How to improve computer performance when you play Microsoft games

This article contains information to help you improve the performance of a computer when you play any one of the games that is listed in the "Applies to" section.

Symptoms of poor game performance may include the following:

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

Method 1: Analyze the computer components

Some games, such as Flight Simulator X, can determine the performance capability of your computer and adjust to that level as required. However, if you manually adjust 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 recommend that you make any game adjustments one at a time to determine whether each change makes any difference. To make adjustements, open the game, click Settings (display), and then turn on or turn off a setting.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista includes a tool that is named Performance Information and Tools. This tool lists your Windows Experience Index base score on that computer. This score indicates the performance and overall capability of your computer hardware.

To view the base score, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , click Control Panel, click System and Maintenance, and then click Performance Information and Tools.
2. View the Windows Experience Index base score and subscores for your computer. If you have recently upgraded your hardware, and if you want to determine whether your score has changed, click Update my score. If you don't see subscores and a base score, click Score this computer.

Note A computer that has a base score of 4 or 5 can run all the new features of Windows Vista with full functionality. This same computer can support high-end, graphics-intensive experiences, such as multiplayer and 3D gaming. and the recording and playback of HDTV content. Computers that have a base score of 5 were the highest performing computers that were available when Windows Vista was released.

For more information about the meaning of the Windows Experience Index base score, visit the following Microsoft Web site, and click About Your Computer Base score:

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 determine the speed of your hardware, including the video card, the processor, the memory, and the hard disk drive. These Web sites include benchmark tests that you can review.

Method 2: Restart the computer by using a clean startup

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

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

Windows Vista

1. Click Start
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   , type System Configuration in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
2. Click the General tab, and then click Selective Startup.
3. Click to clear the Load system services check box and the Load startup items check box.
4. Click to select the Load system services check box.
5. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
   • Process SYSTEM.INI File
   • Process WIN.INI File
   • Load Startup Items
4. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
5. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Click Play to view this streaming media demonstration.
After you perform a clean startup, empty the temp folder in Windows. Windows Vista

Note The temporary folder is located in each specific user folder--for example, C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Temp. To empty the Windows temporary folder, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type %temp% in the Start Search box, and then 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 located in each specific user folder (for example, C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temp).

To empty the Windows temporary folder, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type %temp% in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
3. On the File menu, click Delete.
4. Click Yes when you receive the following message:
   Are you sure you want to send these items to the Recycle Bin?
5. Test your game.

If the problem persists, continue to Method 3.

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

To do this, use one of the following methods:

• Contact the manufacturer of your video adapter to obtain and install the latest version of the driver for your video adapter.
• Contact the manufacturer of the sound card to obtain 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
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   , type dxdiag, in the Start Search box, and then 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.

Click Play to view this streaming media demonstration.

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

Windows Vista

1. Click Start
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   , type dxdiag in the Start Search box, and then 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, click Run, type dxdiag in the Open, and then click OK.
2. Click the Sound tab.
   
   Under Device, look for Name, and then look for Provider under Driver.
3. Click Exit.

For information about how to contact the manufacturer of your video adapter or sound card, visit the following Web site: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information. To see whether applicable driver updates are available, visit the following Microsoft Windows Update Web site: Click Play to view this streaming media demonstration.
If the problem persists, continue to Method 4.

Method 4: Improve multiplayer performance in games

Games that have fewer players generally provide better performance than games that have 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 problem persists, continue to Method 5.

Method 5: Adjust for best performance

1. Open System Properties.
   • Windows Vista
     
     Click Start
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     , right-click Computer, click Properties, and then click Advanced system settings.
     
     
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     If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
   • Windows XP
     
     Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance.
3. On the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then 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
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   , and then click Computer.
3. Right-click the hard disk drive that may be damaged.
4. Click Properties, and then 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 Microsoft Windows 2000

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right-click the hard disk that you want to check, and then 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. Select the drive where the game is installed, and then click Start.

For more information about how to buy a personal computer that is designed to handle today's demanding computer games, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For information about how to upgrade your graphics hardware, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about how to perform a clean startup of other operating systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For help with system performance issues in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft web page: