Winxp fine tune c-14

Presented by:

Windows XP
®

Preston Gralla

Snap
Teach Yourself
800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240

in a

Windows  XP in a Snap
Warning and Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author and the publisher shall haveneither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.

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iv

14
Fine-Tuning, Optimizing, and Protecting Your PC
IN THIS CHAPTER:
118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126

Balance Performance and Visual Effects Turn Off Unneeded Programs and Services Create and Use Power Schemes for Laptops Use ClearType for Better Laptop Resolution Get System UpdatesAutomatically About Backing Up Your Hard Disk Protect Your System with System Restore Free Up Space on Your Hard Disk Defragment Your Hard Disk

118

Balance Performance and Visual Effects

PCs always need fiddling with. Perhaps you want to make yours run faster, or you want to get more life out of your laptop’s battery. You certainly want to make sure that it has the latest softwareprotection. And if something goes wrong with it, you want to make sure that you can fix it. Windows XP offers many built-in tools for doing all that and more. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to fine-tune, optimize, and protect your PC using XP’s built-in tools.

118

Balance Performance and Visual Effects
Turn Off Unneeded Programs and Services

See Also ➜
119

One of the many things that makesWindows XP unique is its special visual effects—menu items fading in and out, showing shadows under menus, and so on. One problem with those special effects is each takes a toll on system performance. Your computer has to work harder to use them. If you have an older computer, or if you think your computer is slower than it should be, you can turn off some or all of these special effects. 1TIP
Another way to open the System Properties dialog box is to click the Start button, choose the Control Panel option, click the Performance and Maintenance icon, and then click the System option. If you don’t see the Performance and Maintenance icon in the Control Panel list, choose the System icon to launch the System Properties dialog box.

Right-Click My Computer
The My Computer icon mightbe located in several places depending on how your computer has been set up. You might find an icon for it on your desktop. If not, you’ll find it on the right side of the Start menu after you click the Start button. Right-click the My Computer icon and choose Properties. The System Properties dialog box appears.

2

Open the Performance Options Dialog Box
In the System Properties dialog box,click the Advanced tab. In the Performance section, click the Settings button to open the Performance Options dialog box.

NOTE
The Performance Options dialog box lists the various special effects that Windows XP can perform. The check boxes next to the ones currently in use are enabled. Those options without check marks are not currently being used.
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3

Adjust for Best PerformanceIf you care more about having your system run as quickly as possible than about the appearance of the screens, choose the Adjust for best performance option and click OK twice. When you do this, Windows XP disables all the options in the dialog box and uses no special effects. The performance boost takes place immediately.

PART IV:

Troubleshooting and Optimizing XP

Balance Performance...