Invalid "FeatureSet" key in HKLM\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor

hullboy

Member
When I look at
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0]
I see this (it is Italian and it means "DWORD value (32 bit) not valid")

 
    
 
The content is this one
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0]
"Component Information"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"Identifier"="Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7"
"Configuration Data"=hex(9):ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ProcessorNameString"="Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz"
"VendorIdentifier"="GenuineIntel"
"FeatureSet"=hex(4):fe,3f,19,21,00,00,00,00
"~MHz"=dword:00000cee
"Update Signature"=hex:00,00,00,00,17,00,00,00
"Update Status"=dword:00000002
"Previous Update Signature"=hex:00,00,00,00,17,00,00,00
"Platform ID"=dword:00000002
 
I saved that key some time ago and this is what was contained in it
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0]
"Component Information"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"Identifier"="Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7"
"Configuration Data"=hex(9):ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ProcessorNameString"="Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz"
"VendorIdentifier"="GenuineIntel"
"FeatureSet"=dword:21193ffe
"~MHz"=dword:00000cee
"Update Signature"=hex:00,00,00,00,17,00,00,00
"Update Status"=dword:00000002
"Previous Update Signature"=hex:00,00,00,00,17,00,00,00
"Platform ID"=dword:00000002
 
That string was then (how?) changed from
"FeatureSet"=dword:21193ffe
into
"FeatureSet"=hex(4):fe,3f,19,21,00,00,00,00
The content is more or less the same but the key is... more or less different :D
 
I tried to restore the original key changing the registry key writing on it, but after the PC is restarted, the "invalid" key pops out again (maybe it is restored taking the new key from somewhere else)
 
Also processors 1, 2, 3 have that same "invalid" key.
 
My questions are:
1. since I use HWInfo is it something that HWInfo changed in one of the latest version in the Registry?
2. since my PC is working regularly, do you know the utilization made for this key?
3. if that key is taken from somewhere else (as I said, if I change it then. after the PC is restarted the wrong key is there again) where is it reloaded from?
4. may I "repair" this thing (if any repairing is useful)?
5. do I have to be worried?

Thanks for any reply ;)
 
HWiNFO certainly doesn't make any such changes.
Several keys in the registry are built by the Windows kernel during boot and I'm quite sure this is one of them. The kernel enumerates CPUID values and builds respective registry keys during each boot.
This key being either a dword or hex value is still the same result if you convert it (little-endian).
The fact that's it's suddenly using a different encoding could be due to some Windows update. No reason to worry about this.
 
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