# [SOLVED] only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help



## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

I have HP dv7 with following processor 

Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Processor Turbo Boost Technology 
2.0 GHz which is quad core processor 

when i checked in task manager it only shows one processor running rather than 4 cores. I checked it on internet it says in msconfig we can uncheck number of processors. 

Could anybody please tell me something about this ?


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Hello,

To get to system Config type "msconfig" into your search bar on the start menu > boot > Advanced Options..." Make sure the box for "Number of processors" is unchecked.

Failing that check your BIOS (F10) at start-up, Check for Multi core options.

Thanks,
Altie


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

just curious to know why microsoft is having this option , who bought quadcore processor and paid for that would like to run less than 4 processor. Anyways i have checked in there and its showing only one processor. do you want me to uncheck the box. I hope it wont affect booting next time. 
what exactly caused to run just one processor. i have never changed this option before


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Yes it should be Unticked. Then your computer will run on all 4 cores... Not sure why it was ticked, Someone else perhaps?. After you save the changes it will ask you to reboot.

Thanks,
Altie


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Thanks a lot for your help, i finally decided to reinstall OS. After reinstall i checked in task manager its showing 8 small windows. Just curious to know when i am running quad core processor what does 8 small graph windows mean ? does each core corresponds to 2 small graph windows ?


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Well I7's are indeed quad cores but they have "Hyper threading" essentially meaning your computer has 4 physical cores but 8 "threads" or logical cores. hence why windows shows 8.

Hyper-threading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

The "Number of processors" option in msconfig is primarily for testing and diagnostic purposes. As an example it would allow an application developer to test the operation of an application on a system with fewer cores than the development system. The default setting is for the checkbox to be unchecked which allows use of all available processors, subject of course to licensing restrictions. Unless there is a specific need to use the option you should use default settings.

There are many "tweaking" guides that have completely misunderstood the option and have advised making changes. I will not explain the faulty reasoning.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

I have just built up a new system with i5-2500 quad core processor. For some reason when i checked it in msconfig. it was showing running only 1 processor. I changed it to 4 manually. but curious to know how it ends up running only 1 processor in fresh installation. 
On same place there is another box which says maximum memory which was unchecked too. I checked that one and it showed 8gb of memory in there. So do we need to check it in every fresh installation. 
before we talked about hyper threading and i asked about 8 boxes in performance tab in task manager. This one i am using i-5 2500 processor which is also with hyper threading but its showing only 4 boxes instead on 8 boxes.


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

the i-5 2500 lacks Hyper threading. So indeed it is a quad core but it will not be able to have 8 Threads.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Thanks A1tecice , i never checked its lacking hyper threading , good to know that. but could you guys please explain me about number of cores and maximum memory too. its fresh installation but by default its showing on only one core and maximum memory was unchecked too ??


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

To be honest with you, I have never herd of any windows installation that is set to only use 1 core and not max memory by default. I am not sure why its like that... Perhaps someone with more experience can explain.


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

The default and optimum setting for just about everybody would be for all of those checkboxes to be unchecked. I have no idea why they would be otherwise on a new installation.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Thanks LMiller but when those boxes are unchecked and Number of cores showing is "1" and unchecked on maximum memory, does it mean its running on only one core and not running on full memory capacity


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

When the box is unchecked the number in the box is ignored and all available cores will be used. This has been misunderstood by many people.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

*Re: only one core is running in quad core i7 processor ? plz help*

Thanks Lmiller i guess that answered my question. Thanks everybody for your help so far. I am pretty sure it will be very beneficial for other people too who wants to know about this thing. I am marking it as solved thread now.


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