msconfig boot option problem please help

Go back into Boot Options and Advance. uncheck maximum processors. Restart.
Then leave those settings alone. Everything in there is for testing/debugging and disabling hardware.

richyrichuk said:

i have set all my pcs for maximum CPU at boot. and just googled it then, and as i thought....

It is a myth and always has been. Setting the value to say 4 if you have four processors/cores does absolutely nothing. It DOES NOT improve boot performance. There are services built into Windows Vista/7 the optimize the boot every single time. This setting doesn't affect that in the slightest.

Its one big fat myth and always has been.

richyrichuk said:

does anybody find that this is the case where it makes no diff at all?

I can tell you why it makes no difference and I can tell you why the results gotten from the tutorial on Vista Forums is miss leading.

The little application they are using, that times the start up has one big giant flaw. It times the shutdown as well. It in fact times how long it takes for your computer to restart, which is all well in good. However, what do you think happens when your system has been on and running several applications for a while? A lot of stuff shutdown must clean up which increases the time.

You see the problem is they run this little application ONCE while the machine has been used for a while. Then make the change after a reboot and use the program while the machine it still clean making the shutdown faster.

If they ran this program fives before making the change, then another five times after making the change, you would find out the difference is negligible (as in the value differences are so minor). You should also be aware that Windows actively optimizes the boot every time, see ReadyBoot.

If you want to think about it. Turning this option on adds additional checks.

Code:

...boot code...
if ( boot.options.maximunCPU is TRUE ) {
  if ( boot.options.maximunCPU.value lessthan hardware.CPU.count ) {
    ...more code...
  }
}
...moreboot code...

Of course I don't know the actual source code, that is my educate guess.

logicearth is right about the boot options. If you will read the top of that tutorial it says that Vista/Windows 7 by default uses all processor cores. If you do not check the box, Windows will use all cores. The only purpose of that checkbox is to use less cores.

I would do what logicearth has posted twice. Go back and un-check the box/apply/reboot and just leave it alone and be happy. Windows 7 will use what ever it needs to boot properly and no more.