How to Set Windows Vista Processor Affinity

Processor Affinity is the process by which particular tasks on the computer are scheduled and accomplished. A computer's processor (CPU) creates a queue for tasks to be performed and determines, by level of importance, which tasks should be performed first and which can be performed later. To change these settings, you must adjust your computer's processor affinity.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Windows Vista operating system

Set Processor Affinity

1. Go first to "Run" from the Start menu and type "cmd" to enable processor affinity for a particular application.
2. Type "cscript %SystemDrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts\adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/AppPools/[insert application name]/SMPAffinitized TRUE
   " at the command prompt.
3. Type "cscript %SystemDrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts\adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/AppPools/[insert name of application pool]/SMPProcessorAffinityMask [insert mask value]" at the command prompt to bind a particular application permanently to a specific processor.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have more than one processor, you can assign processor affinity for a specific program permanently to a specific processor. If you do not do this, you will be asked to choose which processor you want to run the program with every time you use it.
• The mask value is the hexidecimal value of the processor to which you wish to bind the application.
• Setting processor affinity does not depend on what operating system you use. The procedure is basically the same whether you use Windows Vista or a different version of Windows.
• Hexidecimal codes for mask values begin with 0x and are followed by either a letter or number, or a binary value, such as 0xF or 0x11110000.
• Soft processor affinity determines automatically which processor should run a particular program, based usually on the processor that ran the program the last time. Hard processor affinity allows you to specify which processor you want a program to run on specifically. Windows Vista runs on soft affinity.
• Do not mess around with your processor affinity unless you are well versed in computers and know what you are doing. Otherwise you could change some of your settings drastically and not be able to put them back. If you would like to change your processor affinity but are confused about how to do it, ask a professional to help you.

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