Computer and Web Articles

Windows XP comes with lovely graphics. You’ve got your shiny, 3-d taskbar running across the bottom of your screen. You’ve got that neat, green, 3-d gel button over in the left-hand, bottom corner. Lots of pretty icons, subtle shines, and drop shadows add an elegant, polished touch to your computer-using experiences.

These graphics do come with a cost, however: they make your computer run a bit slower.

And so it comes down to fashion vs. function. If you’re happy with your computer’s speed and you’d prefer to keep your computer’s graphics looking polished and pretty—don’t change a thing.

If you’re willing to give up your shiny graphics for simple, straightforward ones so that your computer will run faster, here’s what you need to do:

1. Click on Start, then Control Panel.
2. Click on System. (Note: If you don’t see an option called System, first click on “Switch to Classic View” over on the left.)
3. Click Advanced, then click the Settings button underneath Performance.
4. Now just go ahead and select the “Adjust for best performance” option.
5. Click Apply, then OK.

All done.

Your graphics may be a bit boring now, but you should notice your computer seems a bit quicker.

If you don’t like the way things look, simply head back to the spot where we updated your graphics option in #4 above and select “Adjust for best appearance.” Your graphics will revert to their previous (default) states. No harm done!