For anyone else thinking of using a duo core processor driven computer computer. Regardless as to whether it be an Intel or AMD product. Be aware that you have to use WINDOWS XP Professional with Service Pack 2 and not Windows XP at Home. The At Home version is not capable of using both processors and the floating point unit of the the processor will only function at half speed.

I am not sure why you would say that Home is not capable of running dual core. The kernel is the same for both Pro and Home.

"The At Home version is not capable of using both processors"
This is true however. Home is only licensed to run one processor (one socket) and Pro is licensed to run two processors(two sockets). Microsoft made it clear that the licensing is regarding physical processor and not the core/HT.

Where have you gotten this information that it would not work?
SP1 of Pro still works but SP2 added more features in regards to multi core/cpu operations. SP2 is reccomended.

I was in conversation with an escalating engineer at Microsoft on a problem I was having with a customers computer repair. I was told that most of the computer suppliers who were selling new dual core systems to prospective customers were doing so because they were going to be offered free upgrades to the new Vista operating system and that the cheaper At Home version was a cost saving.

All I know I swaped an AMD 64x2 3800 in for an Intell Pentium D and every thing is working. This was a dedicated machine from Dell and I told them to strip it clean except fore Windows Home and it didn't work.  The Intel is working fine with all the garbage they send on the computer

RMD

Is it running XP Professional or is it running XP Home? I'm only going by what Microsoft tells me. Remember the so called technicians at Dell and the other retailers that you converse with over the phone are not A+ Certified Tech's. For the most part they're reading questions and answers from a prepared script. As an A+ tech for the past 8 years, I've asked these same technicians a question and have had to wait 3 or 4 days for an answer.

Ronald4418

The new CPU Dell sent me has a Intel Pentium D 3.6 processor and Windows XP Home in it. From the start of the problem, over three weeks on the phone, I always thought it was the processor. My thoughts were the processor would start on one side of the core and when it ran out of buffer it would not make a smooth transaction to the other side in which case the data coming out of the parallel port would have a " burp " and the mill would hang up for a milly sec or stop.

In my 3 weeks on the phone with Dell, AMD and Microsoft I had many 3 and 4 way phone conversations.

I quess what made the" powers to be " change their minds is when I took an HP Pentium 4- 3.06 GHz and 512mb memory and make the mill run perfect, since I had 3yrs on site repair Dell had a tech there at the time and told the powers that the problem is the CPU and not the mill. Also the Hp's  360GB hard drive was 90% full and in normal start up mode, no programs disabled.

The hardest part was to get Dell to send me a new CPU with an Intell single core processor, since the CPU was out side of 21 days for return. I had the CPU before the mill came I didn't see the problem until I was 26 days on the CPU. The exchange came 50 days later, in the mean time the original machine had 3 mother boards and 2 new processors installed, then they shipped me a new CPU with a AMD and that didn't work and finally one with an Intel which is working fine.

So what you said about Windows Xp Home and dual core processors I would believe, just to bad I don't have the old system to where I could update to Pro and realy see.

Right now I believe in " If it ain't broke, don't fix it ".

RMD