3. Using Windows 7's Performance Options
While all the performance tools are available
individually throughout the system, Windows 7 introduces a nice list of
available tools, if you can find it. To unearth the listing, first type
performance info into Start Menu
Search and press Enter. In the Performance Information and Tools view,
click Advanced Tools in the left-hand pane. You will now see a listing,
as shown in Figure 4, of all available performance-related tools within Windows, each of which is described in Table 1.
Table 1. Windows 7 Performance Tools
| Performance Tool | What It Does |
|---|
| Clear all Windows Experience Index scores and re-rate the system | Re-assesses
system performance and generates a new Windows Experience Index (WEI)
score. You would typically run this after installing newer, faster
hardware components (for example, a video card). |
| View performance details in Event Log | Provides
insight into any performance-related warnings or errors. Unfortunately,
clicking this link does not open the Event Viewer with Performance
Information upfront. You need to navigate to Applications and Services
Logs => Microsoft => Windows => Diagnostics-Performance, and then click Operational. |
| Open Performance Monitor | Enables you to view and gather performance data, either in real time or from a log file, and generate reports. |
| Open Resource Monitor | Enables
you to view information about hardware (for example, CPU, memory, and
so on) and software (for example, handles) resources in real time. |
| Open Task Manager | Infamous
tool that enables you to display (and, more important, kill) running
programs, processes, and services. It also provides network status and
basic performance information. |
| View advanced system details in System Information | Enables
you to view details about your computer's hardware configuration,
computer components, and software, including drivers. Very handy and
can even be run via the Command Prompt. |
| Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows | Enables
you to tweak visual effects, processor and memory usage, and virtual
memory settings. We'll be using this tool in the next section. |
| Open Disk Defragmenter | Rearranges
bits of files and folders on your disk (defragments) for faster, more
efficient hard disk access. With solid-state drives on the rise, the
usefulness of this tool is declining. |
| Generate a system health report | Analyzes
your system from top to bottom and provides a very thorough report on
various performance warnings and problems detected. If you suspect
performance issues, run this tool first. |
NOTE
When you are generating a system health report,
the result is quite hard to read. You may find it easier to read the
HTML report by exporting it (click File 
Save As).
4. Appearance and Performance Tweaking
Windows 7 continues to use an advanced desktop
composition engine and provides a number of subtle but pleasing UI
animations by default. Some of this stuff, however, may be a bit much;
and all of it takes its toll on the performance of your PC.
Fortunately, the operating system includes a number of configurable
performance options worth tweaking if you have an older PC and have
noticed some slowdowns with Windows 7.
To open the classic Performance Options window (identical to the Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows tool in the previous section), type adjust perf
into Start Menu Search. Here you can choose between three automated
settings (Let Windows choose what's best for my computer, Adjust for
best appearance, and Adjust for best performance).
Alternately, you can click the Custom option and
then enable and disable any of the 15 user-interface-related options
that appear in the custom settings list. Most of these options should
be self-explanatory, and many appeared in previous versions of Windows,
but a couple of options are worth highlighting:
Animations in the taskbar and Start menu (New to Windows 7):
With the debut of the new taskbar, a number of new animations have been
added (for example, the fading in and out of Jump Lists). If you'd
rather these menus just appear, shortening menu display time, disable
this feature.
Use visual styles on windows and buttons:
Disabling this feature causes Windows 7 to revert to the
ancient-looking Windows Classic user interface. It will dramatically
increase the performance of your PC at the expense of attractiveness
and graphical reliability.
