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]

Originally Posted by [Psych]

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.

Originally Posted by 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

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