How to improve computer performance and latency(lag) problems?

**Kaspanova**

ok, i just seen this in the Knowledge Base, thought i'd
bring it up here as it is in terms one of the problems faced by a lot
of people.

Question How to improve computer performance and latency(lag) problems?

Answer Please try performing a cleanboot first by following the steps below, you cannot do this in Windows 2000:

Select the START button.
Select RUN.
Type in "msconfig" (without the ")
Press OK
Select the STARTUP tab.
If
you use Windows XP click Disable All at the bottom otherwise in the
list, uncheck all boxes EXCEPT for SCANREGISTRY and SYSTEM TRAY. Hit
apply and then OK or Close. Restart the computer then try the game
again.

If it continues you may want to reinstall DirectX and
your video card drivers to make sure you have the current recommended
version. You can get DirectX below, currently our games use DirectX
9.0c Runtime:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx

Refer to the supported cards and drivers page for the appropriate game:

EverQuest: http://eqlive.station.sony.com/support/tech_support/ts_video.jsp
EverQuest 2: http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/support_article.vm?label=SupportedVideoCards
Star Wars Galaxies: http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/content.jsp?page=Tech%20Support%20Supported%20Video%20Cards
PlanetSide: http://planetside.station.sony.com/support/tech_support/video_cards.jsp

If
your video card is not listed on the supported cards and drivers page
then you will need to upgrade to a supported card for the game to run
properly.

After updating DirectX and the video drivers you are
still having poor performance try disabling the sound card for
troubleshooting purposes:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel or Settings (Classic View).
Double-click System.
Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
For Windows Millennium Edition (Me), click the Device Manager tab.

Double-click Sound, Video and Game Controllers.
Double-click your sound card.
Under Device Usage, click Do Not Use This Device (Disable).
Note
For Windows Millennium Edition (Me), follow these steps: a. On the
General tab, under Device Usage, click to clear the Original
Configuration (Current) check box. b. If you do not see this check box,
click to select the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box.

Restart Windows, and then test the game

Next you may try to defrag the computer's hard drive(s)by following these steps:
Click
Start, point to Programs (or point to All Programs), point to
Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
Select the drive where the game is installed, and then click Defragment.
Note On Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me), click OK.

After defragmenting if you still encounter poor performance you may consider rebuilding the Page File.

Windows
XP users please note you must be recognized as an administrator or a
member of the Administrators group on your computer and on the computer
that you are managing to perform this task.

Click Start, and then click Control Panel or Settings.
Click Performance and Maintenance.
Click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Computer Management.
In the console tree, right-click Computer Management (Local), and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance.
In the Virtual memory section, click Change.
In the Drive list, click the drive that contains the paging file that you want to change.
Under Paging file size for selected drive, type 0 (zero) for both Initial size (MB) and Maximum size (MB), and then click Set.
Restart the computer, and then repeat steps 1 through 8.
Select the System managed size option, and then click Set.

Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
Click Restart in MS-DOS mode, and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type the following lines, and press ENTER after you type each line:
cd\windows
del win386.swp
exit
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click System.
On the Performance tab, click Virtual Memory.
Click Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.
In
the Hard Disk box, make sure that at least 50 megabytes (MB) of space
is available on the hard disk. If multiple hard disks are installed in
your computer, make sure that at least 50 MB of space is available on
the hard disk where Windows is installed.
Note If at least 50 MB of
space is not available on the hard disk, you must free space by
removing old files or programs that you do not need.

Click Cancel, and then click OK

Message Edited by Kaspanova on 08-16-2005 07:02 PM
Message edited by Kaspanova on 08/16/2005 10:02:32.

TetraCleric

Awesome thread. I pretty much think I'm gonna start coming to these threads to tweak my comp. Cause honestly, I dont know how to do half of it, and this kind of stuff, and you guys too, will help me alot.

**Raijinn**

Kaspanova,

Good stuff, this goes in the sticky!

**Kaspanova**

i followed most of this too, it does improve lag a deal. SMILEY

great TSR-Joel! anything i can do to help better the game is all good by me. SMILEY

**Raijinn**

Kaspanova,

Yep we're adding all the goodies to that Links to GOOD troubleshooting and performance enhancing threads! thread so be sure to refer people to it.