1 2 3 4

As you can see, the RAM scores fine now, with 1.5GB of memory, and the hard disk isn't the problem, either. Even the processor is close to the 3.0 threshold. But the graphics adaptor in the laptop is not up to the task of running Aero.

That leads me to this question: Why is Sony selling these systems with Vista Business installed if they won't run the interface properly? But that doesn't help with the immediate problem: How can I make this computer work acceptably and benefit from at least some of Vista's new features?

The Performance Information And Tools interface makes it easy for you to tweak several components that can affect Vista performance. These options are shown in the Tasks pane on the left side of the window, as you can see in Figure C. Some performance tweaks you can do from this interface include:

• Managing startup programs to help Vista load more quickly.
• Adjusting visual effects to help Vista perform better if you have an inadequate video card.
• Adjusting other advanced settings that affect performance, such as processor allocation and paging file location and size.
• Adjusting indexing options to prevent indexing from using up too many resources and thus slowing other applications.
• Adjusting power settings to balance performance needs with energy conservation needs.
• Cleaning up the hard disk so Vista can access data stored there more quickly.
• Using advanced tools, such as the Disk Defragmenter, Task Manager, System Information tool, event logs, and Reliability And Performance Monitor to diagnose performance problems and fix them.

Manage startup programs
The more programs you have loading when the computer boots up, the longer it will take for the operating system to be ready to use. You can cut down on startup time by eliminating from startup those programs you don't really need to run every time you start the computer.

Clicking the Manage Startup Programs selection in Performance Information And Tools will open the Windows Defender Software Explorer, as shown in Figure D.

You can scroll through the list to see all the programs that run at startup. The right pane displays a great deal of information about the selected program, including its filename, display name, description, publisher, digital signature information, startup value, path, file size, version number, the date it was installed, startup type (where it is designated to start up on boot -- for example, in the Current User settings in the registry), location, and whether the program shipped with the operating system.

Some programs can be removed or disabled by selecting the program in the left pane and clicking the Remove or Disable button in the bottom-right area of the window. Others will have these buttons grayed out. If the Remove and Disable buttons are unavailable, you'll need to remove the program from startup manually. This may involve removing it from the Startup folder, which you'll find on the Start | All Programs menu, as shown in Figure E.

To find the Startup folder in the file system, just right-click on it on the All Programs menu and click Open or go to the disk on which Vista is installed and navigate to Users\<your profile> or All Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup.