A+: Application Performance Adjustment

Applications

Windows offers several ways to fine-tune application performance. These include

    • Adjusting the balance between background services and application response

    • Adjusting the priority of a process belonging to an application

    • Stopping unresponsive applications

Adjusting the Balance Between Background Services and Application Response


Windows since 2000 can be configured to use more memory for background services (non-active windows, printing, and so on) instead of the default (Programs—improves performance for the foreground application). You might want to do this if your Windows Vista or XP computer was acting as a file or print server for a small network. To make this change, use the following steps:

    Step 1. Open the System Properties window and click the Advanced tab.

    Step 2. Click the Settings button in the Performance box. This opens the Performance Options window.

    Step 3. Click the Advanced tab.

    Step 4. From here you can adjust for best performance of either: Programs or Background services by clicking the appropriate radio button.

A foreground application is the application you have clicked on and are actively using. Other running programs such as email, web browsers, and Microsoft Word become background applications.



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