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6 Replies Last post: Apr 1, 2008 8:30 AM by B_Lee337  

ACPI Uniprocessor PC option not available in Win2003 posted: Nov 16, 2007 1:26 PM

Click to view register's profile Enthusiast 67 posts since
Jun 6, 2006

I converted a physical win2003 server into an ESX 3.02 vm. Like others I have converted before it, it was a 2 CPU box. I selected 1 CPU when I edited the memory & CPU settings on ESX.

I have done a few others where I had to change the HAL from Multiprocessor to Uniprocessor. In hindsight, I think those other servers have been win2000. win2003 does not give me the option to select Uniprocessor. So far, I'm not seeing the high host CPU utilization I saw with the win2000 guests.

Does anyone know more about this? Do I need to switch the HAL in a win2003 vm when I go from 2 -> 1 cpu? If so, how can this be done?

thanks


Click to view Dave.Mishchenko's profile Guru 8,974 posts since
Nov 15, 2005
The process is described in this thread - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/29415. If you're running SP1 it may be that you just need this hotfix - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/923425.
Click to view kucharski's profile Master 982 posts since
Sep 13, 2004

Yes, it is recommend to change the HAL when you downgrade processors. Under Windows 2003 it should be UniProcessor. Can you list the options you have when you try changing the HAL.

Thanks...

Michael

Click to view kucharski's profile Master 982 posts since
Sep 13, 2004

For Windows 2003 virtual machines, single processor you want to select
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC

Michael

Click to view christianZ's profile Virtuoso 2,251 posts since
Apr 21, 2006
Watch out - as Dave said you need this patch or SP2. W/O it it is not supported and you can get not predictable results (like myself).
Click to view B_Lee337's profile Enthusiast 21 posts since
Jun 22, 2007
I have been reading about this and I am hoping I am understanding correctly. Hope someone can clarify if I am correct in the following statement.

If you have Server 2003 sp2 (includes the above mentioned fix) then you can right click on your HAL in device manager and downgrade it to single processor WITHOUT any of the workarounds mentioned???

Thanks.

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