Over time you might start to notice a decrease in the speed and performance of your computer. This reduction in performance can be the result of several different factors including:

• Age of computer


• Hardware


• Software installed


• Viruses or spyware


• Fragmented hard drive

Trying to determine the cause of system slowness can be a difficult task especially if you system is fairly new and free of viruses. Fortunately, Windows Vista comes with a utility that can help you determine and fix and issues that may cause you system to run slower than it should. The utility is called Performance Information and Tools and it can help you rate and improve your computer’s performance.

The utility provides basic information about your overall system performance along with the ability to display and modify individual areas of the system that can be tweaked for better performance. These areas include startup programs, visual effects, indexing, power settings, disk cleanup and advances settings. Each individual section can be modified to help provide the best performance possible for you system.

To Access the Utility:

1. Click on Start then Control Panel


2. From within the Control Panel select System


3. From the System window select Performance from the left-menu bar

In the Performace Information and Tools window your overall system performance is displayed which is based on the processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics and primary hard disk in the system. Each hardware component is rated on set criteria and then an overall Base Score is provided which is a general guideline of system performance. The higher the number the better the overall system performance.

The Base Score of a system is based on the hardware of the computer which means to increase the score the hardware would need to be upgraded. Typically, the score is provided to help the user determine the software that can safely be installed and used without affecting the system performance. This does not mean that software that does not fall within the score cannot be used but there is no guarantee that the software will run as expected.

Knowing the Base Score of your system is great in determining software to use with your computer but this is only one aspect of increasing the speed and performance of a computer. The next article will cover using the additional components of the Performace Information and Tools utility to improve your overall system performance.