Sometimes it can be handy to tweak settings to get more for your PC.

With Vista's Windows Experience Index it can be handy to manually change the score so you can get extra features that apply to PC's with a higher score.

1. Go to folder C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore\

2. In there you will see a file called something like 2007-02-22 23.31.28.374 Assessment.WinSAT.xml where the format is YYYY-MM-DD HH.MM.SS.XXX Assessment.WinSAT.xml. You may also have a file YYYY-MM-DD HH.MM.SS.XXX Assessment (Initial).WinSAT.xml if you have a new PC.

3. Open the file in an XML compliant Editor. I used XML Notepad 2007.


4. Change the value for the Specific Score. As of March 2007 5.9 is the higest score you can have.

5. Save the File.

If you say change the GraphicsScore value to something over 3.0 then this will allow the Photo Screensaver to have Themes.
Microsoft will allow a higher score than 5.9 in the future when the relative performance of future computers far exceed a score of 5.9