Windows 10: How can I exclude a core from scheduling any threads?

I have an AMD A10-7850K (Stear). This CPU has cores arranged in pairs which share certain resources.
I want to do timing tests on a program (call it X), where it runs exclusively on one core (say, 2), while nothing runs at all on its partner core (in this case, core 3). (This is on a CPU with 4 cores enabled.)
I know how to do the first part, by setting X's affinity to core 2 and realtime priority so that Windows will never interrupt it on core 2.
But I don't know how to keep core 3 "parked".

My motherboard allows me to set the number of pairs of cores that are visible to Windows. I'd like to enable 3 cores, and then pin X to core 2, but that doesn't seem to be possible with the BIOS.

I have 4 cores on my machine (currently set in the BIOS). I notice that Windows seems to park or unpark cores 2 and 3 at the same time, and never unparks core 0 or 1.

I can think of a some possibilities.

1. Come up with a program (Y) to pin to core 1 which runs at realtime priority but doesn't consume any resources, such as by running a halt instruction or waiting for some event that will never happen. However, I don't know if Windows will schedule some other thread for core 1 when Y is in a wait state.

2. Is there something in the Registry which will park a specific core? This might be done separately for each power plan.

3. Is there something in the Registry that would set the min number of unparked cores? I know I can set the max % to a low number in order to disable parking altogether. If I can set the min to, say 50%, I would guess that cores 2 and 3 will always be parked. If I pin X to core 2 (assuming that Windows will use a parked core to satisfy the affinity of X), then core 3 should remain unscheduled. If Windows will not use a parked core for X, then I would want to set the min to 75% to unpark 0, 1, and 2 while 3 is parked.

4. If all else fails, I'll just leave the system as it is, and shut down as many processes as I can, and hope that core 3 won't get used very much. My timing tests should be valid for brief intervals of time and I can infer that speed of X when running without interference from core 3. I've seen that if I have X pinned to core 2, then Windows tends to schedule other work evenly among cores 0, 1, and 2.

:)

 

Is there a way to keep those excluded folders intact while using full scan with Windows Defender?

I have several folders excluded from being scanned and it works well with scheduled partial scan. But when i use full scan it just sweep through my whole excluding list. How can i avoid that?

 

How Can I Exclude From Shuffle?

Hi,

Thank you for being part of Windows 10.

If your computer is having problems playing video or audio files in Windows Media Player, try using the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter to fix the problem. The troubleshooter checks the configuration and network settings for Windows Media Player
to make sure that you can play content you've downloaded and saved to your computer, or content streaming over a network or the Internet.

Run the Windows Media Player settings troubleshooter and see if it helps.

a: Press
Windows logo to open the search box.

b: Type troubleshooting, hit enter.

c: Now click
Programs.

d: Then click
Windows Media Settings.

Do get back to us for any issues pertaining to Windows in the future. We will be happy to help.

 

Hi, this is probably not what you're looking for- not an area I've looked into- but here it is anyway- it can't be as simple as this: