Performance, Memory, Processes in XP or VISTA

If you computer seems to be slower than usual and you’re using Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, XP or Vista, you can get information about possible causes using the MS task manager tool. Right-click on your task bar and select Task Manager or click Start > Run and type taskmgr.exe and press enter. This is the Performance tab of Windows Task Manager.

There are two basic areas that impact performance,. memory and cpu both are displayed in this view. CPU use can be as high as 100%, which would make your system very slow to respond. The same is true of memory utilization. If the memory utilization is high, often adding more memory will significantly  improve performance. At today's prices, it is an easy and low cost solution. Memory utilization is also impacted by the programs that are running. You may find certain programs utilize significant amounts of memory and running those programs can make your system very slow.

If your CPU is maxed out (100%), you can often find which program is responsible by clicking the processes tab and then clicking the CPU column. If there is an application consuming most of the CPU (>60%), it may be possible to run it at a lower priority. SOmetimes, programs fail and must be restarted to behave correctly. Non-responsive programs can be halted from this tab as well.

Some times the network traffic can impact performance, especially when using the Internet. You can view the traffic by clicking on the Networking tab. If the tool show a high volume of traffic and you are not doing anything, then perhaps an application is doing some network activity that may not be appropriate. This tool can help identify if your computer is being used to send email spam after being infected by a virus.

There are other tools supplied with the Microsoft Operating System (XP/VISTA) that can provide more detailed information like the VISTA Resource Monitor shown below.