Dual -> Quad = reformat?

[Cogman]

Will I have to reinstall XP if I change out my Dual core for a Quad core? I know I did for going from a single core to a dual core, but I am hoping it is different from dual to quad. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nothinman]

Shouldn't have even had to do it for the single->dual core upgrade. You probably just needed to switch HALs.

 

[Genx87]

I would imagine the HAL is determined at install time like Win2003. Meaning if it detects 2 processors it installs a MP version of the HAL. If it doesnt, well then it gets a single version.
There is a way to configure for the MP HAL even if the SP is installed after the install. But the procedure looked cumbersome on Microsofts website at the time I was looking at it.

I can verify in Windows 2003 if you add more cores with the MP HAL it will pick them up.

Windows 2008 doesnt have this limitation and I would guess Vista as well. You can switch between MP and SP and the OS will install the processors as you add them.

 

[Crusty]

Yeah, I had to change the HAL on a Windows XP box and it was a pain. On top of that, I had lots of random BSOD's following the change.. so I ended up reformatting anyways.

 

[Blazer]

let me get this straight

if you uninstall your processor from device manager / shutdown / remove the old and install the new / start your computer windows will not find the new proc and install the correct hal, is that whatt you are stating!!!!!

 

[Cogman]

Did the switch, no sweat, it picked up the multiple cores without a complaint. Much easier then going from single-core->dual-core

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Cogman
Did the switch, no sweat, it picked up the multiple cores without a complaint. Much easier then going from single-core->dual-core

Glad to hear it. I was planning on researching this tonight.