup is inspecting your computer hardware's configuration." If Setup doesn't prompt you to select a system driver, it isn't seeing the hardware properly, and you need to contact the manufacturer.