L
LT.Homer Simpson
Guest
Sharing IRQs normally doesn't cause probelms, but in a few instances, certain devices don't like sharing the same IRQ with other devices. Also, high end games playing on your high end video card, a sound card pulling high resources, your nic-modem card letting this game play on-line, all cramming data thru the same irq. This could be causing a big performance hit on your gaming. If you believe this is your probelm, then this article is for you. If not, do not attempt this:
Most people believe that ACPI handles pnp without much probelms, in most cases it does. But in few instances conflicts can still arise, making people pull hair and wonder why isn't my comp performing as well as it should. ACPI stands for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. In a nutshell, this allows the OS to do a few things. First off, it handles things like standby mode, hibernation, and all kinds of power saving features. It also allows Windows to turn off your computer for you when you shut the system down. These features really don’t affect your system performance much, but Windows 2000 and Windows XP use the IRQ sharing capabilities of ACPI to put most of your devices on only one or two IRQs.
“Bloody hell, you’re right! All of my devices are set to use IRQ 4(or ect)!” Of course I’m right. Now NORMALLY, your video card is going to want to hog its own IRQ. It makes sense considering the incredible amount of stuff your video card does when you fire up WarCraft3 and you march an army against 3 opponents.
SIDE EFFECTS OF DISABLING ACPI:
There will definitely be some side effects by disabling ACPI, I just wanted to get that out into the open. First off, you will lose some Plug and Play functionality by disabling ACPI. When installing new computer hardware you will have to re-install the drivers to support your new hardware. Here is some cut and paste that helps give you an idea of this problem;
“Because Windows controls your computer's resources and configuration, you can install Plug and Play hardware devices without restarting the computer. Windows automatically identifies the new hardware and installs the drivers it needs.
If you are using any other type of computer, you may need to perform some setup steps manually and restart your computer when installing new hardware devices.”
Another problem you will find is with a lot of your power management functions. You will probably lose most of the stand by, suspend, and hibernation modes. While some users don’t normally use these power saving options, some obviously rely pretty heavily on them. Here is another warning,
"WARNING: Note that you should not attempt to change from an ACPI HAL to a standard HAL or from a standard HAL to a ACPI HAL under any circumstances. Doing so will result in your computer not starting properly or at all. This occurs because the Plug and Play device tree that would be currently loaded is for ACPI, and it does not get reconstructed or revert to a standard HAL Plug and Play device tree. Because of this (the device tree structures being drastically different), the system is unaware of any hardware changes after the computer restarts to include the location of the boot device. Microsoft does not recommend or support this procedure as it will result in data loss."
Personally I don't use any power management functions on my desktop, I leave the damn thing on 24/7. Now my notebook is another story. I am constantly using the power saving functions in order to extend my battery life while on the go. Losing some of the power saving functionality is definitely on thing I would not tolerate with my notebook.
Now that you have been thoroughly warned of the dangers and perils of disabling ACPI, let’s take a look at exactly how you can go about doing it.
DISABLING ACP:
First off, BE SURE TO GET ALL OF THE DRIVERS YOU WILL NEED FOR ALL OF YOUR HARDWARE BECAUSE YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE REINSTALLING ALL OF YOUR DRIVERS. I would STRONGLY suggest you create a restore point within System Restore or some other kind of backup program. Doing this would definitely help any attempts to roll back to your prior configuration! OK, now Right click on My Computer and select Manage (This can also be done in the “new and improved” start menu).
After the MMC pops up, go to the Device Manager submenu on the left. In the right side of the MMC, open the Computer submenu and you will see something like ACPI PC. Right click on this, select Properties and go to the Driver page. Click Update Driver. When the Hardware Update Wizard opens, select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced). On the next page, tell the wizard Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install. The wizard should now show you a list of devices.
Uncheck the Show compatible hardware box to see the whole list. Select Standard PC from the list, finish the wizard, and reboot. When your system finishes rebooting, you may have to reinstall a lot of your system drivers. It’s a good thing you got them all handy when I told you to, huh?
CREATING TWO DIFFERENT ACPI STARTUP PROFILES:
Another option you may consider is creating two separate hardware profiles, one for ACPI, and another for ACPI Disabled. The process involved with creating a new hardware profile is actually a fairly simple one. First you will need to right click on MY COMPUTER and select the PROPERTIES option. Now click on the HARDWARE tab.Now click on the HARDWARE PROFILES button. From here you will want to highlight the only hardware profile listed and click on RENAME. Now think of a name for your profile such as “ACPI Enabled”.
After you have renamed the profile click on OK. Now click on the COPY option, and type in a name for your new hardware profile like “ACPI Disabled”. Click on OK again .
Now you can right click on each of the of the profiles and select PROPERTIES. Click the check box that says “Always include this profile as an option when Windows starts”, and finally click on OK. Now when you return to the main HARDWARE PROFILES window select the option that says “Wait until I select a hardware profile”. Now everytime Windows loads you can select which profile you want enabled.This would be useful if you wanted to switch back and forth between gaming and normal operation, etc.
Most people believe that ACPI handles pnp without much probelms, in most cases it does. But in few instances conflicts can still arise, making people pull hair and wonder why isn't my comp performing as well as it should. ACPI stands for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. In a nutshell, this allows the OS to do a few things. First off, it handles things like standby mode, hibernation, and all kinds of power saving features. It also allows Windows to turn off your computer for you when you shut the system down. These features really don’t affect your system performance much, but Windows 2000 and Windows XP use the IRQ sharing capabilities of ACPI to put most of your devices on only one or two IRQs.
“Bloody hell, you’re right! All of my devices are set to use IRQ 4(or ect)!” Of course I’m right. Now NORMALLY, your video card is going to want to hog its own IRQ. It makes sense considering the incredible amount of stuff your video card does when you fire up WarCraft3 and you march an army against 3 opponents.
SIDE EFFECTS OF DISABLING ACPI:
There will definitely be some side effects by disabling ACPI, I just wanted to get that out into the open. First off, you will lose some Plug and Play functionality by disabling ACPI. When installing new computer hardware you will have to re-install the drivers to support your new hardware. Here is some cut and paste that helps give you an idea of this problem;
“Because Windows controls your computer's resources and configuration, you can install Plug and Play hardware devices without restarting the computer. Windows automatically identifies the new hardware and installs the drivers it needs.
If you are using any other type of computer, you may need to perform some setup steps manually and restart your computer when installing new hardware devices.”
Another problem you will find is with a lot of your power management functions. You will probably lose most of the stand by, suspend, and hibernation modes. While some users don’t normally use these power saving options, some obviously rely pretty heavily on them. Here is another warning,
"WARNING: Note that you should not attempt to change from an ACPI HAL to a standard HAL or from a standard HAL to a ACPI HAL under any circumstances. Doing so will result in your computer not starting properly or at all. This occurs because the Plug and Play device tree that would be currently loaded is for ACPI, and it does not get reconstructed or revert to a standard HAL Plug and Play device tree. Because of this (the device tree structures being drastically different), the system is unaware of any hardware changes after the computer restarts to include the location of the boot device. Microsoft does not recommend or support this procedure as it will result in data loss."
Personally I don't use any power management functions on my desktop, I leave the damn thing on 24/7. Now my notebook is another story. I am constantly using the power saving functions in order to extend my battery life while on the go. Losing some of the power saving functionality is definitely on thing I would not tolerate with my notebook.
Now that you have been thoroughly warned of the dangers and perils of disabling ACPI, let’s take a look at exactly how you can go about doing it.
DISABLING ACP:
First off, BE SURE TO GET ALL OF THE DRIVERS YOU WILL NEED FOR ALL OF YOUR HARDWARE BECAUSE YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE REINSTALLING ALL OF YOUR DRIVERS. I would STRONGLY suggest you create a restore point within System Restore or some other kind of backup program. Doing this would definitely help any attempts to roll back to your prior configuration! OK, now Right click on My Computer and select Manage (This can also be done in the “new and improved” start menu).
After the MMC pops up, go to the Device Manager submenu on the left. In the right side of the MMC, open the Computer submenu and you will see something like ACPI PC. Right click on this, select Properties and go to the Driver page. Click Update Driver. When the Hardware Update Wizard opens, select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced). On the next page, tell the wizard Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install. The wizard should now show you a list of devices.
Uncheck the Show compatible hardware box to see the whole list. Select Standard PC from the list, finish the wizard, and reboot. When your system finishes rebooting, you may have to reinstall a lot of your system drivers. It’s a good thing you got them all handy when I told you to, huh?
CREATING TWO DIFFERENT ACPI STARTUP PROFILES:
Another option you may consider is creating two separate hardware profiles, one for ACPI, and another for ACPI Disabled. The process involved with creating a new hardware profile is actually a fairly simple one. First you will need to right click on MY COMPUTER and select the PROPERTIES option. Now click on the HARDWARE tab.Now click on the HARDWARE PROFILES button. From here you will want to highlight the only hardware profile listed and click on RENAME. Now think of a name for your profile such as “ACPI Enabled”.
After you have renamed the profile click on OK. Now click on the COPY option, and type in a name for your new hardware profile like “ACPI Disabled”. Click on OK again .
Now you can right click on each of the of the profiles and select PROPERTIES. Click the check box that says “Always include this profile as an option when Windows starts”, and finally click on OK. Now when you return to the main HARDWARE PROFILES window select the option that says “Wait until I select a hardware profile”. Now everytime Windows loads you can select which profile you want enabled.This would be useful if you wanted to switch back and forth between gaming and normal operation, etc.
