Reduce the number of other programs you have running. Other software will interfere with the games and cause many unforeseen problems. Look especially hard at your virus program and any others that are constantly working in the background.

Joe

Probably does'nt need to be said but make sure you get the game's latest drivers from their respective sites.

Some good advice was given in the other posts but can you tell us which operating system you're using? ME is not game friendly (half my games have problems with ME) and I don't know about XP (I've heard its more stable but I've read on some game requirements that some game features aren't supported by XP). If your computer is mainly for gaming, perhaps you should consider using Windows 98 SE. Going to this link and shutting down some of your startup programs may help.

http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/index.htm

Good luck.

Mecadon

Dell Dimension 8100
Windows ME with A06 BIOS
Pentium 4 processor, 1.5 Gh
256 Mb RAM PC800
40 Gb hard drive (7200 rpm)
32 Mb Nvidia video card (tv out)
Soundblaster Live sound card
16x DVD ROM drive
16x10x40 CD-RW drive
17" Trinitron Monitor (it is worth it)
AL speakers with subwoofer
Epson 777 printer

Message Edited on 11/09/01 02:56PM by Mecadon

Often games have problems with newer video cards. Sometimes the O/S is an issue too. WINXP seeems to be the most stable gaming platform we've seen. Check with teh game vendors for patches.

You can disable items that autoload in the background by using MSCONFIG from the run line, uncheck things that you don't need from the startup group. This doesn't uninstall anything but will stop a lot of junk from loading