How do you increase fps

My fps averages around 9.5 - 11.5. I know objects and stuff around you can affect your fps, but I know i used to get more than this. If I go up 4000m to skybox, hey its fantastic over 30fps.

I used to average somewhere around 13 - 15 but now its dropped. I havent changed settings, nor got any extras on av or extra huds than I used to have.

I actually made some improvements in performance lately by looking at things other than SL on my machine.

I used task manager and the performance monitor to see what was running pretty much all the time on my machine, and found some programs that I don't even use or need had parts that were active all the time. I could see my fps dip every time they fired up and gobbled CPU. Some audio management program was the worst culprit, and I don't know how or why it was so active all the time. I also played with comparing what things like having my browser open vs minimized vs closed did, and was able to clean up some bad habits I'd picked up.

That, plus making sure my partition was adjusted so that I had plenty of memory and running a defrag gained improved fps and a fair bit of performance.

Your mileage may vary, but for me that was all a big help.

I've opened my task manager and performance, but not at all sure what I am supposed to be looking for. Mine says

cpu usage is running approx. 0% - 4% and PF Usage is 787mb.

I dont understand what all the other readings actually mean, can you elorbrate on that for me please. Oh and the above readings are without sl running.

Your average fps can drop over a long period of time for a few reasons. One could be changes you have made to your computer, new programs you have installed that affect how it performs.
Another reason is changes in newer versions of the client, while normally new versions perform better for people, you could have certain hardware that just doesn't like the new changes.

The only real way to get a significant increase in performance on SL is to upgrade your computer. A newer graphics card is a good option and not that expensive. A new processor will give even better results, though you need to know what your motherboard will support.

Render as few pixels as possible.

Reduce you draw distance to minimum.
Open up the Advanced menu and uncheck anything you don't need to render - no need to animate textures or render particles. You don't always need to see clouds, trees or grass.

Under the advanced menu, go to "Rendering" and check "Run Multiple Threads". If you don't see the advanced menu (it's next to Help) CTRL-ALT-D will activate it.

If you're running Vista or Windows 7 with 2GB of memory or less, get a 4GB flash drive, stick it in a USB port and use it for Readyboost. That may help speed things up a bit.

I've been hacking around with putting the cache directory on a U3 USB flash drive hanging out the back of the machine. Every so often I just zap the whole drive with a reformat; keeps the cache traffic from fragging your disk. Shows up underperforming U3 flash drives pretty starkly too!

I am using Greenlife Emerald and done a couple of tests from Emerald back to sl. In the same location on Emerald I get 10 - 12 and on the sl viewer it is around 22fps.

Millia what will this actually do Rendering" and check "Run Multiple Threads".

I dont know but it just bought me 10 fps.

A USB drive is a lot slower then an internal hard drive though. Most likely you are hurting your performance putting your cache on it.