Windows® 7 Tweaks: A Comprehensive Guide on Customizing, Increasing Performance, and Securing Microsoft® Windows 7

Chapter 11. Analyzing Your System

Have you ever wondered how fast your computer actually is? Sure, you may have an Intel 2.6 GHz dual core in your box, but the CPU is not the only factor in determining the speed of your computer. The true speed is defined by the combined speed of all your hardware, such as the read and write speed of your hard drive, front side bus speed, RAM speed, and even your graphics card GPU. Microsoft has attempted to provide users with a clearer picture of their computer's performance in Windows 7 with the Windows Experience Index benchmarking tool. This chapter helps you understand your Windows Experience Index as well as perform a more detailed analysis of the capabilities of your computer, and you learn how to make your computer faster.

Before you can jump into improving the speed of your computer, it is important to understand the limitations of your hardware and also to identify potential bottlenecks in your system. Using the tools discussed in this chapter, you will be able to run different tests that will help you decide which tweaks work best for your computer, in upcoming chapters.

Monitoring Your System Hardware

Monitoring the status of your system with various tools will help you understand what is going on behind the scenes, similar to the instrument panel of a car. If you are driving home and you notice that the temperature gauge is maxed out and the instrument panel is flashing with all sorts of warning icons, it is very easy to understand that ...