I have a problem with a game I have. The problem is it runs very slow... it takes about 1 full second to make a move in the game. It didn't used to do this, just started one day. The game is Rainbow 6. This game is like you are viewing through a persons eyes, and you move the head with the mouse and walk with arrow keys. I move the mouse to move the head and nothing happens for at least a full second and when it finally does move, it skips several frames...it's impossible to play. Like I said it used to work fine so I have no clue.

I reinstalled it many times, defragged and skandisked several times and still hasn't stopped. I have an AMD 333 cpu and 96 mb of RAM with an SiS 8mb video card. Anyone know how to fix it? Swearing at it doesn't seem to help <shrug>.

Computers are like people, there's as many bugs as there are computers. Mine did a simalar burble with a game. Somehow windows had forgotten what brand of monitor I was using(?!?) and couldn't decide if the resolution was safe and my screen acted just like you describe. I have a computer tech friend with a turbo laser and we trade work, but my Fiero does kick his laser's butt at speed (his computer system makes my system an abacus).

I'm almost as computer illiterate as you but I had a similar experience with my entire computer a while back. Right click on "My Computer", click on "Properties", click on "Performance" tab (don't do this while you're running other programs-it won't give you an accurate reading). See what the System Resources % free is. I can get mine up to 94%. Gateway (I'll never buy another of their computers, but some of their techs are pretty cool) said that anything under 75% will cause problems such as freezing or errors, etc. I had to disable a bunch of start up items. I guess everything that is in/on the start up menu (ie all the little icons that show up on your tool bar at the bottom of your screen-next to the clock) runs constantly. All I have there now is the "SB AudioPCI 64D Mixer" (big sound board-I can't seem to get rid of it) and Nortons Anti-Virus. If you click on "Start", click "Run", type in "MSCONFIG" and click OK that should bring you to your system configuration utility window. Click on the "Startup" tab and see how many check marks you have. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING ANY CHANGES NOW!!!!!! All I have checked are: System Tray, Ensonique Mixer (which must be the sound board) and Nortons. I'm running Win98. If you aren't running this, I may have just wasted my time and yours, but give it a try anyway. I called Gateway to find out what I could safely keep checked and what I could get rid of. BTW--everything that I unchecked was automatically put in one of my program folders under "Disabled Startup". I can still get to them if I need to. Sorry to be so long winded, but I hope this helps some.

games are sometimes very picky on the video drivers.(i know -))

try installing the newest video drivers for your card...resinatll directx...
and resinatll the game itslef.

it could be a hardware problem...like HEAT!!
if u said it ran fine before, and u didnt do anything to it then it just might be a cooling problem.

try blowing a fan into your computer and if that fixes it, then thats the problem.

but most likeyly it is a driver problem.

Try backing off your graphics resolution and details to see what happens. It could be that the CD-ROM is not keeping up or the cache got turned off. Do other games cause this same problem now too? Reload the newest version of DirectX (6.0 I think) like Overlord says. You should have plenty of RAM, maybe the video card is wimpy. Most of us harcore gamers are running 16 meg 3D cards plus Voodoo 3dfx graphics accelerator card(s). Yes, I've seen machines with 3 video cards, I only have two. Lots of junk could be causing conflicts. Go to the start menu, settings, control panel, system, device manager and see if their are only errors (yellow yield sign with a "!").

Thanks for the replies guys.

Monkey, I did what you said and went from 73% to 95%... didn't help

overlord, I got a new driver and I don't think there is a problem with heat, I took the cover off my tower... didn't fix it

batboy, I turned my graphics down... nada .
I guess my video card is a little weak, but it did fine a while ago. I want to get a 32 megger soon but I keep dumping money into my Fiero trying to get it ready for this coming autox season. I think I am running directx 7.0 but it could be 6.0... not sure. I think maybe the problem started when I got this latest version... again not sure. And no errors in device manager.

Should I reinstall Windows (98)? Every now and then Explorer does something illegal and shuts down. If so how do I go about it?

Thanx again guys.

I've noticed a few problems with DirectX 7.0.. I installed a new videocard less than a month ago, and I installed DX7 at the same time. I've noticed that windows runs worse now than it did before.. the new card has twice as much ram as the previous one, and it's faster. I'm in dire need of a reinstall tho, and my hard drive is starting to do strange things. I've just ordered a 10 gig hard drive, should be here by the end of the week.

As for the problems with Explorer.. if you want to avoid those, there's a simple upgrade you can install. It's called Linux.

(seriously tho.. windows just crashes all the time.. can't be fixed as far as I've ever seen.)

[This message has been edited by DaRkLoRD (edited 01-24-2000).]

If you have DXDIAG installed, try the following:

• Click Start
  
• Click Run
  
• Type dxdiag (if it's not installed, you'll get a message that it can't be found)
  
• In the window that appears, click the Display tab (if you don't have a display tab, search for the tab that has a "DirectX features" section)
  
• Make sure that both DirectDraw acceleration and Direct3D acceleration are enabled
  
• Run both tests by clicking Test buttons
  

If both tests are ok, or you do not have DXDIAG installed, make sure that your game is set up for hardware acceleration. Usually most games have an option in their Video or Graphics section to choose between hardware or software rendering.

If your game uses hardware acceleration, but it still runs slow you need to check your CPU usage. For this you need to have SYSMON installed:

• Click Start
  
• Click Run
  
• Type sysmon
  

A window will now pop up showing you the current processor usage. If you are running nothing else, it should be zero or close to zero. If it's near 100%, you have a background program running which is eating up most of your computer's resources.

To find out if anything is eating resources:

• Press CTL-ALT-DEL once
  
• "End Task" everything except Systray and Explorer
  
• Try your game again
  

If your game runs smoothly now, restart your computer and do the above again, but this time check the game's speed after you have disabled a program. This will tell you which program is slowing your machine down.

If this doesn't work, let me know. There are still more tests you could try to do!

scca fiero,

you mentioned that explorer crashes?
i had this problem as did my cousin, so i resinatlled windows, that fixed it.

How do you reinstall windows? I have tried in the past and it always says "windows is already installed".

Cliff my Direct 3D was disabled. I enabled it, but still hasn't fixed it yet.

I have done the CTRL-ALT-Delete before and never helped any.

When I did the sysmon thing, it came up with a peak of 8% then went to 1%.

The game still runs slow

Well, I don't know what happened but now it works! I think you did it Cliff. Thanks you guys.

Well, looks like Chris (SCCA) and four of his buddies will be whooping it up once again in beautiful downtown Ogden.

Sorry Chris, I couldn't resist. Of course, it'll only be forum veterans who will understand the significance of this post.

HAHA.... good ole Patrick