KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx function (ntddk.h)

Article
10/21/2021

The KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx routine returns the maximum number of logical processors in a specified group in a multiprocessor system.

Syntax

ULONG KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx(
  [in] USHORT GroupNumber
);

Parameters

[in] GroupNumber

Specifies a group number. If a multiprocessor system contains n groups, the groups are numbered from 0 to n-1. To obtain the maximum number of processors in the system, set this parameter to ALL_PROCESSOR_GROUPS, which is defined in the Winnt.h and Ntdef.h header files.

Return value

KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx returns the maximum number of logical processors in the specified group or in the system, as indicated by the value of the GroupNumber parameter.

Remarks

The value that is returned by KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx remains constant during runtime. This value depends on the hardware configuration of the multiprocessor system, but it can never exceed a fixed limit that is set by the Windows operating system. This limit is 32 logical processors for 32-bit versions of Windows and 64 logical processors for 64-bit versions of Windows.

In contrast, the value that is returned by the KeQueryActiveProcessorCountEx routine can change during runtime as processors are dynamically added to the system.

A related routine, KeQueryMaximumProcessorCount, returns a maximum processor count, but this routine, unlike KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx, does not accept a group number as an input parameter. In Windows 7 and later versions of the Windows operating system, KeQueryMaximumProcessorCount returns the maximum number of logical processors in group 0, which is compatible with the behavior of this routine in earlier versions of Windows that do not support groups. This behavior ensures that existing drivers that call KeQueryMaximumProcessorCount and that use no group-oriented features will run correctly in multiprocessor systems that have two or more groups. However, drivers that use any group-oriented features in Windows 7 and later versions of the Windows operating system should call KeQueryMaximumProcessorCountEx instead of KeQueryMaximumProcessorCount.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Available in Windows 7 and later versions of Windows.
Target Platform	Universal
Header	ntddk.h (include Wdm.h, Ntddk.h, Ntifs.h)
Library	NtosKrnl.lib
DLL	NtosKrnl.exe
IRQL	Any level