11. Optimizing Your Computer System

Chapter at a Glance

In this chapter, you will learn to:
	Improve your computer's performance.
	Turn Windows features on and off.
	Manage cached files.
	Remove unnecessary files.
	Consolidate files on your hard disk.

You don't have to be a power user to be concerned about your computer's performance. Whether you use your computer for work, for gaming, or for occasionally browsing the Internet and sending e-mail messages to friends, you might find that your computer isn't as fast as you would like it to be. There are several ways to improve the performance of your computer and make the most of its resources. Some of them, such as increasing your computer's RAM, involve hardware. But you might get appreciable increases in speed and reliability just by giving your computer a system tune-up.

In this chapter, you will fine-tune some performance settings, turn off Windows features you never use, remove obsolete files, and rearrange files on your hard drive so that they can be accessed faster.