SOVLED! Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool

If you have a hard time using Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool to modify the CPU affinity of a process, permission is at fault. In most of the cases, the best solution is to change the process permission. If the issue persists, you should consider tweaking User Account Control settings as well. Spare a bit of your time to take a look at this article and learn what must be done.

A List Of Possibilities

Usually, Windows users could take advantage of Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool to apply changes to the CPU affinity of processes at their leisure. Still, if you struggle to get Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool to work, keep these possibilities in mind:

• Lack of permission.
• Unsuitable User Account Control settings.

Actions You Can Take

Change The Process Permission

• Step 1: Right-click an empty space on the taskbar then pick Task Manager.
• Step 2: In Processes tab, locate the target process, right-click it and pick Properties.
• Step 3: Go to Security tab, select Edit under Groups or usernames and choose your user account. 
• Step 4: Check the checkbox next to Full Control under Allow, select Apply and choose OK.
• Step 5: Select Apply, choose OK and use Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool to modify the CPU affinity of the target process one more time.

Tweak User Account Control Settings

• Step 1: Go to Search bar, type Control Panel and press Enter.
• Step 2: Change View by to Category, select System and Security then choose Security and Maintenance.
• Step 3: Hit Change User Account Control settings.
• Step 4: Move the slider to Always notify then hit OK.
• Step 5: Restart your computer, use Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool to modify the CPU affinity and see how things turn out. 

Commonly Seen Questions

How do I get Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool?

At the moment, you could download it from Microsoft’s official site. However, a number of users have reported that the links on the website don’t work so you should prepare to search around third-party websites. Needless to say, you must be careful before downloading software from third-party websites. The last thing you want to do is to pick up malware by mistake. 

What is the purpose of modifying CPU affinity?

By setting CPU affinity you could force Windows to use specific CPUs for specific processes. It’s a good idea to set affinity for old applications that fail to perform properly when running on multi-core CPUs.

Can I set interrupt affinity on computers with single-core processors?

No, you cannot configure interrupt affinity on computers with single processors.

Which processor is the best for laptops nowadays?

For basic uses like Internet browsing, media streaming and so on, you should go for Intel Celeron, Intel Pentium, Intel Core i3, etc. For office work, it’s wise to prioritize Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 3, … In the case that you use your laptop to play games, stick to Intel Core i7, Intel Core i9, AMD Ryzen 7, …

What must be done to set affinity for programs? 

Via Task Manager

• Step 1: Open Task Manager, right-click the target program and pick Go to details.
• Step 2: In Details tab, right-click the target program again and pick Set affinity.
• Step 3: Check the checkbox next to the preferred core then hit OK.

Via Registry Editor

• Step 1: Open Notepad, copy the lines down below and paste them into the empty file:
  • Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\PROGRAM.EXE]
  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\PROGRAM.EXE\PerfOptions] “CpuPriorityClass”=dword:PRIORITY

Note: PROGRAM.EXE is a stand-in for the name of the program. For instance, if you like to set the affinity of Skype, replace PROGRAM.EXE with skype.exe. You should also replace PRIORITY with a hex value (High: 00000003, Above Normal: 00000006, Normal: 00000002m Below Normal: 00000005 and Low: 00000001).

• Step 2: Click File, pick Save and name the text file as you see fit but remember to add reg at the end. 
• Step 3: Locate the recently created text file, double-click it and pick Yes. 
• Step 4: Go to Search bar, type Regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor. Proceed to click File then pick Export to create the backup of the Registry. 
• Step 5: Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\PROGRAM.EXE\PerfOptions. Next, locate CpuPriorityClass, right-click and pick Modify. You then must change the value data to 1. After you finish, close Registry Editor and restart your computer.

How do I optimize the performance of Windows? 

• Step 1: Go to Search bar, type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
• Step 2: In System Properties, go to Advanced tab and hit Settings under Performance.
• Step 3: Tick the Adjust for best performance circle, select Apply and choose OK.