Windows XP has built-in the ability to assign tasks to individual cores or groups of cores in a multi-core (dual-core, quad-core) CPU.
I have only checked this out with Windows XP Pro and don't know if it works with XP Home.
The assignment lasts only as long as the task (program) is running. If you exit or terminate the program, or shut down windows, then up restarting you will need to reassign cores.
1. Start the Windows Task Manager with the Processes Tab showing:
2. Right click on the task you wish to change core assignments for:
3. Select Set Affinity. The default is all cores in use. Click on core number checkboxes to toggle them on or off.
That's it!
Sorry for the skimpy graphics, but my web work is done on a single-core machine with Windows 2000.
Scylnx
Last updated 12/09/2008