Dell

Latitude ST

Best Practices Guide

This document describes optional changes that can be deployed on the Dell Latitude ST tablet to enhance performance.

Several options are discussed in this document:

1. Visual Settings 2. Third Party Software 3. MS Config 4. Services 5. Indexing 6. Desktop Optimization for Touch 7. Increase the Size of Windows Control Items 8. Windows Features

Adjusting Visual Setting for Optimized Performance This modification optimizes the visual settings.

1. Click on the “Start” button 2. Click “Control Panel” 3. Click “Performance Information and Tools”

4. Click “Adjust Visual Effects” in the upper left hand corner

5. Ensure the “Visual Effects” tab is selected

6. Select the “Custom” radio button 7. Ensure that only the bottom four check boxes are selected 8. Click “OK”

Third Party Software This modification provides the option to remove selected third party software.

1. Click on the “Start” button 2. Select “Control Panel” 3. Click on “Programs and Features”

4. Select the software that you wish to uninstall by holding your finger down to “right click” it 5. Select “Uninstall” from the menu that pops up 6. Follow the instructions to uninstall the software 7. Repeat this process for those software selections that you desire to uninstall. Recommended

selections could include: Skype, PowerDVD, Nero Sync Up, Windows Live, Windows Live Essentials, any “updater” type software such as Java, Adobe, etc.

8. You may need to reboot for changes to take effect

MSConfig 1. Click on the “Start” button 2. Click on “Control Panel” 3. Click on “Administrative Tools”

4. Double click on “System Configuration”

5. In the “System Configuration” window, click on the “Start Up” tab

6. Deselect any unnecessary startup applications by unchecking the box next to them. It is not

recommended to remove any Intel or Microsoft software. Only remove software than can be safely removed from start up.

7. Click “OK” 8. You may need to restart for these changes to take effect

Services This enhancement optimizes services.

1. Click on the “Start” button 2. Right click “Computer” 3. Click on “Manage” 4. Double click on “Service and Applications”

5. Double click on “Services”

6. Ensure the “Extended” tab is selected (Extended is the default tab)

7. Double click on “Adaptive brightness” 8. Locate the “Startup Type” drop down menu about half way down the page 9. Select “Manual” from the drop down menu

10. Click “OK” 11. Repeat this process for the following services:

a. “Smart Card”. In the drop down menu, select “Manual” b. “Superfetch”. In the drop down menu, select “Automatic”. Superfetch will improve

performance over time. 12. Review each service line item in the services menu. Consider setting to manual or disable

those services which do not need to start automatically (set to “manual”) or are not needed (set to “disable”)

Indexing This enhancement optimizes indexing.

1. Click on the “Start” button 2. In the search box, type “Indexing” 3. Click on “Indexing Options” from under the control panel choices 4. In the “Indexing Options” window, click on the “Modify” button

5. Deselect “Offline Files” from the “Change Selected Location” section at the top

6. Click “OK” 7. Click “Close”

Desktop Optimization for Touch This enhancement increases the size of the desktop icons.

1. Right click desktop by holding down your finger on the desktop 2. Click “Personalize” from the menu that pops up 3. Select “Display” (lower left hand corner)

4. Select the radio icon for “Medium 125%”

5. Click “Apply”

Increase the Size of Windows Control Items 1. Right click desktop by holding down your finger on the desktop 2. Click “Personalize” 3. Towards the bottom, select “Window Color”

4. Locate the “Item” drop down menu. Select “Active Title Bar”

5. In the “Size” box, change the default to “36” 6. Click “Apply”. The Maximize, Minimize and Close buttons will become larger. You can

modify the size of the buttons to meet your touch needs.

Windows Features

1. Click on the “Start” button 2. Click on “Control Panel” 3. Click on “Programs and Features”

4. Click on “Turn Windows Features On or Off” 5. Deselect “Indexing Service”, in the “Turn Windows Features On or Off” window. Deselecting

this feature will disable the ability to search for items in Windows

6. You can deselect other features as necessary. Some suggestions are: 7. Deselect “Media Features”. Deselecting this feature will disable the ability to windows media

center features 8. Expand “Print and Document Services” 9. Deselect “Windows Fax and Scan”. This disables fax and scanning 10. Deselect “Internet Printing Client”. Disables client to use HTTP to connect to printers on web

servers 11. Deselect “Windows Gadget Platform”. Disable the ability to show gadgets on the desktop 12. Deselect “Windows Search”. Provides content indexing, property caching, and search results

for files, e-mail, and other content