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[glynor]

I just found this very interesting tutorial on how to properly optimize Windows to use dual core (and other multi-processor) CPUs.  Apparently, out of the box, very few OEMs actually properly optimize their systems (and of course, home built systems aren't either), and the performance difference can be significant.  AMD provided a Dual Core Optimizer application which automates this process, but Intel has provided no such utility.  Microsoft provided a hotfix that half-way fixes the issue, but it is not included in Windows Update so almost no one has it installed...

Really pretty interesting.  So, if you have a dual core capable CPU, including: AMD Athlon X2 (or many of the Opteron 165 and later CPUs), Intel Pentium D, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, or any of the dual core Xeon CPUs (and actually a smaller gain can exist even with Pentium 4 CPUs with Hyperthreading enabled) then this page is an important read.  The operation only takes a few minutes to complete, and I've already seen a pretty significant performance speedup on my Pentium D system and my "Bootcamped" MacBook Pro.  I haven't tested on my AMD Opteron machine at home yet, but I'm certain it'll be much the same.

The tutorial is here:  http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

Unfortunately, applying the hotfix alone doesn't completely solve the issue (you have to make the registry change and change the boot.ini file too).  As I mentioned above, apparently using the AMD Dual Core Optimizer app essentially just does what this tutorial explains, but AMD's version of the fix is incompatible with a few random motherboards so using the manual Microsoft Hotfix + Registry Hack + boot.ini change is slightly preferred.  Either way, if you're interested for further reading, here are the Microsoft KB Articles discussing the issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909944/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896256

[gappie]

installing the amd dual core optimizer really boosted some programms. more then i expected. so thanks 

[BartMan01]

If you are running Vista, all bets are apparently off again on this front.

One thing VMWare does at startup is check that the multiple cores' timers are in sync. 
Under XP, the Dual Core Optimizer fixed this.
Under Vista, the Dual Core Optimizer does not totally fix this.  With DCO installed, sometimes I get an out of sync warning and sometimes I don't.  Sent an email to AMD, and was told that (even though it lists Vista RC1 as a compatible OS) Vista has this built in and it is not needed.  Only problem is that without the DCO installed I get the out of sync message 100% of the time from VMWare.

[InflatableMouse]

In fact, trying this on Vista will blue screen the system on the next boot.

Last known good config saved the day ...