Overview Series: Windows Vista® Performance and Tuning

Improve Performance Quickly and Easily

The Windows Vista® operating system and the recent ServicePack 1 (SP1) provide major advancements in usability,reliability, connectivity, and security. These improvementsare helping businesses and consumers become moreproductive than ever.While performance is often thought of simply in terms of speed, it is better to think of performance as a combinationof speed and responsiveness. For example, one approach tooptimizing performance when copying large numbers of fileswould be to copy those files as fast as physically possible.Unfortunately, this approach would leave the systemunresponsive during the operation.Windows Vista and SP1 focus on delivering greaterperformance and overall system responsiveness. By striking abalance between speed and responsiveness, Windows Vistaand SP1 deliver a level of performance that has the greatest

positive impact on the system’s usability.

Improving the performance of a computer follows theprinciple of diminishing returns. There are a few actions youcan take with any computer that should improveperformance dramatically. Additional actions provide smallerperformance improvements.This guide looks at the following areas of performanceimprovement:



Making configuration changes that help a computerfeel more responsive when you use it.



Using hardware to boost the actual physical speed of acomputer.



Making configuration changes that help a computer tostart faster.



Making the computer more reliable may help increaseperformance.



Monitoring performance occasionally so that you canstop problems before they get too big.While the bulk of this guide focuses on performanceimprovements on a single computer, this guide also takes alook at some of the tools used in enterprise environments tohelp make performance tuning manageable on a much largerscale.

Optimizing Hardware Specifications to YourOrganizational Needs

Although the minimum requirements for the Windows Vistaoperating system are highlighted in the Windows VistaTechCenter, you should validate hardware performance withyour intended applications and user expectations before

determining your organization’s standard hardware

specifications.For example, when deploying Windows Vista manyorganizations have found that the following configurationyields good results, especially for higher knowledge workerscenarios:



At least 2 GB of RAM.



At least a 2 GHz processor.



A compatible graphics adapter that provides improvedperformance.If you are deploying Windows Vista with the Windows® Basictheme settings, you can reduce these recommendationsconsiderably. Customize the hardware specifications andoperating system configurations based on the user roles andoperational needs in your organization.For more information about customizing the hardwarespecifications and operating system configuration, see:



Windows Vista Enterprise Hardware Planning Guidancehttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905075.aspx

Make Your Computer Feel More Responsive

Another way to improve perceived performance on a

computer is to make it feel faster. Or more accurately, youcan remove things that make the computer feel slower. Youdo this by making sure that various configuration settings areoptimized.

Check Power Settings on Mobile Computers

When a computer is operating on a battery, you must strike abalance between battery life and performance. Betterperformance almost always drains battery life more quickly.Windows Vista provides three built-in power plans, as shownin Table 1. You can modify the settings for the three built-inplans to suit your needs, or even create your own powerplans. You can change a built-in plan's settings or create yourown plan by using the Power Options settings in ControlPanel.

Power Plan DescriptionBalancedBalances energy consumption andperformance by adapting the computer'sresources to a specific activity. By balancingthe power used, when more power isneeded, more becomes available; whenless is needed, less is available.Power SaverSaves power by reducing systemperformance. The primary objective of thisplan is to maximize battery life.HighPerformanceOffers the highest performance possible bymaximizing available resources for bestperformance. There will be a trade off forthe high performance with battery life.Table 1. You can choose from three power plan optionsTo choose a preferred plan:1.

Click

Start

, and then click

Control Panel

.2.

In the Control Panel window, click

System andMaintenance

, and then click

Power Options

.3.

Select the desired power plan, as shown in Figure 1.Note that depending on the manufacturer of thecomputer, you may see additional power-managementoptions.Figure 1. Select the most appropriate plan

To create a power plan:1.

If you want to create your own power plan, with thePower Options window open, click

Create a PowerPlan

(refer to Figure 1).2.

Select the built-in power plan that most closelymatches what you want to create.3.

Type a name for the plan, and then click

, asshown in Figure 2.Figure 2. Create your new power plan4.

Configure custom settings for your plan, includingwhen to turn off the display, when to put thecomputer to sleep, and display brightness depending

on whether the mobile computer is plugged in orrunning on battery power (Figure 3).5.

Click Create.Figure 3. Create your own power planClick the Battery Meter icon in the notification area to openthe menu shown in Figure 4, which lets you change to adifferent power plan and also offers more visual cues aboutbattery life. For example, when the battery life reaches 25percent, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point appearsover the battery icon. When the charge reaches critically lowbattery levels, a red circle with a white X appears.Figure 4. Use the Battery Meter to change power plansquickly

Disable Visual Effects

Many of the visual effects in Windows Vista, such as theAero® desktop experience, are beautiful and are designed toenhance user productivity. They add not only a certain flair tothe computing experience but also subtle visual clues about

what’s happening in Windows, which may help user

productivity.That said, these visual effects can slow down the perceivedperformance of a computer, by making windows, dialogboxes, and menus take just a bit longer to open and workwith

—

particularly on slower computers. By default, WindowsVista enables visual features based on the capabilities of thecomputer, but you can enable or disable specific visual effectsto help strike a balance between performance andappearance.Windows Vista provides quick access for enabling anddisabling these effects.To disable visual effects1.

Click

Start

, and then click

Control Panel

.2.

In the Control Panel window, click

System andMaintenance

.3.

Click

System

.4.

In the