2. Resource Monitor
Another handy tool for
monitoring system performance is Resource Monitor, which collects and
displays real-time information about the CPU, disk, network, and memory.
To open Resource Monitor, first open Performance Information and Tools
from the Control Panel. Click Advanced Tools in the left pane, and then
click Open Resource Monitor. Figure 9 shows Resource Monitor.
The Overview tab, shown in Figure 9,
offers summary information about each of the four categories. To view
activity for a specific process, select the check box next to the
process' image name in the CPU list. Then, click the category header for
a category to view the data filtered by the selected process. For
example, Figure 10 shows network activity filtered for Internet Explorer.
Each of the other tabs in
Resource Monitor provides data specific to the specified category. For
example, to see detailed information about memory utilization, click the
Memory tab. The top area of each tab shows the running processes. You
can filter by one or more processes by selecting them from the list.
Deselect the Image check box to clear the filter.
Figure 9. Resource Monitor.
3. Reliability Monitor
provides information regarding your system's overall stability. It
tracks data and generates a report similar to the one shown in Figure 11,
which indicates a relative reliability index from 1 to 10. Reliability
Monitor uses five groups of information to determine the index,
including application failures, Windows failures, miscellaneous
failures, warnings, and informational events. To open Reliability
Monitor, open Action Center, expand the Maintenance group, and click
View Reliability History.
Reliability Monitor starts
monitoring your system right after the operating system is installed,
and will keep one year's worth of data for analysis. Reliability Monitor
requires 28 days of information before it will accurately determine a
stability index. The line in the graph will also be dashed until
Reliability Monitor has 28 days of information.
The icons on the chart
in Reliability Monitor indicate the type of event that occurred on the
specified date. The letter i inside a blue circle is an informational
event, such as an update being applied successfully to the system. A
yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside indicates a warning. An
example would be a warning that a driver did not install successfully.
Failures are indicated by a white X inside a red circle. Examples
include an application hanging or Windows shutting down unexpectedly.
Figure 10. Network activity filtered for Internet Explorer.
You can view the events for a
particular day by clicking that day in the chart. Details for that day
appear in the bottom Details pane. When viewing the graph in Weeks view,
clicking a week in the graph shows all items for that week in the
Details pane. Whichever view you use, double-clicking an item in the
Details pane displays full information about the event. For example, Figure 12 shows the results of double-clicking an event related to Microsoft Office Live Add-in Sign-in.
Reliability Monitor is a
great tool for keeping track of the events that have occurred with your
computer over a long period of time. It can be particularly useful in
identifying repetitive problems or problems with specific items.
Windows ReadyBoost uses
flash memory, rather than your hard drive, for the paging file. This
allows programs to get drive data more quickly, providing a faster, more
fluid computing experience.
4. Using Windows ReadyBoost
Historically, PCs had two ways
to store data: memory and the hard drive. Memory (RAM) is very fast.
But it's volatile, meaning everything in it gets erased the moment you
shut down the computer. The hard drive isn't nearly as fast. But it has persistence, meaning that it retains information even when the computer is turned off.
Figure 11. Reliability Monitor report of overall system stability.
RAM is also more
expensive, and therefore scarcer than hard drive storage. For example, a
typical desktop computer might have 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM. The hard
drive, on the other hand, will likely hold tens or even hundreds of
gigabytes of data.
Windows 7 automatically uses the paging file to store the data and conserve RAM.
The downside to using the
paging file is that the processor cannot move data to and from it as
quickly as it can with RAM. The paging file becomes a little performance
bottleneck. Prior to Windows Vista, there was no real solution to the
problem. Windows Vista introduced a solution called ReadyBoost that lets
Windows 7 use flash memory for the paging file. For paging file
operations, flash memory is about 10 times faster than a hard drive,
which means ReadyBoost can get rid of many little short delays and offer
a faster, smoother overall computing experience. Windows 7 also
Figure 12. Details for an event in Reliability Monitor.
Contrary to some
popular belief, ReadyBoost doesn't add more RAM to your computer. It
improves performance by using flash memory, rather than the hard drive,
to store and access frequently used disk data.
Windows 7 takes care of all the
potential problems that using flash memory for disk data might impose.
For example, it keeps the actual paging file on the drive in sync with
the copy on the flash drive. So if the flash memory suddenly disappears
(as when you pull a flash drive out of its USB slot), there's no loss of
data. Windows 7 even compresses and encrypts the data on the flash
drive using high-strength AES encryption. If someone steals a ReadyBoost
flash drive from your computer, they will not be able to read data from
it to steal sensitive information.
There are basically three ways to get ReadyBoost capabilities in your system. One is to use a hybrid
hard drive, which puts the flash memory right on the drive. Another is
to have ReadyBoost capability on the computer's motherboard. If you have
neither of those, the third approach is to use a USB flash drive for
ReadyBoost. This is a small device, usually small enough to fit on a
keychain, which you just plug into a USB 2.0 port on your computer.
Not all flash drives are
ReadyBoost capable. They vary greatly in their capacity and speed.
Windows 7 will only use a flash drive for ReadyBoost if it makes sense
to do so. A 4 GB flash drive with fast random I/O capability is a good
choice for ReadyBoost.
If you already have a USB flash
drive, and want to see if it's ReadyBoost capable, just plug the drive
into a USB slot. After Windows 7 recognizes and analyzes the drive,
you'll get some feedback on the screen like the example shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13. Windows recognizes a new USB device and allows me to speed up my system using it.
that you use a USB 2.0-compliant flash drive. Anything preceding USB 2.0
is too slow to work as a ReadyBoost device.
If you want to use the device as
virtual memory, select the Speed Up My System option. After you've
selected that option, the properties for the removable disk will pop up.
You can also bring up that dialog box by opening your Computer folder,
right-clicking the drive's icon, and choosing Properties.
Select the Use This Device
option and then you are able to set the amount of space for ReadyBoost.
By default, Windows sets the value to the recommended amount and also
lets you know that the space you allocate won't be available for general
use. When you've set your value, click the OK button.
ReadyBoost works by copying
as much of the information as possible from virtual memory to the USB
thumb drive. There is still a copy of all of the information within
virtual memory; the system now knows to look at the ReadyBoost device
first. If the system can't find the information there, it will look to
the real virtual memory located on your hard drive. By keeping the
original copy on your hard drive, you're able to remove your USB thumb
drive without disrupting the computer.
Don't expect to see
everything suddenly run faster with ReadyBoost. Its benefits might not
be immediate. Remember, the main purpose of ReadyBoost is to eliminate
the short delays you might experience when loading certain programs,
switching among open programs, and other activities that usually involve
a paging file. With time, you should experience quicker response times
in those areas. You might even find your computer starts more quickly
because it takes less time to load programs at startup.
5. Trading pretty for performance
All the visual effects you see
on your screen while using Windows comes with a price. It takes CPU
resources to show drop-shadows beneath 3D objects, make objects fade
into and out of view, and so forth. On an old system that has minimal
CPU capabilities and memory, those little visual extras can bog down the
To change settings that
control visual effects, open Performance Information and Tools from the
Control Panel. In the left pane, click Adjust Visual Effects to open
the Performance Options dialog box shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14. The Visual Effects tab of the Performance Options dialog box.
The Visual Effects tab of the
Performance Options dialog box lets you choose how much performance
you're willing to part with for a "pretty" interface. As shown in Figure 15, the Visual Effects tab gives you four main options:
Let Windows Choose What's Best for My Computer: Choosing this option automatically chooses visual effects based on the capabilities of your computer.
Adjust for Best Appearance: If selected, all visual effects are used, even at the cost of slowing down performance.
Figure 15. The Disk Cleanup dialog box.
Adjust for Best Performance: Choosing this option minimizes visual effects to preserve overall speed and responsiveness.
Custom: If you choose this option, you can then pick and choose any or all of the visual effects listed beneath the Custom option.
choose options is entirely up to you. If you have a powerful system, the
visual effects won't impact performance much, if at all. So, there's no
need to turn off the visual effects. But if your computer isn't
immediately responsive to operations that involve opening and closing
menus, dragging, and other things you do on the screen, eliminating some
visual effects should help make your computer more responsive.