Thread: How to improve computer performance when you play Microsoft games

Symptoms of the problem:

These articles have information to help you improve the performance of a PC when you play any one of the games that is programmed in the "Applies to" section.

Symptoms of poor game performance may consist of the following:

Intermittent playback of video clips
Slow video frame rates
Choppy game play
Choppy or poor-quality video display
Distorted audio playback

Steps to resolve the problem:

Method 1: Analyze the computer components

A few games, such as Flight Simulator X, can find out the performance ability of your PC and adjust to that level as necessary. However, if you manually set the game settings to a level that your video card and processor cannot handle, you will see a slowdown in the performance of the game.

We suggest that you done any game adjustments one at a time to find out whether each change makes any variation. To make adjustments, open the game, click Settings (display), and then turn on or turn off a setting.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista contains a tool that is named Performance Information and Tools. This tool records your Windows Experience Index base score on that PC. This score specify the performance and overall capability of your PC hardware.

Follow these steps, to view the base score:

1. Click on the Start button >>and after that click on the Control Panel>>click System and Maintenance>> click Performance Information and Tools.

2. View the Windows Experience Index base score and sub scores for your PC. If you contain recently upgraded your hardware, and if you want to find out whether your score has changed, click Update my score. If you do nott see sub scores and a base score, click Score this computer.

Other Windows editions:

If your computer runs on an edition of Windows other than Windows Vista, you can use any of several third-party Web sites to find out the speed of your hardware, contain the video card, the processor, the memory, and the hard disk drive. These Web sites contain benchmark tests that you can review.

Method 2: Restart the computer by using a clean startup

When you run Microsoft Windows, typically there are some programs that start automatically and run in the background that may interfere with the game. These programs may contain antivirus and system utility programs. When you do a clean startup, you avoid these programs from starting automatically.

You must be logged on as administrator or else a part of the Administrators group to complete this process. If your PC is attached to a network, network policy settings can avoid you from finishing this process.

Windows Vista

1. Click on the Start button, after that type as System Configuration in the Start Search box, >>and press the ENTER.

If you are provoked for an administrator password or else for a authentication, type the password, or else click on Continue.

2. Click the General tab>> and after that click on Selective Startup.

3. Click to clear the Load system services check box with the Load startup items check box.

4. Click to select the Load system services check box.

5. Click OK>>click Restart.

Windows XP

1. Click on the Start button>>and after that click on the Run command >>type msconfig in the Open box>> click OK.

2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.

3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:

o Process SYSTEM.INI File
o Process WIN.INI File
o Load Startup Items

4. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box>> click Disable All.

5. Click OK>> click Restart.

Windows Vista

1. Click Start, type %temp% in the Start Search box>> press ENTER.

2. On the Edit menu,>>click Select All.

3. On the File menu>>click Delete.

4. Click Yes.

5. Test the game.

Windows XP or Windows 2000Note The temporary folder is situated in each exact user folder (E.g. C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temp).

Follow these steps, to empty the Windows temporary folder:

1. Click Start>>click Run, type %temp% in the Open box>>click OK.

2. On the Edit menu>>click Select All.

3. On the File menu>>click Delete.

4. Click Yes when you get the following message:

Are you sure you want to send these items to the Recycle Bin?

5. Test your game.

If the issues persist, continue to Method 3.

Method 3: Update the video adapter driver and sound card driver

Use one of the following techniques, to perform this:

• Contact the manufacturer of your video adapter to get and install the latest version of the driver for your video adapter.

• Contact the manufacturer of the sound card to get and install the latest version of the driver for the sound card.

Step 1: Determine the name and the manufacturer of your video adapter

Windows Vista

1. Click Start, type dxdiag, in the Start Search box, >> press ENTER.

2. Click the Display tab.

Under Device, look for Name and Manufacturer.

3. Click Exit.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Run, type dxdiag in the Open box, and then >>click OK.

2. Click the Display tab.

Under Device, look for Name and Manufacturer.

3. Click Exit.

Step 2: Determine the name and the provider of the sound card

Windows Vista

1. Click Start, type dxdiag in the Start Search box, >> click dxdiag.exe in the Programs list.

2. Click the Sound tab.

Under Device, look for Name and Drivers, and then look for Provider.
3. Click Exit.

Windows XP

1. Click Start>>lick Run, type dxdiag in the Open>> click OK.

2. Click the Sound tab.

Under Device, look for Name, and then look for Provider under Driver.

Method 4: Improve multiplayer performance in games

Games that contain fewer players generally give better performance than games that contain many players. To improve multiplayer performance in games, reduce the number of players who can play the game when you set up a LAN or an Internet multiplayer game. Additionally, reduce the number of players who are joining the Game.

If the issue persists, continue to Method 5. Click Exit.

Method 5: Adjust for best performance

1. Open System Properties.

o Windows Vista

Click Start, right-click Computer>>click Properties >> click Advanced system settings.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

o Windows XP

Click Start>>right-click My Computer>> click Properties.

2. On the Advanced tab>>click Settings under Performance.

3. On the Visual Effects tab>>click Adjust for best performance>> click OK.

4. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.

5. Test your game.

If the problem persists, continue to Method 6.

Method 6: Check the hard disk for errors

Windows Vista

1. Exit all open programs.
2. Click Start>> click Computer.
3. Right-click the hard disk drive that may be damaged.
4. Click Properties>> click the Tools tab.
5. In the Error-checking area>>click Check Now.
6. Click to select the Automatically fix file system errors check box.
7. Click to select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.
8. Click Start.

Windows XP or else Microsoft Windows 2000

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right-click the hard disk that you want to check>> click Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, in the Error-checking section>>click Check Now.
4. Click to select the Automatically fix file system errors check box and the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.

Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.

2. Choose the drive where the game is installed>> click Start.