WinNT is able to give different amount of CPU time to each program dependent on their priority. This can be used to launch an application (Like a Game) in high priority so other applications will have a hard time stealing the CPU time:
Start “StartHigh” /HIGH C:\Q3\Quake3.exe
It can also be used to launch certain background applications (SETI, Folding, Grid etc.) with low priority, so they cannot take CPU time from other applications.
Start “StartLow” /LOW C:\Ud_Agent\Ud.exe
To see the possible startup options run:
Start /?
Besides using HIGH you can use these (Avoid RealTime if having only one CPU):
| Priority | Level |
|---|---|
| Realtime | 24 |
| High | 13 |
| Normal | 8 |
| Low | 4 |
| Abovenormal | (Win2k+ only) 10 |
| Belownormal | (Win2k+ only) 6 |
Note instead of making a batch file for every application to launch it with a certain priority, then one can send an application into a certain priority by creating a batch file High.bat with the following contents and save it in the SentTo-Folder:
Start “StartHigh” /High “%1”
Note one can also add a new item “Start High Priority” to the context menu, so when right clicking an exe-file, one have the option to launch the exe-file with a certain priority.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\StartHigh]
@=”Start &High Priority”[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\StartHigh\Command]
@=”cmd.exe /c start \“StartHigh\” /High \“%1\””
Note one can also change the priority right on the fly for a running application by using the Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC).
More Info MS KB103475
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Credits ntfaq.com