Windows 7 Quad Core Detection Issue

Hi, I'm new here.

I recently installed the beta on a dual boot machine (winXP is the other OS) and it it is working smoothly enough for me aside from the odd software compatibility issue. I do have one hardware issue: both task manager and CPU-z detect my quad core Q9300 as a single core when running Win7. As there is little literature out there on CPU multicore detection issues related to win7, I was hoping some answers might be found on this forum.

Here's the rig:

CPU Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 2.5GHz 1333 MHz FSB LGA 775 OC'd to 3.01GHz/1601Mhz FSB
MOBO: ASUS P5E3 Deluxe X38 chipset
RAM: DDR3 2 GB @ 1601MHz
VID: ATI HD 3870

Now I did wait a while before installing the beta, but I thought I was within the timeframe for installation. Could this be the "limited operation" MS warned about if the beta was installed after the deadline? If so, can I remedy this limitation?

TIA

UPDATE

I may have found the answer on the TechNet forums. Here is the link:

Multi-Core detection issue

For those too lazy to click the link:

Run 'msconfig' with admin rights. Click on the 'Boot' tab. Click on the 'Advanced Options\" tab. Make sure \"Number of processors\" is unchecked (counter-intuitive, I know) and make sure a check mark is by \"Detect HAL\". I suspect the single CPU/core ACPI HAL is loaded when the multiCPU/core HAL should be loaded. If that doesn't make a difference after reboot, try forcing the number by specifying the number processors in the same area. I try to use that as a last resort because sometimes it can more harm than good.

Click to expand...

I haven't tried this yet, but I will tonight when I get home.

UPDATE 2 - SUCCESS!

I tried this at home last night and it worked. For me, all I had to do was check the "Detect HAL" box. I couldn't manually enter the number of processors. I would venture to guess that happens because I only have 1 processor - it just happens to be a quad core. I went from having a single processor detected in CPU-z and Task Manager along with sluggish performance to having all the cores appear and much better performance.

For example: when using Firefox on a flash heavy site along with Automatic Updates and OpenOffice, my CPU usage was hitting 90-100%. Now, it barely hits 20%. Sites like Ebaums, with its mess of flash ads that normally choke my system, was running all the flash at real-time speeds. A very noticeable improvement.