Recently downgraded to Win. XP, I have a lot of questions.

I recently installed Windows XP Home Edition SP2 (updated to SP3) on my HP Pavilion dv6000z notebook. I've installed all the updates from these two websites that were necessary for Windows XP.
dv6402ca Win. XP webpage
dv6000z Win. XP webpage
However, I read somewhere that with Windows XP, the OS needs to be optimized for a dual core processor? I've installed the AMD Processor update from the HP website but I don't know if that does it? If not, could someone tell me how to optimize the OS? I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core TK-53 1.6GHz? Processor. The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure my processor is supposed to be 1.7GHz but Windows XP is showing it as 1.6GHZ, why is that?

Also, I have 4GB RAM installed but Windows XP is showing only 2.62GB, isn't is supposed to show at least 3.2GB or something? I have an integrated nVidia GeForce Go 6150 graphics adapter.

My other question is, I'm looking for an OSD software for my fn buttons such as brightness. I've got one for the volume control; 3RVX and it works great but am still looking for something for the fn buttons. In addition to that, I want to know how to install Quickplay on my notebook? I believe Quickplay can be booted into directly with Windows XP & thus doesn't require you to load the OS? That would save a lot of power & increase battery life, correct? Will it support .mkv files though?

Lastly, I need a better power management software because the Windows XP power management is quite useless in comparison to what I had in Windows Vista Home Premium. I know of NHC (notebook hardware control) but was hoping something a little better than that? I've got the 182.08 nVidia drivers installed [from laptopvideo2go.com] and they have this feauture known as powermizer. While it helps with my battery life, is there any way to further tweak the settings? Is there anything else I need to do really to improve the performance of my notebook?
Thanks for the help.

 

wow, maybe i can answer a few questions of yours.

you are on the right track about optimizing XP for dual core processors. there was a KB that was released a while back that did that optimization but if you updated to SP3, i think you may have it already. another app to install is the AMD Dual Core Optimizer. this also helps set the affinity of apps. to either one core or the other or both. as far as windows showing 1.6GHz, that may be due to the automatic Cool n Quiet feature in the AMD processor and in your BIOS. you need to install the HP Cool n Quiet driver pack which should fix that up. try this for the Cool n Quiet and see if it works out. http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...622&swEnvOID=1093&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=3 the only version of QuickPlay that im aware of that will work in XP is version 2. the latest one i believe is 2.3. you can find this with a quick google search available to download. there is a known issue that it will not install on some hp notebooks. there is however a trick that can be applied to get it to install. Booting from it is a bit harder to setup. i have not looked into that. i believe the bootable QuickPlay is version 1 which is linux based?