Matrix Games Forums

FJ,

The best (only?) way to rollback your DirectX version is to use a clever little program called DirectX Buster. I used it on my previous XP pro install when games started to fail on me. Will work for newer versions like DirectX 9.0 as well.

DirectX Buster

System recovery isnt an option

I put DX9 on the day it came out
thats too much to lose

If you use DirectX buster to rollback to DirectX 8..., that is NOT equivalent to a system recovery. You will merely use an older DirectX set.

I cant get the DX buster to work...its not picking up my windows xp cd

I went back to dx 8.1...but it didnt help


Back to square one

Falls.......go to http://www.computing.net/windows95/wwwb ... board.html only use xp forum, sign up, its free, post problem etc. should get results, works for moi

Totaly back to square one

I turned off all sound...and still got the slowdown
this is annoying

Is their a piece of software I can download to test my systems heat to see if its overheating?

If you think it's heat, take the cover off and blow a fan on the unit while it is running the game.

Originally posted by Nickel
If you think it's heat, take the cover off and blow a fan on the unit while it is running the game.

Its a notebook

Thats a tad bit hard


Ive let the computer sit for several hours...then I immediatly turned it on and lauched into a game...no dice

I want to be sure I understand exactly where you are now. You have what DX version on your notebook? Regardless of DX version, have you tried to uninstall the sound card software? Use the sound card disk uninstall if it has one- may also take out registry entries where windows doesn't always do this. After removing the sound card software, do a search of My Computer for any files that relate to the sound card, especially any log files. Delete these if you have any. Turn off your PC and then start it fresh.This still leaves possible registry entries. Do you know how to find leftover registry entries from uninstalled programs? If not there are some programs - like McAfee Quick Clean that when installed have a registry cleaner and can remove left over entries safely.
After being sure that you have no leftover files from the sound card try reinstalling the software, check the manual on the card and make sure whether it makes a difference if you install the software before you plug in the device. But before you do this you may want to just see if the card runs with the windows default sound drivers. I am assuming that this notebook came with an onboard sound card. Is this device disabled in Device Manger?

Originally posted by Fallschirmjager
Its not just on Forgotten battles...I tried Jedi Knight II and SpWaW and those two slowed down as well

I do have the latest drivers for my soundcard

I Have all 3 USB ports in use out of 4 (Mouse...DSL, soundcard and a joystick when I need it)

How do I find out what is a USB 2.0 and a USB 1.0?

I have two of each

Ill go look for USB drivers
I have no idea where to find them but Im going to go look

This site www.usbman.com is always my first stop for USB issues.

Originally posted by Nickel
I want to be sure I understand exactly where you are now. You have what DX version on your notebook? Regardless of DX version, have you tried to uninstall the sound card software? Use the sound card disk uninstall if it has one- may also take out registry entries where windows doesn't always do this. After removing the sound card software, do a search of My Computer for any files that relate to the sound card, especially any log files. Delete these if you have any. Turn off your PC and then start it fresh.This still leaves possible registry entries. Do you know how to find leftover registry entries from uninstalled programs? If not there are some programs - like McAfee Quick Clean that when installed have a registry cleaner and can remove left over entries safely.
After being sure that you have no leftover files from the sound card try reinstalling the software, check the manual on the card and make sure whether it makes a difference if you install the software before you plug in the device. But before you do this you may want to just see if the card runs with the windows default sound drivers. I am assuming that this notebook came with an onboard sound card. Is this device disabled in Device Manger?

Its not the sound....im positive of this now

Have you checked for conflicts in the hardware and software? Click/ Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools and on that menu select System Info. If you have tried all this I apologize. Max the System Info window. You will see a selection of all the operating hardware and software etc. on your PC. Go through each hardware device (click on it and you will get a window that tells about connectivity or status. Look for caution signs or Red exclamation marks and record what device or software they are associated with. Don't try to delete or change anything in System Info unless you are sure what you are doing. Right clicking on most of the things you see here will give a simple explanation of what it is or does. What you are trying to find in all this stuff is conflicts/ sharing/ or path problems. If you find any, again be sure to write them down before you close out. There is also a tool where you can show your CPU usage as a icon on your taskbar. You may want to activate this option so you can watch your processor usage and see if it is climbing for some reason as time goes on after you turned on your PC. Again I hope I'm not boring you with things you have already tried.

I didnt find anything out of the ordinary

After playing games...my CPU doesnt seem to be working any harder....but everything seems to take longer to do...very weird

Are you playing these games on-line? If yes, are you playing through anti-virus and a firewall? What kind? Did this issue come up right after you had DSL installed? Did your DSL installation include having to run a provider setup disk? Many DSL providers will install Active-X controls that configure how Explorer will run. If not on-line play- can you turn off on put your DSL modem in standby? If yes try game with modem off. The CPU window can be minimized and left on the task bar while you play the game. Can you ALT TAB from the game to the desk top and then open the CPU window quickly and look at the history graph?

Originally posted by Nickel
Are you playing these games on-line? If yes, are you playing through anti-virus and a firewall? What kind? Did this issue come up right after you had DSL installed? Did your DSL installation include having to run a provider setup disk? Many DSL providers will install Active-X controls that configure how Explorer will run. If not on-line play- can you turn off on put your DSL modem in standby? If yes try game with modem off. The CPU window can be minimized and left on the task bar while you play the game. Can you ALT TAB from the game to the desk top and then open the CPU window quickly and look at the history graph?

Ill try that

Yep

CPU is 100% no matter what I do after I get out of the game


But there are only about 28 processes

Well maybe we are getting somewhere. Did you have your modem turned off? Turn off your anti-virus and firewall if you have them. Make sure that they don't have the capability to go into some kind of standby mode- They are really turned off- and not passively monitoring, of course you want the DSL modem turned off when you do this. Do the CPU check again and see if it drops. If not return to the game and pause the game and check CPU again.

Originally posted by Nickel
Well maybe we are getting somewhere. Did you have your modem turned off? Turn off your anti-virus and firewall if you have them. Make sure that they don't have the capability to go into some kind of standby mode- They are really turned off- and not passively monitoring, of course you want the DSL modem turned off when you do this. Do the CPU check again and see if it drops. If not return to the game and pause the game and check CPU again.

OK will do

Testing now