Vista: Increase Your Windows Experience Index Base Score
March 13th, 2007
I have run into some Vista users who are constantly competing to see who has the higher Windows Experience Index base score. They are going out and purchasing processors, memory and video cards just to get a higher number (and I would hope, better performance). However, if a higher score is all they are interested in, they are wasting their money. You can increase your base score easily, without purchasing a piece of hardware or downloading a driver.
Your base score is calculated by the WinSAT (Windows System Assessment Tool) and stores the results in a XML file. By altering this file, you can beef up your score and fake out your friends. You’ll feel like you have a better machine, although it will still function the same as it did before. At least you can dream!
Open the Control Panel, select System and Maintenance. Click Performance Information and Tools. This will display your current base score plus the subscores for your system. Here’s what mine looked like:
Close the window. Time to create an extra XML file. You need to Update your score, to do so use the steps outlined here. Once it has completed you are ready to start the process:
To access the XML file, follow these steps:
- Open the Windows Explorer and navigate to the Windows directory.
- Open the Performance directory, followed by the WinSAT directory.
- Open the DataStore folder.
- You will see two or more XML files, we want to work with the most recent one (the one you just created).
- Right-click the file and select Properties.
- Click the Security tab.
- Click the Edit button.
- When the UAC prompt appears, click Continue.
- Click the Add button.
- Input your username and click OK.
- Select the username and then click the Full Control checkbox in the Allow column.
- Click OK.
- When the Security prompt appears, click Yes.
- We can now modify the file. Right-click the XML file, click Open With and select WordPad.
- Look for the information within the WinSPR tags.
- Modify the scores. Remember, your base score will be the lowest value of the 5 subscores. Make it realistic, nobody is going to be fooled with a massive increase in your score.
- Save the file.
Now go back to the Performance Information and Tools window and check your modified score. Here’s my modification:
To bring your system back to the real world, simply delete the XML file.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:09 am
Ahahahaha…. How to increase it? This is how to fake it!!! I LOVE IT!
March 14th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Digg it at http://digg.com/software/How_To_Hack_The_Vista_Windows_Experience_Score
March 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
hehe.. nice..
dugg it..
March 21st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
haha this is funny cool trick
March 26th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
ya! now do you actaully have any important informaton for people that are trying to tweak there systems???
March 31st, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I have some information on how to tweak your system Mark. Try not basing your performance off dumb benchmarks like Window’s cash net system.
Basing your score off the lowest component? How dumb can you guys possibly be.
Go use something synthetic like 3dmark, or Aquamark. As synthetic and problematic they may be, at least they are showing you actual performance.
Learn about your system, look at the price of your processor on the market. See how old your system is and learn about the specs in your PC.
The last thing anyone should be looking at is their Vista WEI. If it actually ran some visual tests and some synthetic clock tests and gave you an average score, only then could you trust it.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:53 am
WEI may very well be rudamentary, but it isn’t useless. It definitely has to be taken with a grain of salt.
WEI tests Vista APIs with your hardware. 3DMark takes more time. In addition, that sort of testing is usually done with two additional benchmarkers. Geeks who haven’t got real work to do, and spend all their time gaming and tinkering with systems won’t think twice about spending all day playing with this sort of stuff. But real people who use computers for work, like CAD, scientific and/or medical research, they want a quick approximation. WEI is that. It identifies hardware bottlenecks.
Faster GPUs will offload more work from the system CPU. More video RAM offloads more from system RAM, depending on how your drivers were programmed. I’m not sure WEI accounts for this kind of benefit.
But if normal users want a quick-ref of what to buy for their next upgrade, WEI is good.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:03 am
how do i reset my scores.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
this will enable aero glass?
May 25th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
[…] Vista: Increase Your Windows Experience Index Base Score — Digital Streets (tags: vista score) […]
June 15th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Hi, can you please tell me how vista determine the ‘Performance for windows desktop aero feature?’ Mine shows it at 2.3 and Graphics at 3. I have a C2D, 2Ghz, intel 945 display. Just surprising that it is lower than graphics. thnx
June 19th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
very confusing,games work, leave alone.
June 29th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
i could not add my name to the list (step 9). so what did i do wrong
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:21 am
lol hilarious, now people who wanna compete can burn in hell !
!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:34 am
If I increase my score from 2.0 to 3.0 will I then be able to use the fancy visual effects in Slideshow?
This requires a minimum graphics index of 3.0
October 17th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
No, you will not be able to view anything, this does not change your system, it only creates the illusion of greatness over other.
Oh, and Kenyan, not your real name, your log in. And if your don’t have admin access, you probably can’t.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
i have trouble upgrading my base score its like in a 2.0 , i need it to be 3.0 or more , i need your help!!
October 25th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I have a normal pc with base score 5.2
CPU Q6600 : 5.9
Memory 2 GB : 5.5
Graphics 8600 GT: 5.2
Gaming Graphics 512MB : 5.2
Disk 500Gb : 5.6
November 10th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I, too, have a non-tweaked computer with a base score of 5.6.
Core 2 Quad: 5.9
Corsair XMS 2, 800MHZ 3GB: 5.9
Nvidia 8600GT :5.9 Aero; 5.6 Gaming
320GB: 5.6
November 29th, 2007 at 8:13 am
My non-tweaked computer has a WEI of 5.9, which I find curious since there are faster computers out there:
Core2 Extreme QX6700 running at 2.93 GhZ
Corsair XMS 2 800 MHZ 4 GB
Dual 512 MB (SLI-enabled) GeForce 7900
Raid 0 10K RPM boot volume (1.8 TB total storage)
On the current Futuremark PCMark Advantage version, there are no comparable systems and overall performance shows about 4000 machines reporting better performance (and 11000 reporting slower).
And FWIW, my Dell 1705 notebook (all stock) has a WEI of 5.0
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:24 pm
i like to asist me the way i could learn more windows
February 19th, 2008 at 9:28 am
wht so this dont work its just a trick i actully though dis workes
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 am
CPU: q6600 scores 5.9
RAM: 4 Gigz Crucial Balistics scores 5.6
Graphics Card: Nvidia 8800gt
Gaming: 5.9
Graphics: 5.9
PHD: 300 gig pos hard drive cost me $80 “refurbished”
and it results in a 5.8 somehow..
Total: 5.6
Asus Maximus Forumla MB
Quad6600
4 gigs CB ram
8800 gt
POS Hd 7200 rpm
My WEI has sustained a 5.6 from beginning. I edit my startup, services, and registry and more. Still a 5.6 not really trying to raise it, I’ve heard 5.9 from Frys Electronics is the highest they’ve seen.
A 5.9 is easily achievable using a q6600, 8800gt + graphics card sli, 4 gigs of top notch ram XMS, ect, and a 10000 rpm Hard like the raptor should do the trick.. Very affordable..Especially built yourself OS installed yourself, and parts ordered online…Btw very nice comp asmod
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 am
my base score is 9.
hahahahaha
February 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hey Bill,
The highest the WEI will currently go is 5.9. There is talk of upgrading it when “higher-end” hardware makes this a necessity. Lol, hardware has left Vista in the dust. FROM DAY ONE.
One other thing, I have a Raptor 10k and WEI gives it a score of 5.6(which hapens to be my base score). I have read it lies in the fact that the drive is relativley small in capacity. Which is really stupid, since it it one of the fastest HD available.
Your POS HD got a score of 5.8 due to the size of the drive not so much the speed, so the indexing score is’nt rweally very accurate at all. It’s a useful tool for people who “got a Dell” and want to upgrade a component that they got shafted on. But for those that build their own this is a VERY basic picture of what you might need to upgrade.
To the guy that has a “normal” pc with the q6600…um a QUAD CORE PROCESSOR IS NOT THE NORM. I have a AMD2 BE 6400+ 3.4 and it gets a 5.9 So any component that is hitting the WEI max is more likely than not performing substantialy better than it is rated. As I’m sure your Quad is performing better than my Dual Core.
Too bad Intel is gonna have to take one in the rear for thier rip-off. Read that U of WM turned down a settlement of 250 mil…good for them. Thats what Creative should have done when Apple paid them off with 100mil for stealing the iPod.
Go AMD!!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
What is the highest base score before fucking it up like this?
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Hmmmm….im a bit confused with some of this…
I only have 2gb of ddr2 800mhz ram, which was extremely cheap for here; $75, yet i scored 5.9 for ram… anyway, reading this confirmed that this test is not to be taken to heart…. the low end quad cores scoring full 5.9/5.9 does not represent your true end performance of your cpu. For certrain applications it will be useful but generally the new 3ghz penryn Core 2 will smash the low end quad. I did quite a bit of research on it when i bought my pc last week and eventually ended up with the 2.66ghz core2 due to the wait for 3ghz core2. anyway moving on
Processor- E8200 Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz- :5.5
Memory- Kingston 2gb 800mhz Pc2-6400 CL5 :5.9
Graphics- :5.9
Gaming Graphics- Winfast 8800GT 512mb :5.9
Primary hard disk- 500gb WD cheap :5.7
Mobo is a GA-P35-DS3L and a 5.1 Sound blaster sound card.
To give perspective on this:
Ram- Cheapest DDR2 i could find, not only is there ddr2 ram with better latency, but there is ddr3 ram available that kills mine and yet i score 5.9?
Processor- 3ghz cpu and 3.16ghz cpu’s also available faster than mine, and also another few quads faster again, thats only 5-6 cpus that are performing better than mine…. as appose to my ram which falls so far down the ladder, how does a top rating cpu score 5.5 when terrible ram scores max?
My graphics card is approximately the third best…. BUT, due to sli gfx, at least all the top 5 cards in gfx would be better than mine, plus the top two by themself better, so thats 7 ways that will out perform my gfx card.
Now my hard drive…. cheapest 500gb hard drive i could find.. and scored 5.7?
7th best gfx format- Max score
6th best cpu- 5.5/5.9
Really poor ram- Max score
Hard drive one of the cheapest- 5.7/5.9
Regaurdless of opinions on cpus between quad and core, it just doesnt make any sence that ram is max performing and cpu isnt.
I know the test is old and out dated but reguardless it’s beyond me how innacurate it is…
Btw i am from australia and the whole set up including vista($120), assembly($70), 2% charge for credit card($20)— totalling $1,210
with hardware alone it only cost me $1,000.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ba3LTmDy2B0
April 15th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Nice trick. However you said “Make it realistic, nobody is going to be fooled with a massive increase in your score” yet you put for the disk data transfer rate a score of 6.4 was entered. Highest possible score right now is 5.9, until microsoft comes out with some update.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I bought ma hp dv6767tx before two months. It has got c2d processor, 3gbs of ddr2 ram, 256mbs of graphics dedicated memory. But damn it has got
processor-4.8
memory-4.5
graphics-3.4
gamin gra-4.3
primary hd-5.1
ma friend who bought an hp has only 128mb graphics n 2gbs of ram. But it’s base score is 4.0 wit, d graphics subscore.
Am i fooled by hp? Pls tel me ways to truely increase ma rating.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
The graphics score is highly debatable. I was getting a 1.0 score with default drivers. When I upgraded to the most recent drivers that score jumped up to 5.2
Score is not based on hardware alone, it’s also dependent on drivers, etc.