The Windows system can be criticized as much as you want, but it is undeniable that it works at its best. I mean that compared to Apple's OSX, which is installed only on a well-defined hardware, Windows can be installed on any new and old PC so it must try to be as compatible as possible with all the known and unknown electronics.
For this reason, Windows is full of internal variables and procedures that are also difficult for experts to understand, but the correct configuration of which can be decisive for the proper functioning of the computer.
We have already seen, in other articles, what to do if the computer is slow, explaining some basic maintenance to keep the PC optimized and fast.
In this case we go a little further into the system by discovering two key Windows procedures: DPC latency and CPU throttling which literally means throttling .
By doing things simple and without going into the technician, these two procedures regulate the CPU usage on the computer, that is, how Windows manages to exploit the internal processor to do its operations, from which slowdowns can result.
READ ALSO: Check hard disk and CPU activity when in use and by whom
1) DPC stands for Deferred Procedure Call and is a Windows mechanism that allows high priority tasks to defer low priority tasks to delay their execution.
The CPU can then perform all the required tasks, queuing low priority ones.
The point is that some drivers, if wrong, not good or if the device they manage has internal problems, can cause delays greater than necessary, called DPC latencies.
Put simply, if there is any piece of the PC, external or internal, that is malfunctioning but not too bad to not work at all, you may encounter some problems on Windows that you would not think are related to that.
The effect of DPC latency becomes visible thanks to a program like LatencyMon or as Latency Checker (only for Windows 7).
The Latency Checker description site is very explanatory of the issue that I am briefly describing here and explains well, in English, what DPC Latency means.
Using LatencyMon, after downloading and running it, you can start the control by pressing the Play button at the top and check if DPC latency problems are detected after 5 minutes.
The program is used to correct audio problems in streaming video playback, in case it has leaks or interruptions.
Cases of DPC latency, however, can also cause those problems such as a mouse movement that stops for a moment and then resumes, poor quality audio, video and audio that stutters in watching movies or slowdowns when streaming video from PC to TV or other devices.
If the program should report some drivers with problems, especially visible in the drivers tab, where there is a column that measures the DPC and which can act as an indicator of problems for the drivers that have a higher value.
Another type of slowdown is that caused by CPU throttling, which is also called Dynamic frequency scaling .
This technique is used to automatically scale and adjust the processor frequency, so as to save energy and not heat up when it does nothing.
This function is very useful on portable PCs, when they are powered by battery, but it is useless (if not to have a small energy saving) on fixed desktop PCs always attached to the power outlet.
It is therefore worth turning off the CPU Throttling which is automatically activated on each PC, regulated by the energy saving setting.
To make a long story short, as I had already written in the past in the article on how to maximize CPU use, to take full advantage of the CPU on Windows, open the Control Panel, go to the power saving options and select the Performance high and unbalanced.
If you want to leave the balanced ones, open the combination settings and then go to the advanced settings.
From here, look for " processor power savings " and at the minimum level of performance put 100% (obviously also at the maximum level).
For the moment I would not go further with the technicalities, referring to the article on hidden options to speed up Windows to find other nice tricks.
