Datasheet

Digging Deeper
17
The More Details about My Computer dialog box
shows you a few more details about your WEI
scores, including the type of processor and video
card that you’re using.
I talk about performance-enhancing tweaks in the next
Technique, “Tracking Performance and Reliability.”
If you’re curious about your raw WEI scores, it’s
easy to see the log of the tests WinSAT has per-
formed and how the benchmarks stack up. Here’s
how to look at the log:
1.
Choose Start➪Computer.
2.
Double-click your C: drive and then double-
click to navigate to Windows➪Performance➪
WinSAT➪DataStore.
You see one or more XML files, as in Figure 1-7,
containing WinSAT results, each with a filename
that includes the date and time WinSAT was run.
• Figure 1-7: Results from WinSAT runs, which update your
WEI scores, appear in XML files in this folder.
Can’t see the .xml at the end of the file
names, like in Figure 1-7? You need to tell
Vista to show you filename extensions. I
explain how to do that in Technique 15. Quick
hint: Press the Alt key to bring up the menu,
click Tools➪Folder Options, and click the View
tab. Under Advanced Settings, uncheck the
box marked Hide Extensions for Known File
Types. While you’re there, consider choosing
the option Show Hidden Files and Folders.
Click OK.
3.
To see the results of your PC’s first WinSAT
run, which happened before you logged on
for the first time, double-click the file with
(Initial) in its name. To see the most recent
results, double-click the last file in the list,
which is also the result of the most recent
WinSAT run.
Vista opens Internet Explorer and shows you the
contents of the XML file.
An XML file is a specific kind of text file that
contains settings organized in a standard way
that’s easy for programs to recognize and
digest. Values inside the XML file are set off
with beginning and ending tags, which are
stropped with < and > wedges. For example,
your overall WEI system base score is listed in
the WinSAT XML file as <SystemScore>
3.8</SystemScore>. Other XML values
follow the same <Tag>SomeValue</Tag>
form.
4.
Scroll down the WinSAT results (see Figure 1-8).
When you’re done, click “X” to exit Internet
Explorer.
• Figure 1-8: The full, raw results that get massaged to
produce your Windows Experience Index.
You can find your WEI component ratings
(formerly known as your System Performance
Ratings) under the tag <WinSPR>. Perhaps sur-
prisingly, as you can see in Figure 1-8, WinSAT
maintains seven component scores, not the five
that Vista shows you in the Performance
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