Comments on: Run a program (process) with a CPU Priority (Higher or Lower) in windows vista or XP

By: Brian Bailey

Brian Bailey — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:43:00 +0000

I have a Vista PC built as a music source from which I use the SPDIF output to drive a Hi-Fi. I cannot get drop out free playback without raising the program priority to high. This does not appear to give other processes a problem so I would like to change the proiority on a permanemt basis, if possible, otherwise I have to reset this every time the system is used (I do note Larry Miller’s coments). The drop outs do not seem to be at peak useage of CPUs or available memory so increasing system performance by changing cpu etc seems a bit like shooting in the dark. The vista performance index is 5.0 which is set by video card performance – all others being higher.

By: Larry Miller

Larry Miller — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:27:03 +0000

WARNING
This article contains some inaccurate information. The system uses a thread’s priority to decide which process will run an any given time, not to assign CPU time. When choosing between a number of non-waiting threads the one with the highest priority will ALWAYS be chosen. Priority should be used to solve specific problems, not in an attempt to improve performance.

Changing the priority of any process to “High” or “Real Time” is potentially dangerous. Some vital system threads run at a lower priority than this and they could be starved of CPU time. This could cause a system lockup.

Do not attempt to change the priority of any system process as this can cause serious problems.

Do not change the priority of any process unless you are aware of the implications.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:09:55 +0000

wow, looks good very intelegent post thanks

By: Setting processor affinity in windows vista | Windows vista

Setting processor affinity in windows vista | Windows vista — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:08:04 +0000

[...] affinity to control what processor(s) an application or program (process) runs on.Similar to running applications or programs (processes) with a CPU Priority, you can set processor affinity to have an application or program to use only one CPU, while you [...]

By: Nirmal

Nirmal — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:55:40 +0000

Nice tutorial, generally I dont change the process priorities, but pretty useful one. Nirmal's last blog post..Sony Ericsson F305, S302, K330 and J132 Announced