Multiple CPUs - would repair install work?

[sternfan]

Hi all,

One of the things I like about VBox is the ability to take old machines and move them to newer hardware. Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of this is that if the source PC had a single CPU, it is very difficult to move to 2 CPUs etc. I tried various things - HALu for instance, - and for whatever reason it hasn't worked. So - my Q - would setting the VM for multiple CPUs, then doing a "repair install" work? Would it replace the HAL during the reinstall?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated,
Rob

[mpack]

I'm sure Microsoft Windows support could answer your query... but why not just back up the VM and try it?

[sternfan]

Good idea - I will give it a shot. Has anyone else tried this? (also, I am referring to XP)

[lpd738]

I did the reverse going from 2 down to 1... perhaps it would work too though. Go into the System Properties and Device Manager and delete the "ACPI Multiprocessor PC". Then poweroff, change from multiple CPUs down to 1 and reboot a few times. I imagine that if you do the same on the Uni-ACPI processor and poweroff and then adjust the CPUs and reboot a few times it'd work. Snapshot it first and then give it a whirl! That's what makes VMs SO nice!! Either way, I've found better performance on a single CPU XP guest running on a quad-core than by having more than one CPU on the guest, so do at your own peril.