You are the desktop administrator for your company. All users in the network have Windows XP Professional computers. Users in the research department have dual-processor computers. Users in the research department report that when they run 16-bit Windows programs, their computer performance becomes very slow. You use System Monitor to monitor the users� computers. You discover that when the users are running their 16-bit applications, one processor shows a sustained utilization of more than 90 percent while the other processor only shows utilization of less than 10 percent. You need to improve application performance for the users in the research department. What should you do?
A.
Configure each application to run in a separate memory space.
B.
Configure each application to run in AboveNormal priority class.
C.
For each application, set the compatibility mode to Windows 95.
D.
Configure processor affinity for each application to allow it to run on both processors.
Explanation:
In order for the legacy 16-bit program to take advantage of the preemptive multitasking feature of Windows XP they must be configured to run in separate memory spaces. This will allow Windows XP to assign 16-bit applications to the 2nd processor. This would increase performance.
Incorrect Answers:
B: This will have an adverse affect on other processes.
C: Setting the compatibility mode to Windows 95 could make some legacy program run in Windows XP. It will not make the legacy programs to run faster though.
D: 16-bit programs are single threaded. This means they can only run on one processor, not two.
Press, Redmond, 2002, Chapter 10, Lesson 3