How 2 Set Performance In Windows XP

 

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You will start by right clicking the MY COMPUTER icon.

 

 

You will select PROPERTIES from the list of options.

 

You will select the ADVANCED tab from the choices.

 

You will see the 1st option in blue lettering is PERFORMANCE.

 

You will select the SETTINGS button inside the PERFORMANCE box.

 

 

A new box will appear as shown below.

 

I will cover each of the options to explain what they are used for.

 

We will start on the VISUAL EFFECTS tab.

 

The 1st option is LET WINDOWS CHOOSE WHAT’S BEST FOR MY COMPUTER shown in the

Left image is the default setting.

 

This is because Windows does an excellent job at keeping you machine running at top performance.

 

As you can see with the 1st option shown in the left image it marks all the boxes.

 

If you were to Select ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE shown in the right image it will also check all the boxes.

 

So basically these two options are the same. 

 

 

If I select ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE something changes.

 

All the boxes become unchecked.

 

This is because you now seek a better performing machine and you would prefer to give up the best appearance.

 

You can change the settings and find the settings that appeal to you but it is really a personal preference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The final option is CUSTOM.

 

Once you select CUSTOM the boxes are all allowed to be changed according to your choices.

 

Feel free to experiment with all of these options until you have a preference you like.

 


 

We now move on to the ADVANCED tab.

 

You have three areas of options. We will start with the PROCESSOR SCHEDULING.

 

In this box you have two options.

 

The 1st is PROGRAMS and the 2nd is BACKGROUND SERVICES.

 

This is defaulted to PROGRAMS which is the best option.

 

In most cases you will never need to change this but if you are having an issue with background services

running poorly then you may need to change this option.

 

The next area is MEMORY USAGE.

 

This is also set to PROGRAMS as the default. Most machines today come with 1gig of memory.

 

It is wise to always purchase a minimum of 2gig of memory in today’s machines.

 

 

We will take a short look at the final box which is called VIRTUAL MEMORY.

 

It has a CHANGE button available to use.

 

My machine shows 2046MB for a paging file size.

 

This means that if my machine is running low on RAM (Random Access Memory) it will

start using the hard drive to help keep the speed up.

 

This is a great option but if you can keep plenty of RAM in your machine you do not

want your machine using this area.

 

This is due to the fact that RAM is faster than the hard drive.

 

So if your machine starts using the Paging File then your machine will run slower.

 

On the other hand if you have a machine with a low amount of RAM then you will want the

machine to use the Paging File so you can at least keep up with multi tasking several programs without issues.

 

 

As I mentioned you can see you have a CHANGE button.

 

Once I click the CHANGE button you can see I have partitioned my hard drive into a C: drive and D: drives. 

 

If you do have two hard drives in your machine it is wise to change the Paging File to the other drive.

 

In other words move it off of your C: drive and move it to the D: or E: or whatever you have labeled it.

 

This will increase the performance of your machine since it is not located with the OS files.

 

You can see I have mine located on the C: drive with a size of 2046-4092.

 

I set the CUSTOM SIZE myself and added the sizes I figured would be sufficient.

 

If you pick any of the options you will need to click the SET button with each change for them to take affect.

 

You will also need to restart your machine for them to take affect.

 

I would recommend clicking SYSTEM MANAGED SIZE  and then click the SET button

and allow Windows to configure and run this for you.

 

You do have the option of NO PAGING FILE.

 

This is a good option to have selected if you have 2gig of Memory or more.

 

You will see in the bottom of the box that it gives you the statistics of what is setup.

 

You can see that I have set my paging file size to 2046-4092.

 

If you look at the bottom of the box you will see the RECOMMENDED is 3069.

 

This shows I am within the limits and that is a good thing.

 

You do not want to set your paging file to 2046-3046 and the Recommended shows 3069

since it would be higher than what I have allowed.

 

 

Our final tab is called DATA EXECUTION PREVENTION.

This is the Explanation of DEP: Data Execution Prevention (DEP) helps prevent damage from viruses and other security threats that attack by running (executing) malicious code from memory locations that only Windows and other programs should use.

This type of threat causes damage by taking over one or more memory locations in use by a program.

Then it spreads and harms other programs, files, and even your e-mail contacts.

Unlike a firewall or antivirus program, DEP does not help prevent harmful programs from being installed on your computer.

Instead, it monitors your programs to determine if they use system memory safely.

To do this, DEP software works alone or with compatible microprocessors to mark some memory locations as "non-executable".

If a program tries to run code—malicious or not—from a protected location, DEP closes the program and notifies you.

DEP can take advantage of software and hardware support.

To use DEP, your computer must be running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later, or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or later.

DEP software alone helps protect against certain types of malicious code attacks but to take full advantage of the                                         protection that DEP can offer, your processor must support "execution protection".

This is a hardware-based technology designed to mark memory locations as non-executable.

If your processor does not support hardware-based DEP, it's a good idea to upgrade to a processor that                                                          offers execution protection features.

Is it safe to run a program again if DEP has closed it?

Yes, but only if you leave DEP turned on for that program.

Windows can continue to detect attempts to execute code from protected memory locations and help prevent attacks.

In cases where a program does not run correctly with DEP turned on, you can reduce security risks by getting a DEP-compatible version of the program from the software publisher.

How can I tell if DEP is available on my computer?

  1. To open System Properties, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance and then click System.
  2. Click the Advanced tab and, under Performance, click Settings.
  3. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

By default the 1st option TURN ON DEP FOR ESSENTIAL WINDOWS PROGRAMS AND SERVICES ONLY is on.

 

In most cases you will not have to change this setting. You do not have anything to setup if this is your choice.

 

The 2nd option TURN ON DEP FOR ALL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES EXCEPT THOSE I SELECT makes things more complicated.

 

You can see my system populated in the box Windows Explorer.

 

I can check this box and DEP will ignore Windows Explorer.

 

I can also select the ADD button at the bottom and find other programs on my computer to turn off DEP for them.

 

I can also click the REMOVE button to of course remove programs from the list.

 

Once I have made up my mind I select APPLY and then OK.

 

 

This completes the task.

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