ScinteX

ok to replace your integrated graphics: Make sure you are on a wooden table, or kitchen sideboard etc... avoid static! Also get a static wrist strap if u can as its possible to break cards just by touching them in the wrong place. Unplug (!) Take the cover off your pc Unscrew/take out the right blanking panel (hopefully this will be the agp one! but if not, the pci one). Fit your new card in, and dont be frightened to give it quite a hard push, until it is seated correctly. Screw the top of the card to the case so it doesnt wobble about. Dont put the cover back on just yet Turn on the PC, and watch it boot up. It should be this simple as: "Onboard video is automatically disabled when an AGP video card is installed". That was on the intel site. Dont know if it will happen this way, lets keep our fingers crossed Put the cover on. Now it really should be very simple. If the integrated graphics still work, then go into the BIOS and disable them manually. i assume there is an option to disable them. Hopefully u wont have to do that. Windows will appear and say its found a new card. Close the wizard that it may bring up. Go on the manufacturers website for the new card and download the latest drivers and install them. Reboot. Job done

Hey thats ok Now your question appears to be quite simple but im not 100% on the answer. Reason is that the link you gave is to a PCI card and not an AGP one. Now Id hope that you have an AGP slot in your motherboard!! But only you can tell us that. Have a look at this thread, and see if you have a slot for AGP. If you find a slot that looks like the one in that thread (i.e. in the middle, towards the back but its position is different from the other slots) then hopefully, in tiny print, it will say AGP. I am 95% sure that your board should have one since the Intel 845G chipset is fairly new. However Im also guessing that your Pc is somethng like a Dell. HP, etc. This makes things slightly more tricky as you never quite know what they get up to in the inner workings post here the make model, so we can double check. Lets assume u have an AGP slot. Your chipset supports up to 4x AGP. Some manufacturers like SiS use the same chipset as yours but manage to get 8x. I think this is to do with having a slightly different chipset, allbeit based on the 845. Theres a whole host of variations, hence adding to the confusion!! Also I understand that 8x agp cards are backward compatible with 4x...and its only voltage difference that can cause a problem. However, just make sure u can return a new card on the off chance it doesnt work. I took your budget to b around $100 US. For that amount you can get something like: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=303437&pfp=BROWSE or http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=302575&pfp=BROWSE Of course you are going to get more bang for your buck. The cards above should be fine (although im no sims expert!). Just ensure u can take a card back if the desired results arent seen.

Hi Mike, I would suggest that there are 3 areas that are 'tweakable', and it falls to not only the game, but your setup too. 1-Settings for the game itself 2- XP tweaking 3-graphics tweaking For number 1, this would mainly involve setting graphics levels to low and see if it runs ok. If it does, set some areas to medium, and retest. Keep going hgher until the game play suffers. For number 2, check Black Viper's site here regarding XP services and tweaks, plus APK's pages:- http://www.ntcompatible.com/article1.shtml http://www.superspeed.com/aptipandhin.html#t6 http://www.avatar.demon.nl/cenatek.html http://www.avatar.demon.nl/APKTuneup.html http://www.avatar.demon.nl/APK.html http://www.pixelstation.com/APKWeb/index.html You can also install the intel application accelerator Also do the usual cleanup of programs sitting in the system tray next to the clock, a defrag, spyware scan etc. Then for number 3, get the latest drivers for your graphics here. I feel that I should point out that Intel's integrated graphics arent exactly beefy when you compare them to a stand alone card from someone like ATI or nVidia. If you have tweaked your system and the set the graphic levels to low, and the game still runs slow then the bottleneck is gonna be those integrated graphics. There are serveral posts in various forums that are full of users saying that they got a budget ati/nvidia card and the games is a lot more playable.

If you end up having to get a new board i HIGHLY recomend the DFI Lanparty series I have a UV fetish lol

On the left (credit to HardOCP)

hey waffler my AGP slot is last in line (counting from edge towards centre)- i.e. its more or less in the middle of the mobo at the back. It looks almost the same size as a PCI slot actually. Also, its length means that it does not go right back to the case edge like PCI slots do, theres a gap. Any idea what mobo u have? Might be easier and more accurate to give you an answer that way.

Genius

interesting setup. I keep going between lean-speed-machine to slightly bloated by nicer to use setups! You know I have just spent about 15 minutes trying to find the post you did ages ago re: your new tools. Im such a spud somedays- its in your sig- and how many times have a seen that?! :x LOL!! Gonna do a bit more playing with them toys

Hey guys- no probs in me spending some time finding an almost-there-solution! LOL The thread below is handy!! Me and Alec keep spamming it with our little progs every so often. I chucked this link in there, which may well be of help (if you can program C++ ) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Shell Extensions (C++) Post #146031 in this thread

Hi! No doubt from your searches you would have noticed that is becoming somewhat of an 'issue' Intrestingly enough this page says DirectX 9.0b. Also on that page it mentions that you will need to have the VB6 runtime files in order to run these checking tools. I suggest a a quick look at this page since it has 2 checking tools on there that could possibly point to the specific problem. Your problem is of course not quite run of the mill since it seems that your graphics card should be fine and that SP2 *may* be causing a problem. Do other games work? If this is the only 3D game you have going, you may want to check that Direct3D and DirectDraw are enabled. Double check by typing "dxdiag" in the run command, then checkout the Display tab. Whilst you are there have a look at the other tabs and press all of the test buttons. DXDiag also flags up any odd files it finds that may be causing a problem. Did you by anychance have a Beta release of DirectX installed previously, at any point? This can cause a problem if you have. You can try enabling the Cryptographic Services (Control Panel/Admin Tools/Services) and then run the 9.0c installer. It certainly appears as though something is missing as you should get the good old Windows wizard that makes you click Next a zillion times and performs that rather long "inventory" If none of this works then it looks like something is really corrupt in your XP installation. If all else fails try the following (hey anything is worth a shot now!). You could wait 24hrs and see if anyone else replies in this thread with a better idea (Ensure you have SP2 installation EXE around or you are prepared to download it again!) Place the text below in a .bat (batch) file (e.g. paste it into a new notepad document and save it with e.g. the name fixme.bat. Make sure your file extension view is ON, otherwise your file may save as FixMe.Bat.Txt ) Reboot your pc then run the batch file by double clicking on it. The batch file will tell you when it is finished. I have left the credit in here since this guy deserves it. I was going to explain the manual method of doing this but scripting is so much easier Start batch file: --------------------8<---------------------- @echo off :: Author: Torgeir Bakken :: Date: 2004-08-30 :: Stop the Cryptographic service %SystemRoot%\System32\net.exe stop CryptSvc :: Rename all log files in the %SystemRoot%\Security folder FOR %%a in (%SystemRoot%\Security\*.log) DO move /y %%a %%a.old :: Rename the %SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2 folder move /y %SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2 %SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2old IF not exist %SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2 GOTO CONT01 :: In case the folder rename failed because of locked files :: rename all log files in the %SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2 folder FOR %%a in (%SystemRoot%\System32\CatRoot2\*.log) DO move /y %%a %%a.old SET catroot2locked=True :CONT01 cls echo. echo Please wait, this might take some time.. :: Unregister DLL files that are associated with Cryptographic Services CD /D %SystemRoot%\System32 start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u softpub.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u wintrust.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u initpki.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u dssenh.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u rsaenh.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u gpkcsp.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u sccbase.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u slbcsp.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s /u cryptdlg.dll :: Reregister DLL files that are associated with Cryptographic Services start /wait regsvr32.exe /s softpub.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s wintrust.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s initpki.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s dssenh.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s rsaenh.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s gpkcsp.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s sccbase.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s slbcsp.dll start /wait regsvr32.exe /s cryptdlg.dll :: Configure and start the Cryptographic service %SystemRoot%\system32\sc.exe config CryptSvc start= auto :: Start the Cryptographic Service %SystemRoot%\system32\net.exe start CryptSvc cls echo. If "%catroot2locked%"=="True" GOTO CONT02 echo Finished, please reboot the computer and then try to install SP2 again. . GOTO END :CONT02 echo Please run the batch file again with a newly restarted computer.. echo (but if it is newly restarted, just do a reboot and then try echo to install SP2 again).. GOTO END :END echo. pause --------------------8<----------------------

cheers alec- I thing the flavour of the week seems to be nifty tools!

I would imagine that there isnt actually a choice to be made- set everything to "auto". If you're running gbe all the way to the desktops you actually have less of a potential problem You could have 3 different speeds on a network: 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 1000 Mbps. Cos of this, the IEEE developed a method known as auto-negotiation to eliminate the possibility of dissimilar technologies interfering with each other. If you set everything to auto then if you do end up with a device thats operating at 10/100/half/full then they will work out for themselves what the best operating speed/mode is. This can be a very technical subject so I wont harp on lol

Hi Lizzy, and welcome. It appears that your system is right on the edge on the minimum requirements for the game. Sims 2 can be really resource intensive, requiring a reasonably new system. Although (as peter says) you could just go and buy a new graphics card it is not that simple. Judging by the age of your PC some of the newer cards may not work to their full potential. Anyhow lets skip that issue for the moment and try to get it working without you having to buy anything new! First you need Microsoft DirectX 9.0c. Download that here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/0/d/80d7e79d-c0e4-415a-bcca-e229eafe2679/dxwebsetup.exe You dont actually need a card that can take advantage of DirectX 9 in order to play this game. You can happily install direct x 9 and be up to date. Now, in the Sims 2 there is a thing called "T&L". This is important. It stands for Transform & Lighting. Unfortunately your card doesnt support this, so therefore Maxis recommend that your CPU and RAM have to be a bit beefy in order to run the game, since the resources that T&L require are now placed on those components, rather than being handled by a newer graphics card. From Maxis: If you have a non-T&L capable video card (such as TNT2, Intel, or Rage for example) then you need at least: 2.0 GHz processor 128 MB RAM if Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000 At least 3.5 gigs of free hard drive space Does your PC meet those requirements? If you are not sure then download this tool: ServoPro TS2 System Requirements Checker http://sims2.servopro.com/TS2sysreqc.htm Essentially it will tell you if your PC can run Sims2. Download it, unzip it and run the Sims2SysReq.exe. When it opens, click the "Check System" button. With any luck you should see 5 green ticks appear, indicating that everything is ok. Your card is also known as a Savage 4- its a grey area since Savage went down the tubes.... as did S3 so getting hold of drivers is pretty hard. Diamond does offer a driver that may work: http://www.diamondmm.com/support/old/library/graphics/STEALTH/STEALTH%20s5XX.exe If you cant access it, go here and register your email- they will send you the link. So then, Install DirectX 9.0c Reboot Install your new drivers Reboot Run the checking tool Run the game Maybe soon you should perhaps look at upgrading your PC since games are always going to be one of the most resource intensive things you can do- of course new games require newer technology. For now though, I think (hope!) you have got away with it!

Hi Alan, Try this http://files.chatnfiles.com/The%20Pier%20Shareware%206/016/files.htm Scroll to the bottom of the page and download ZCPY31.ZIP (44KB) I tested it and it appears to work. First I created two directories- "1" and "2" in the root C:\. I copied some files into folder 1. Then I executed this: zcopy c:\1\*.* c:\2 /U Everything in my folder 1 was copied to folder 2, retaining the timestamp btw- the URL above indicates shareware- I cant see any indication of shareware since the readme file says: " ZCOPY is here-by placed in Public Domain and can be considered freeware, ZCOPY may not be sold, hired, leased or modified, it may be freely copied as a complete package, usage of ZCOPY in commercial environments is only permitted with explicit approvement of the Author of ZCOPY (Chris Buijs). "

Hi! Personally I'd go for the Pentium option only because the 2.4c is extremely overclockable 8) If you get some some fast RAM (within your budget) then you can overclock your system and reap the benifits. This article is very detailed re: SB75G2 http://www.ocwizard.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=2 As for graphics cards, well that is simply down to what you can get from some research and other people's experience. I'd have a look at the various hardware review sites such as HardOCP. What I did was make a list of possible graphic cards that I could afford, then find article on each and then finally draw my conclusion from that. Cant help with the price (sorry) as we usually have to pay a fair bit more here in the UK ;(

True Small Tools http://www.tsoftcentral.com/tools/ Use CloseWin to open standard Windows dialog Shut Down Windows OpenRun 1.0 Use OpenRun to open standard Windows dialog Run PresStart 1.3 Use Presstart to open Start Menu HotKey Search 1.0 This tool allow you to search shortcuts with hot key installed. You can select the folder where to search shortcuts. Use HotKey Search to find all hotkeys that installed in your Windows.

TaskBan From the author: TaskBan is a powerful replacement for the standard Task Manager (TASKMAN.EXE) which ships with Windows. I started building this tool because I wanted something more powerful than the Task Manager, to give me more control over the system. This utility proved itself very useful, so I decided to polish it and make it available to other users. This tool should be used by advanced users; it can easily make your system crash if used in the wrong way. TaskBan adds it's icon to the system tray and is hidden most of the time. To open it, the user has to click on the icon or press it's hotkey combination, which is user defined. TaskBan displays information about ALL tasks running on the system, such as PIDs, Thread count, Priority class. Among others, TaskBan can: Run applications and open documents. This is very useful, especially when explorer crashes and doesn't reopen automatically. Using TaskBan, you can run explorer.exe and you have your system back. Shutdown Windows. You have many shutdown options like Logoff, Lock Workstation (Windows 2000 only), Restart, Power Off. Each of these can be performed 'normally' or it can be 'forced'. End tasks. You can end tasks normally or you can force (kill) them to end. Be careful with this as you may crash the system. Change the Priority Class (PC) of each task. Auto-popup when explorer is not responding. http://users.otenet.gr/~gtoub/projects/index.htm#TaskBan

TClock Light TClock allows you to modify the clock on the taskbar in Windows. http://homepage1.nifty.com/kazubon/tclocklight/index.html

Description by publisher D M E X B a r - Explorer Toolbar Extension. Upgrade your Windows Explorer to a full-featured file manager! DMEXBar adds new buttons to the explorer toolbar with a wide range of new features like: Arrange explorer windows side by side, rename multiple files at once, quick change to favourite folders, quick create directory, split files, calculate the total directory size and many more... http://www.simtel.net/product.php?id=59298

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Shell Extensions (C++) http://www.codeproject.com/shell/

Brasso! LOL never thought id type that word in here! Takes a very thin layer of plastic off the read surface. Honestly the posts above are 100% correct as far as i am aware

And 10/10 for your tools Alec (again). Also your website is incredibly helpful

Ive got to the point where my BIOS POST isnt fast enough!! after POST has finished, and the screen goes blank for a sec (in XP) it takes 8-9 seconds to hit desktop!! yeah baby Now Alec feel free to hit me with your time... assuming that your Rocket ram thingy wotsit doodah booboo helps with startup?? BTW although i say the above in jest I am interested in these solid state RAM drives. Maybe something to put on the shopping list. To add something useful- disk health is also important. I believe (1?) of the things bootvis does is to record what files are used from the harddisk, then move them to the optimum place on the disk so that read times are improved. Essentially a defrag for startup files!

This makes task switching (Alt-Tab) a much more pleasant experience! I like it so much I though I would share http://sourceforge.net/projects/taskswitchxp/

Yes its a deal. All proper apps... like you say. Oh and I'll try to avoid beta stuff too!