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Performance Options

One optimization you can perform on all Windows versions is setting Performance Options. Performance Options are used to configure CPU, RAM, and virtual memory (page file) settings. To access these options in Windows 2000/XP, right-click My Computer and select Properties, click the Advanced tab, and click the Options button (Windows 2000) or Settings button (Windows XP) in the Performance section of that tab. In Windows Vista/7, right-click Computer and select Properties; then click the Advanced system settings option in the Tasks list. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or confirmation. Click on the Advanced tab and click the Settings button in the Performance section of that tab. Once you get to the Performance Options dialog box, its behavior differs between Windows 2000 and Windows XP/Vista (one of the few places where Vista acts the same as XP!).

In Windows 2000, the Performance Options dialog box shows a pair of radio buttons called Applications and Background Services. These radio buttons set how processor time is divided between the foreground application and all other background tasks. Set this to Applications if you run applications that need more processor time. Set it to Background Services to give all running programs the same processor usage. You can also adjust the size of the page file in this dialog box, but in most cases I don’t mess with these settings and instead leave control of the page file to Windows.

The Windows XP/Vista Performance Options dialog box has three tabs: Visual Effects, Advanced, and Data Execution Prevention (Figure 17-26). The Visual Effects tab enables you to adjust visual effects that impact performance. Try clicking the top three choices in turn and watch the list of settings. Notice the tiny difference between the first two choices. The third choice, Adjust for best performance, turns off all visual effects, and the fourth option is an invitation to make your own adjustments. If you’re on a computer that barely supports Windows XP, turning off visual effects can make a huge difference in the responsiveness of the computer. For the most part, though, just leave these settings alone.

The Advanced tab in Windows XP, shown in Figure 17-27, has three sections: Processor scheduling, Memory usage, and Virtual memory. Under the Processor scheduling section, you can choose to adjust for best performance of either Programs or Background services. The Memory usage settings enable you to allocate a greater share of memory to programs or to the system cache. The Virtual memory section of this tab enables you to modify the size and location of the page file. Microsoft dropped the Memory usage settings option in Windows Vista.

Figure 17-26 Windows XP Performance Options dialog box

Figure 17-27 Advanced tab of Performance Options dialog box

Microsoft introduced Data Execution Prevention (DEP) with Windows XP Service Pack 2. DEP works in the background to stop viruses and other malware from taking over programs loaded in system memory. It doesn’t prevent viruses from being installed on your computer, but makes them less effective. By default, DEP monitors only critical operating system files in RAM, but the Data Execution Prevention tab enables you to have DEP monitor all running programs. It works, but you’ll take a performance hit. Like other options in the Performance Options dialog box, leaving the DEP settings as default is the best option most of the time.

Resource Tracking

One big issue with optimization is knowing when something needs optimization. Let’s say your Windows computer seems to be running more slowly. Resource tracking is very important for identifying the performance problem. Task Manager and the Performance console are tools you can use to figure out what (if anything) has become a bottleneck.

Task Manager

The Task Manager has many uses. Most users are only aware of the Applications tab, used to shut down a troublesome program.