Gaming Problem

[Mr.Fedo]

Hi all, I have a new problem. My PC games are too slow when I try to play them, and the weirdest thing is that "Starcraft 1" is running slow!! and "Unreal Tournament 99 GOTY" is running slow too :S I tried to format my C drive but it didn't help. I don't know why this is happening. should I format all my PC's drives? or there is something else I can do? I hope that you can help me.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Isn't some software eating up CPU time (see with Task Manager or some other, more able, software e.g. from Sysinternals)? is your RAM working properly (get some test software; replace modules with spare)? Are your disks healthy and fast enough (see SMART infos; do a plain file copy from one hard disk to another; run defragmentation)? Is everything okay with your video card (get some test software; up-/downgrade drivers)? Is everything okay with your sound card (get some test software; up-/downgrade drivers; en-/disable EAX support)

[[Psych]]

Check for malware too. This could be a fair bet if it's suddenly gone slow, or if it's a good spec PC (faulty hardware aside). Some good bets would be:
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (Free)
- Super AntiSpyware
- Spyware Doctor
- Spybot S&D (Free)
- Lavasoft Ad-Aware (Free)

I would maybe run a half-decent online virus-scan too, from a reputable known company such as Norton, Panda or Trend. See if anything crops up. I would encourage scanning for spyware at least every 1-2 weeks. It's suprising what can be installed if you don't keep a close eye on what you visit, what you download, what's installed etc.

[Mr.Fedo]

I defragmented the C drive, and installed a program called "Performance Test V6.1" and the result was ... my pc games are still running slow :(

[Joe Forster/STA]

;384259']I would maybe run a half-decent online virus-scan too, from a reputable known company such as Norton, Panda or Trend.

Ohhh, please... Norton and TrendMicro are pieces of shit - I've had the bad luck of having experience with them -, dunno about Panda but we recommend AVG, Kaspersky or NOD32 - AVG has a free download, NOD32 has trial, dunno about Kaspersky.

[[Psych]]

Yeah, their actual installed software is, but the web scanners are a different story. Norton still undoubtedly has very good virus signatures, hence the recommendation there. The software itself is as bloated and slow as shit; that wasn't the reason. I don't believe AVG or ESET have web scanners, but if so, LMK.

I defragmented the C drive, and installed a program called "Performance Test V6.1" and the result was ... my pc games are still running slow :(

Those figures mean nothing to anyone. It's just some internal scoring for that app by the looks of it. And it certainly won't do anything to boost performance as it's a benchmarking app. To add to the list of things to try: new chipset/graphics drivers and latest directx runtimes.

[Mr.Fedo]

I used AVG 9 and scanned my whole computer, it found 5 threats and healed them but starcraft is still slow :S what should I do?

[[Psych]]

Which of the other suggestions have you tried (as it looks like you've skipped most of what was said)?

[Mr.Fedo]

Sorry I didn't see your suggestion :P I'm downloading Super AntiSpyware right now

[Mr.Fedo]

I reinstalled starcraft and it's working fine now but the other games are not (Super AntiSpyware is still downloading)

[Joe Forster/STA]

I listed a dozen things to try.

[Mr.Fedo]

The first thing I tried was what you said Joe :) so I tried everything until now. I scanned my computer with Super AntiSpyware, it found 3 adware threats and it healed them. Nothing changed

[Mr.Fedo]

so, any help?

[Joe Forster/STA]

You have tried everything I wrote, in my first post, in just 5 hours?!

[Mr.Fedo]

I used a program called "Performance Test" and it tests everything in the computer, that's how I tried everything you wrote :)

[Joe Forster/STA]

It can even replace physical RAM sticks and up-/downgrade drivers? Niiice!