Does your machine support Hyper-Threading processors? Are you sure? It’s not uncommon for a system to be built or purchased with upgrade paths taken into consideration, only to encounter detour signs when the day actually arrives. Sales guys will promise the world, leaving you to find out that they didn’t provide the complete picture long after you’ve lost contact with the weasel. Many are well-intentioned, but simply unable to fully understand what they’re promising. Hyper-Threading capability seems to be one area where this is quite common.

Intel has produced a handy utility that will inspect the system for compatibility with Hyper-Threading CPUs. The chipset, BIOS and processor will be marked for compliance, giving you an idea of where your PC may fall short of the mark. You’ll have to head to the direct download page of Intel’s site, then specifically choose the English version, or other file specific to your desired language. The download link on the page linked above was not working at the time of this writing. Also note that the tool is meant for Windows XP only. Hopefully future versions will be useful for servers as well, since they are equally viable candidates for hardware upgrades and manufacturers are often hazy about official HT support. [Furo]