Exam Highlights

Before taking the exam, review the key topics and terms that are presented in this chapter. You need to know this information.

Key Points

• When a user complains that a computer performs slowly at some times and performs fine at other times, check to see whether Fast User Switching is enabled. Each running application consumes computer resources, and users often forget to see whether other users have applications running.

• You can increase performance by storing the virtual memory paging file on a different physical disk than the Windows system files.

• If the sustained processor usage exceeds 80 percent, the processor is probably a performance bottleneck on the computer. If the page file usage value runs near 100 percent continuously, you may need to increase the size of the page file or add more memory to the computer.

Key Terms

baseline A reference point normally associated with computer performance.

paging file (Pagefile.sys) A section of hard disk space set aside to act a virtual memory; sometimes called a swap file.

Performance tool A utility that captures performance information for various subsystems on a computer, and displays the results graphically or logs the results to a file.

Task Manager A utility that provides information on currently running applications and processes as well as basic performance and networking information.