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System Properties Overview - Windows XP
 
The System Properties window can be used to view system information and perform a variety of tasks.  This page will explain the content of each tab in the window.  There are a variety of ways to open System Properties.  The fastest is the keyboard shortcut Windows + Pause/Break, but it can be accessed through the Control Panel under "System" or by right-clicking My Computer and clicking "Properties."  It is possible to create a shortcut to System Properties by creating a new shortcut to %windir%\system32\sysdm.cpl
 
System Properties has various tabs and the content may vary slightly based on the computer manufacturer and configuration.
  1. General

    • Information about the operating system (OS) including:

      • The name of the OS
      • The edition (Home or Professional) of Windows XP
      • The version
      • The most recent service pack (should be 2) that is installed
    • The person and the company (if listed) to whom the OS is registered
    • Basic information about the computer:
    • The computer manufacturer and model
      • The manufacturer of the Central Processing Unit (CPU)
      • The name and original clock speed of the CPU
      • The current clock speed of the CPU followed by the amount of installed Random Access Memory (RAM)
      • Support information
  2. Computer Name
    • The description of the computer (if present)
    • The full computer's name specified during XP Setup
    • The workgroup
    • To change the computer name and/or workgroup, click the "Change..." button then type the new value(s) and click OK for each window.  You will have to restart to apply the changes
  3. Hardware
    • A button to open the Device Manager, which shows information about your hardware and installed devices with the option of viewing them in a variety of ways.
    • Drivers
      • The Driver Signing button allows you to change the action taken when an attempt is made to install a driver that has not been signed, which means that it has not passed some lab testing which would confirm its ability to work well with Windows XP.  You can choose to either show or not show a warning, or to block all unsigned drivers from installing.  You can make your choice be the default for the computer.
      • Windows Update - this allows you to choose if Windows can use Windows Update to look for drivers for installed devices or if you would like a prompt each time.
    • Hardware Profiles - these allow you to store settings (such as disabling certain devices) in a "profile" that you can choose when your computer is starting up.  This is most often used in notebooks (laptops).  Microsoft has more information on hardware profiles here.
  4. Advanced
    • Performance - if you click "Settings," you can see a variety of performance-related settings.
      • Visual Effects - Most of these are visual "eye-candy" that may be disabled if you wish to gain additional performance or have a computer with specifications on the lower end of what Windows XP supports.  You may choose the default settings that Windows decides, enabling all effects, disabling all visual effects, and choose individual effects that you wish to have.
      • Advanced - As suggested by choosing the Advanced tab within the Advanced tab, most of these settings should be left alone if you are not an advanced user or under the direction of an advanced user.
        • Processor scheduling - you may adjust whether you would like programs or services to have greater control and usage of the processor.
        • Memory usage - you may choose to give either programs (recommended) or the system cache to use a greater portion of the installed memory.
        • Virtual memory - you may set the paging file, which is basically a portion of a partition from your hard drive used as if it were RAM, and configure multiple paging files on multiple partitions.
      • Data Execution Prevention (DEP) - DEP can help to stop certain malicious software (malware) from accessing locations in the memory that shouldn't be accessed.  It doesn't stop malware from installing, but monitors installed programs for suspicious activity.  You can configure DEP for only "essential" programs and services or for all of them except those in a user-configured list.
    • User Profiles - you can view the profiles on the computer, delete them, or copy the profile to a specific location (useful for backing up or transferring profile settings).  If you copy them, you can and should configure access control for the folder.