Working with the performance options

All of the new visual effects that Windows XP includes can be customized so that you can turn off the ones you don't need or like. This capability allows you to find a balance between performance and appearance.

Some of the visual effects are very taxing on systems that are not very powerful. This section will help you identify the graphical effects that are slowing down your system and will show you how to manage them.

Hidden away under System Properties is a Settings panel that allows you to enable and disable each effect or feature. Follow these steps to get to the Settings screen:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon in the Start Menu or on the desktop and select
Properties.

2. Then, click the Advanced tab and click Settings under the Performance section.

3. This will launch the Performance Options screen, as shown in Figure 10-4. Click the Visual Effects tab, if the tab is not already displayed.

4. Now that you have the Visual Effects settings screen on your screen, you will notice four different settings: Let Windows Choose What's Best for My Computer, Adjust for Best Appearance, Adjust for Best Performance, and Custom. The Let Windows Choose What's Best for My Computer setting does not seem to work very well, because I have not seen Windows choose to disable anything on any computer, even on some very old machines. The Adjust for Best Appearance setting enables all options, whereas the Adjust for Best Performance setting disables all options. The Custom setting is the best setting to use on your computer. Click the Custom radio button to enable this setting.

5. Now you will be able to manually check and uncheck the various boxes listed below for each of the different effects. Refer to the following list for recommendations on each of the effects. Once you are finished, click the OK buttons and you are set.

The following is a list of different effects, along with my recommendations on what to do for the best balance between appearance and performance.

Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing: This effect will animate the title bar along with the border by enlarging and shrinking instead of instantly changing the size of the active window. This effect is not very heavy on the system. When the effect is disabled, no change can be detected in the system, such as the amount of memory used and the CPU usage. You would think that the CPU usage would decrease, but compared to when the effect is disabled, the usage of the CPU to minimize and maximize a window is the same. Even though there is no performance change in the numbers, your system will appear to be running faster because the windows will instantly resize and be displayed. Because of that, I recommend that you disable this effect.

Fade or slide menus into view: This effect allows the menus that pop up throughout the system to fade in. You will experience this when you navigate through a menu bar or when you right-click something. This effect does not affect the performance of the system except for when the effect is called on. Some users that have older computers and slower video cards can experience better performance with this effect off.

Fade or slide ToolTips into view: This effect will allow the yellow ToolTips in various parts of the system to slowly fade in when either an event occurs or you hold your mouse over an object. This effect has no effect on the system performance of most users, but once again, those with older systems should disable this effect for better performance.

Fade out menu items after clicking: This effect will fade the submenus in the Start Menu out after you click an item within the menu. This effect, just like the other fade effects, is slower on older systems and should be disabled for best performance.

Show shadows under menus: This effect will display a light shadow when pop-up menus are displayed, giving more of a 3D appearance to the flat interface. My analysis of the system data when the effect is enabled and disabled resulted in such a small difference that this effect does not matter if it is or isn't on for the average user. Also, just like the fade effects, this is something that users of older
machines can disable to get better performance.

Show shadows under mouse pointer: This effect allows the mouse to have that semi-3D effect. However, it is not applied to the mouse when the mouse is over certain applications, such as Microsoft Word.The shadow under the mouse seems to have no influence on the system performance for the average computer. However, just as with the shadow and fade problems mentioned earlier, older machines may have problems with this effect too.

Show translucent selection rectangle: When this effect is enabled, you will see a nice-looking blue border with a semi-transparent blue interior when you drag the mouse to select items, instead of the old dotted line box as we have all seen in older versions of Windows. two different types of selection rectangles. On older machines, I have seen this effect working very slowly and often interfering with the mouse's selection

of items because it seems to use up a lot of the CPU. On the average computer, this
effect presents no problems at all. If you have a slow machine, then disable this effect, but if you have an average machine, then keep it enabled and enjoy the nicer look.

Show window contents while dragging: This effect will not slow down the average computer but will cause some problems for users of older machines. On my older desktop that runs Windows XP, I have disabled this effect, and the system is now much more responsive.

Slide open combo boxes: This effect has no effect on performance at all. I do not see why anyone would want to disable this effect, but if you are the type of person that cannot wait an extra 50 milliseconds to view the contents of the combo box, then knock yourself out disabling this one.

Slide taskbar buttons: This feature has very little effect on system performance, but it may affect system responsiveness on older machines when the machine is doing a lot of work. You will notice this when you are doing something in the background and you can slowly

see the taskbar items for open programs resizing. If you ever have that experience, go ahead and disable this effect.

Smooth edges ofscreen fonts: This feature seems to depend more on your video card than your system. Use of any type of font smoothing will require it to do more work. On older machines, I would disable this effect. Also, if you have a cathode ray tube type monitor, you will not benefit all that much by having this enabled. The font smoothing effects, especially ClearType, work best on TFT (Thin Film Transistor, also known as Active Matrix)Ðbased flat panel monitors.

Smooth-scroll list boxes: This effect has no effect on performance based on my tests. You would have to be crazy to disable this effect, because it is just so cool.

Use background image for each folder type: This effect has a small effect on the performance of browsing through folders. On faster computers you wonÕt notice anything, but on the average and older computers, this is something that you can live without. On top of that, some of the background images are so light that they do not show up on some monitors, such as my old laptop's LCD panel that does not have good contrast with light colors. My advice is to get rid of them.

Use common tasks in folders: This feature is niceÐlooking and makes Windows Explorer look different but it really is not very useful. It was born in Windows 98 SE and now has completely evolved into some massive navigation aid. I never find myself using the items on this menu. When you go to My Computer, it gives you the option to View System Information, Add or Remove Programs, or Change a Setting under the System Tasks block. It never seems to cross my mind to get to these features this way. Unless you are a beginner computer user, then go ahead and disable this feature. It will speed up your browsing through folders and will also allow you to view more files at once on your screen.

Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop: I have noticed that some older computers with bad video cards can benefit from this feature being disabled. Personally, this feature is a nice addition to Windows XP and I would always leave it enabled. However, if you don't like the look, disable it and you will see a small benefit.

Use visual styles on windows and buttons: This effect is what makes Windows XP look so different from older versions of Windows. If you disable this effect, the whole new interface of Windows XP will be gone. If you do not like the new look and are one of the people that feel the interface was made for a child, disable this feature and you will see a big performance increase. But beware, the system will look like Windows 2000. The amount of free RAM will increase by a megabyte or two and the system will be much more responsive.