W7 PRO - Where to find the processor speed in the registry ?

Metallo · 24 Nov 2012

I have problem to install a software application and I believe the issue is that am trying to install it on an old PIII 1GHz, while the application requires a min. 2Ghz processor speed.
However, somebody was able to install the same application by temporarily changing the processor speed in the registry.

I guess this is expressed in MHz and I could only find one key under HardwareID, are there more keys in the registry ?

Thank you
Alex

Metallo · 25 Nov 2012

Anybody?

Metallo · 25 Nov 2012

OK, I figured it out myself:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0\ProcessorNameString

However, there is no ProcessorNameString in my registry

Anybody has an idea why ?

Thanks
Alex

jadinolf · 25 Nov 2012

Well, good for you.

I am sure that there are many of us who would have no idea where to look. I am one of them.

AddRAM · 25 Nov 2012

Maybe no one has ever had to find their cpu speed in the registry before. Could be why there is no response.

indianacarnie · 25 Nov 2012

A quick search found multiple ways to see what you're seeing........ I really didn't look any further to tell you the truth. The whole thing sounds a little "iffy" to me. If you're wanting to overclock then theres ways to do that. But I doubt that your processor can.

whs · 25 Nov 2012

I think you are on the wrong track. If you want to increase the processor speed, you have to OC (overclock) it. And that is done in the BIOS. But many CPUs and many BIOS do not have that option.

And overclocking is a tricky art anyhow. You really have to know what you are doing if you do not want to fry your gear.

Metallo · 25 Nov 2012

Hi all,

Well, I did not mention I wanted to overclock, I just said I wanted to change the name of the ProcessorNameString and then I discovered that, unlike all other systems, mine did not have that string.
I created it and that was enough to solve my problem.
No need to overclock and ruin my old PIII, I just changed the value in the application's .ini file to accept 1GHz RAM and it stopped bothering me.

Installation successful.

Cheers
Alex

Ztruker · 25 Nov 2012

All he's trying to do is fake out the install program, not actually change anything hardware wise.

I looked on my Dell Precision 370 P4 and tis is what it shows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0
Component Information REG_BINARY 00000000000000000000000000000000
Identifier REG_SZ Intel64 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 3
Configuration Data REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0000000000000000
ProcessorNameString REG_SZ Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz
VendorIdentifier REG_SZ GenuineIntel
FeatureSet REG_DWORD 0x21193ffe
~MHz REG_DWORD 0xd40
Update Revision REG_BINARY 0000000005000000
Update Status REG_DWORD 0x6
Previous Update Revision REG_BINARY 0000000005000000
Platform Specific Field 1 REG_DWORD 0x10

Maybe you could add the ProcessorNameString key and see what happens.

whs · 25 Nov 2012

Metallo said:

Hi all,

Well, I did not mention I wanted to overclock, I just said I wanted to change the name of the ProcessorNameString and then I discovered that, unlike all other systems, mine did not have that string.
I created it and that was enough to solve my problem.
No need to overclock and ruin my old PIII, I just changed the value in the application's .ini file to accept 1GHz RAM and it stopped bothering me.

Installation successful.

Cheers
Alex

Sorry I misunderstood. You certainly found an elegant solution - congratulations.