Stay out of the Control Panel [TIP]

Nothing good can come from poking around in the control panel. In fact when I connect to a client computer and see they have created a shortcut to the control panel I immediately remove it.  This is because, UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, you should not be in this area.  

All too often people are reading various websites and learning about 'tweaking their computer's performance' when in fact unless you KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, you should probably not be reading these forums and websites because unless you know the person that is writing those tips, odds are you are also going to be causing an escalating issue with your computer, once you make changes to one thing, unless you adjust other things, the first item you adjusted may contradict what the other thing was supposed to do.   An example can be 'screen sleep' versus 'computer sleep'

When you go to the power management you have the ability to change when the screen turns off after  no activity on the mouse or keyboard. You can also choose when the computer goes to sleep, which will also turn off the monitor but it also turns off the computer and you probably don't want to be doing this unless you are on a laptop that is presently running on battery power.  If you are a client of mine, then I have already adjusted these settings so you shouldn't be messing around with them.

If your computer is a desktop model then it is plugged in to AC power and should probably remain powered ON until you choose to turn it off. The screen however, I would set to turn off after 10 minutes.. this is about the right length of time since you don't really require a screen saver on an LCD monitor and we are more worried about power consumption these days so simply powering off the screen is best. When you move your mouse or press a key on the keyboard it will power up the monitor once again.. all is as it should be.   This is just one example of what I see being messed with all the time.. but there are many other things that can be adjusted within the control panel and UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.. stay out!  It is always best to ask someone that does know what they are doing.. your computer tech should be that person.

Now got and use your computer and leave the maintenance to the person that must also fix the problems when there are issues you admit that you can't fix yourself.