ConQueso

If you don't care to read my story, but wish to add to the thread, this is a thread for those that decided against going with one company for an entire security suite, and instead have picked seperate firewall/antivirus/antispyware combos. Also, please list how it's affecting system performance, as part of my choice was to minimize system slowdown. Before paying for two of the programs, I tried the trial versions to see how system performance would be affected. I've paid for one, now, and will pay for the other a day or so before the trial is over. My selection was ZoneAlarm AntiSpyware (with spyware disabled, purely for the firewall at a lesser price), NOD32 antivirus, and SpySweeper version 4.5. Now, my story for those interested... After getting fed up with Norton Internet security bogging my system down, so much so that I reinstalled windows, I've done a lot of review reading about various security products. Here's my opinion, though far from expert, from my readings. The all in one suites all disappointed in one way or another. Norton/McAffee were well rated, but resource hogs. ZoneAlarm appears to have the best rated firewall, but it's antivirus and antispyware are lacking. There's always a catch. So, I decided to just get one firewall, one antivirus, and one antispyware. Priority being on security without a significant hit to system performance. The antispyware I'd already had. Webroot had me sold on SpySweeper the second it discovered a nasty bit of spyware that was on my system, that I was suspicious I'd might have had. They sold me the second it discovered it, because I'd tried a couple other antispyware software trials, that didn't detect it. And git this: I googled info about the spyware: it was comercially available. So, the other companies were to incompitant to search for commercial spyware, to cheap to purchase it, to inept to figure how to detect it, or in on it. None of these options did I care much for. Unfortunately SpySweeper's latest version (5.0) Would actually temporarily make all my windows inactive and I couldn't even click on anything without the default error beep every couple of minutes lasting a few seconds. Uninstalling it and installing 4.5 solved this, and It still can download the latest definintions, I just decline the version upgrade. Spy Sweeper continues to be top rated amongst the review sites i've visited, though I think it's "SpyDoctor" that has snuck up and ranks about even to SpySweepers former solo best ranking. For Firewall, I have ZoneAlarm AntiSpyware with the antispyware disabled so that it doesn't interfere with SpySweeper, or slow it down. This was to save money from purchasing Zone Alarm Pro, which doesn't have much more to offer exept price. For Antivirus, I dug and dug. This is the most up for debate, but I went with NOD32. From what I've read it seems to be a sleeper. Perhaps because you can't buy it in a box in stores, so the reviewers don't review it much? From what I've read, though, it has a reputable history and reputable protection. Also a light footprint, system performance wise. I must say that I'm much happier now with these three in combination than my former Norton Internet Security 2005. My system runs much faster, firefox doesn't take MINUTES to load after signing in. And I feel that the price, while a bit higher than a security suite, isn't much higher. Especially for what, AFAICT, is great protection with a minimal performance hit. If I wish to play a game, and don't want popups from my firewall, zonealarm had a game mode, where I can chose to accept or deny any prompt that should come up during game mode (I select deny). This is a very nice feature when I'm gaming and already have my game configured to work online, or simply am playing single player. All things said, so far I'm very happy with my selection. NOD32 lists programs it cannot scan that are locked, which worried me at first, but after reading some info, it appears that these programs aren't scannable or changable by any anitivirus, it's just that other antiviruses don't give you these details. Feel free to comment about my decision, question it, correct me if I said something inaccurate, etc. Just thought this would be a good place to sound off on such a topic, with the vast knowledge bank that I've been able to tap here before. Unless I read several, extremely favorable reviews about a suite including low system performance expense, I think I'll remain doing the 3 seperate program deal I'm doing now.

I need a way to alter the sensitivity of my "mouse". By "mouse" I mean the X-Arcade Trackball, which is functioning as a mouse. The thing is, setting the sensitivity in the mouse control panel doesn't adjust swing sensitivity in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005/2005. It will adjust the sensitivity of movement around the screen in the game, but as soon as you engage true-swing, swiping my thumbs from top to bottom over the ball moves the backswing the same ammount, minimum or maximum mouse sensitivity. Is there any way to tweak the DirectX/DirectInput settings or get a new mouse DLL or something that would actually change the sensitivity that the game receives from the mouse before it "allows" the windows GUI sensitivity adjustment for GUI, but not swing? X-Arcade help online only mentions the control panel mouse settings adjustment. Oh, and I'm not trying to use such info to cheat. If I wanted the perfect front to back with the trackball, there is a button along the back edge that eliminates x axis movement from being sent. I just want it so it only takes one "pull-back" to bring the club to full-backswing. TWPGAT incorporates tempo into it's swing, so two pullbacks is a bad thing.

So, what would you say is the most secure combo of programs to keep your computer safe with minimal system slowdown? BTW, I do have a router, firewall enabled, wireless disabled, but thank you for posting.

Now and then, I go to click something, anything, anywhere on screen and i get that default "BUNG" xylophone sound. I just now left the task manager up, processes prioritized by CPU activity, and video recorded the results. So far, it's sporadic. Interestingly, I happended to keep clicking, and the problem didn't go away until i greatly lessened my click rate. Here are the top Processes from the video, roughly in average order as they were shown, System Idle Process being the most CPU activty. System Idle Process explorer.exe winlogon.exe UnrealEd.exe CLI.exe firefox.exe All of these, AFIAK, are legit, scanned by up to date ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6 antivirus, and SpySweeper. Winlogon was the strange one of the bunch, as it is otherwise much further down the list. I don't really know what to think. I'm not certain, but it might be after periods of inactivity, so it might be related to my screensaver setting of 2 minutes, Which defaults to the windows logo standard screensaver (after 3 minutes, monitor is powered down). But, I haven't noticed this kind of activity before, so I'm doubting it. This is from a system with zero'd out hard drives freshly installed with XP Pro SP2, then soon updated online, and with ZoneAlarm trial software and full subscription SpySweeper added quickly. I'm on a LAN (wired, wireless off on router) with a few lesser protected computers, none that I've noticed showing similar symptoms. I reformatted my HD, as it'd been a few years, and it seemed that Norton Internet Security combined with SpySweeper were bogging the system down to much. (took a few minutes after boot before even firefox would finally appear on screen, if clicked after login) I've just changed program defaults (in zonealarm) for winlogon.exe to ask for permission to any activity that ZA would ask for unknown programs. Thinking about Getting windows defender. I'm trying to keep security tight, while not overtaxing my system of it's resources. Though I do miss the descriptions of programs found in Defender. Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or the like? I'm still trying to get more information to get more specific syptom's/results, and will post if I find anything significant.

It seems to have been SpySweeper Version 5.0. I uninstalled it and installed 4.5, and everything seems to work fine now. Frustrating that webroot doesn't allow for an easy way to get an old version of spysweeper. My having access to the file was a matter of luck.

Hmmm... I've been reading up on security programs, and notices the surprising difference between PCMag's rating of SpySweeper vs the user rating. Then I read posts such as "And get this--as it fires up these cpu-hogging episodes it steals focus for a second or two from the active window, so whatever you're typing goes into thin air!", and start to wonder. I might unistall SpySweeper to see if the problem goes away. I'll post relevant info when I have it.

Originally posted by dosfreak: Quote: Try this: http://www.zeckensack.de/glide/ Should fix menu problems. All, bow down to DosFreak and Zeckensack for bringing back Carmageddon 2. I had given up hope on it, when my Radeon 9600 wouldn't render textures properly using OpenGLide. Now, C2 is easier then ever to get going. I can't speak for everyone, but this is All I had to do to get it going: 1) Install Carmageddon 2 (standard install, just click setup.exe then nexts but NO to QuickTime 3.0 and DirectX 6 installations) 2) Download and installed zeckensack's glide wrapper (see DosFreak Post) 3) Open Glide wrapper window. 4) Right click on "Carmageddon 2 Carpocalypse Now" shortcut under Start > Programs > Interplay > Carmageddon 2... and then click properties. Click Compatibility tab and then click the box by "Run this program in compatability mode for:" and select windows 95. Check "Run this program in 640x480 if you have problems with the game (though I didn't) Then click OK to close the box 5) Run Carmageddon 2 using the start shortcut you just edited. Use the Glide renderer, as it should detect and default to. Peice of cake. The Menu even looks good, something I haven't seen for a while. Works with USB input devices, such as my Logitech Formula GP Steering wheel just fine. Sound isn't perfect, but then, I think it might've always had issues. No more hoping for a good driving game to impliment Fox and the Hounds multiplayer, one of my favorite multiplayer driving modes that I'm very dissatisfied other high budget games haven't implimented. If Bugbear does their homework, they'll use it in FlatOut, but I doubt it. Looking back, this game was pretty well ahead of it's time. Good destruction, collision, and damage in network, and the beginnings of ragdoll physics in singleplayer. Anyone interested in buying it for dirt cheap, now that it appears to be very compatible, need only look here: http://www.google.com/froogle?q=%22carmageddon+2%22+%22crime+Killer%22&btnG=Search+Froogle

Not been able to play Freedom Force since installing SP2? http://www.freedomfans.com/news.php?id=37 This just goes to show how much Irrational Games respect their fans.

http://www.gogamer.com/ If you're thinking of buying this game within the year, you might as well get it now. Tell your demo playing friends. GameSpy awarded this game THE multiplayer game of the year. As in Halo 2 was a runner up. " With the possible exception of Halo 2, there really wasn't a game this year that could stack up to the multiplayer goodness of Unreal Tournament 2004. The series returned to glory with a new team- and vehicle-based Onslaught mode, the resurrection of Assault, and a single-player ladder against the best artificial bots in the business."--GameSpy Good until tonight only (January 28), unless they carry it over a day. Select Dirt cheap shipping--only available on 1 or 2 game purchase, Continental US only.

THIS DEAL IS STILL GOOD FOR ANOTHER 30 some hours! (or perhaps longer, check the link to be sure) Originally posted by dogteal: Quote: Just wanna say thanks for the heads up, I took advantage of the deal right away....Also another great thing about this game is that there are nearly 500 maps and something like 350 mods for it on www.dlx.gamespot.com You're welcome. I'm glad to get more people into the UT community. No need to use gamespot deluxe for those (like myself) who don't want to pay. Nali City. If the mapper is worth his salt, he'll get the map on Nali City. I recommend checking it out, my guess is it'll be easier to find a map to your liking than dlx has.

Well, 10 GBP = 19 USD, so it'd still rank it at a good deal. Especially when most stores here have it at $30-40. Have you played Onslaught?

NHL 2001 won't run in 1280x1024 (the menu won't display it, only up to 1024x768) when I'm using my ATI HDTV adaptor. NHL 2004 runs fine at this resolution using the adaptor, as does NHL 2001 without the adaptor on my normal monitor. The only file that has the resolution in a text file search is just appears to only be a file that relates to the 3D setup file. And even if I select 1280x1024 in this, it still doesn't show up the game (when using the HDTV adaptor) NHL 2004 looks incredibly good on HDTV (Big AND Hi-Res, perfect for a sports game to be played by multiple people on the same monitor) in 1280x1024, though I'd like to play 2001 as well. If you have any ideas, even if they're a strectch, please post them. If you'd like some info about HDTV PC gaming... Try http://www.htpcnews.com/main.php?id=hdtvgaming. I'm using and can so far recommend one of these, they work well. Cheaper than a $100 DVI cable. Requires an ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 8500 or RADEON 9500/9600/9700/9800 series card with DVI out. More info in the manual. Fear the screen image burn, though. Certain types of TVs won't cope well with some games burning persistant text or HUD images into the screen!

For those that don't know, there likely will be no System Shock 3. More on that can be found here. Fear not, though, SS2 will have a "spiritual successor" made by the same creators as SS2 (Irrational Games) called "BioShock". More on that here. The rest of this post is a summary of the big SS2 related stuff, all wrapped up below so you don't have to do multiple searches to find the stuff. System Shock 2 is one of the best games of all time (30 somethingth according to PC Gamer). It's a hybrid Single Player First Person Shooter / RPG / Sci-Fi Horror Survival game. SS2 is NOT abandonware. System Shock 2 averages a rating of 9.3 out of 10. SHODAN, (Sentient Hyper Optimized Data Access Network) has even been rated one of the best game villians, and I agree. The demo can be found here (Warning: rated mature). AFAIK (and I've tried), you cannot mod the demo to try out how the game would look modded (see below). AFAIK, SS2 can be only be found new (excluding EBay) here, for $10 AUS or about $7.50 USD. Shipping will likely stay the same for 1 or 2 copies, so splitting the shipping with a friend getting a copy is a good way to make it affordable. You can beef up the graphics with some mods, the two biggies being Rebirth and SHTUP. These are excellent remedies to the 2 major things that date the game: low res textures and low poly enemies. The Rebirth Mod replaces most of the most common enemy 3D meshes with much higher polycount equivalents and can be downloaded here (Beta 1--several enemies), the Rebirth Rumbler mesh (not in Beta 1) here, and the modified Rebirth Monkey meshes (not in Beta 1) here. Be sure to read the FAQ page for information on getting the mod to work right. Note that this mod has the dead bodies with scared faces (which I don't care for--unrealistic) and has a controversial CyberMidwife (which I don't mind, but others might--but hey, the games rated mature in the first place!) Other than that, it's an excellent "upgrade" and surely the best mod SS2 has ever had. The SHTUP mod replaces many of the games textures with higher resolution equivalents. Screenshots and download on the same page liked to above. Read the Readme to be sure to get the install right. The game's patch can be found here. This enables cooperative multiplayer for up to 4 people (and should be done anyways for the fixes). To install the game in XP or 2000, you'll probably have to click start and run and enter: X:\SETUP.EXE -LGNTFORCE (where X is the drive of the CD-ROM your SS2 CD is in) To run the game in XP or 2000 (especially with the Rebirth mod) you'll need to patch the game, then right click on the SS2 shortcut or the SHOCK2.EXE file, click properties, then click Compatability (tab), then check only the "disable visual themes" box. As for the games quality, it is still my favorite single player first person shooter I've played. This ranks it above Deus Ex, Half-Life, and Unreal. Granted, I haven't yet played Half-Life 2. I'm hoping that will best the game IMHO. It is fun in multiplayer, but to truly experience the game's atmosphere, you should play it solo (at least, the first time through). As for Scariness, PC Gamer can add some credibility as it ranked it the Scarriest PC game ever made, and yes, that was above Doom, Silent Hill, Resident Evil blah blah blah. (though admittedly before Doom 3, but as it's been rated an average shooter with phenominal graphics, I'm not sure it'll have the atmosphere to best SS2) In game, spend your CyberModules wisely, your OS/2 upgrades even more wisely, conserve your ammo, and keep enough agility to effectively dodge the hybrids pipe. It's one hell of a game, especially for those that like FPS/RPG games, and especially those who'd like to need to think a little more than most FPSs require. For more System Shock 2 information, try TTLG.com or SShock2.com.

Originally posted by adamvjackson: Quote: Since both Canada and Mexico are in North America, why are they not considered "Americans"? My guess is that it's because America is a part of the US of A's name. USA-ans doesn't roll off the tongue, and United State's of Americans is a bit long winded, hence "Americans". Saying North/Central/South Americans I'd figure would be a comment regarding natives. BTW, why is it that people from Canada are Canadians? Shouldn't they be Canadans? They're not from a country called Canadia, are they? American's aren't called Americians. I love how a UT2003 warning can end up in a discussion about semantics. Gotta love forums.

Figure the gamers might be more familiar with this, so I didn't post in hardware. Sometimes when playing a FPS game, Let's say I'll be holding down walk backward, walk left, crouch, and run/fast move all at once and I get the horendously loud BEEP through the headphones. So I was wondering, would a USB keyboard eliminate this? If not, would it reduce it? Also, sometimes certain combinations of simultaneous keypresses don't register all keys as being pressed. Would a USB keyboard reduce or eliminate this as well? Or, is there a way to get rid of the beep all together? It seems to be a constant volume despite whatever the volume levels are set at on the computer, so I'm not sure if it can be silenced as it appears this form of warning beep is forcefed through perhaps. Any help would be appreciated.

EXCELLENT, snakefoot. FPS GAMERS TAKE NOTE! Thank you for the info. I haven't done the registry change yet. (hesitant to do registry stuff). Wouldn't it be better to change a value of one of the keys under Accessability > StickyKeys? Regardless, though, a while ago I think I disabled stiky keys through the GUI window / non-registry route. I'll keep this thread in mind if I get the damn window popup again in mid-game, though. Again, thanks. I should've asked about this years ago. Now the enemy AI won't take a second place in the startling department to the occaisional ultra-loud BEEP.

For those who _know_ they have a graphics card unsupported by the game, and also know they do NOT have an AGP slot (check with your manufacturer, or support section on their web page, or the computer's manual) (Dell Dimension 2400 and 3000 don't have an AGP slot, not that I own a Dell), you may want to consider a PCI graphics card such as this. Any supported card will cost at least $40 for a PCI version, and the 9200SE will have better compatibility with future games over the GF2MX or GF4MX that is cheaper. Anything more expensive will probably just be too crippled by the PCI bus to bother with. NOTE: From the other posts I've been reading, while upgrading your GPU will likely improve the situation, it's no guarantee that you won't run into some other problem. The inside of the computer is not somewhere you want to mess with if you don't know what your doing, so ask someone with experience to help, or read up on installing a graphics card before doing so. Originally posted by Candyoyo: Quote: No It's a DirectX 9.0c graphics card where can i find it? And do i have to buy it? First, verify that what your graphics card actually is. Click [start] then [Run] then type in DXDIAG in the run window and click OK. In the window that pops up (The DirectX Diagnostic Window) click on the [Display] tab. Your graphics card will be listed below [Device] to the right of [Name: ] List your results under Device, Driver, and Notes here so we can go over them.

If you have a Dimension 2400 or 3000, than you have integrated graphics, and no AGP slot to upgrade your graphics card. Granted, there are still GPUs made with PCI connections, but that'll cripple the performance of modern day video cards. If you want to be able to play any decent current 3D games without framerates looking like a slide show, you may want to ask dell for a better model, one that has a better graphics card, or at least one that has an AGP slot to put a better card in down the road.

Don't know much about the sims, but as it's a 3D game and all... To find out what your graphics card is, click START, then click RUN, then enter DXDIAG and click OK. This will run your Direct X diagnostic. At the top of the DX window that pops up, click the DISPLAY tab. Check to make sure you've got the latest drivers for your graphics card. Also, check to see if your graphics card is supported by the list here: http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=21 in the middle of the page the link goes to is a link for nvidia and ATI drivers. Once you know who made your card (right of "manufacturer" under "Device" in DXDIAG) follow the link on the page to get the latest drivers. If the latest drivers don't get it working, if you don't see your graphics device listed on the EA page above, or if you have any other questions, then let us know what it says under the blue text DEVICE and DRIVERS (the more info you give, the more likely we can help). Also, unless it says "No problems found" under NOTES, let us know what is says there as well. Hope this helps. If it does, happy gaming.

Hmmm... I don't recall a problem with freespace 1 having problems running in XP. I think I got FS2 running as well, but after playing FS1 and FS1: Silent Threat, I was burnt out on the FS universe. That, and I really prefer the X-Wing style of combat for space sims. Have you played X-Wing Alliance? Great game, and can be found for as low as $5 these days. (and I'm saying it's a great game because, for a space sim, it is. I'm no star-wars fan-boy, I don't even own any SW movie. If FS2 doesn't seem to run, check to see if you have the latest FS2 patch installed.

Is your Windows all up to date, with all relevent patches at windowsupdate? Latest DirectX, audio, graphics drivers and whatnot? Tried properties for the shortcut to run in compatibility mode?

Originally posted by Alec§taar: Quote: You know, I have heard that SO much online! I never played System Shock I or II... & always wanted to! I was thrilled when a friend of mine found SS. I had to do some looking around at VOGONS to get it to work. Then I was disapointed when I found out there was no mouselook option. Nor were the keys even custom bindable. I just couldn't overcome the awkwardness of such an old style interface, so it was a pain to move around and such. This took me "out of the game" as did the 2d enemy graphics. Had I played this game back in the day, I'm sure I would have loved it, as I wouldn't have known the mouselook option, or better graphics. And although I could've played the game to get the backstory on SHODAN, I wouldn't have enjoyed the experience so much, and that's what it's all about. So I only recommend SS2. (unless you have a heart problem, serously--there should be a warning on the box, this game can REALLY startle/scare you, and it can do so repeatedly. I can count on 1 hand the times all other games have really startled me (once in Doom, once in RtCW and probably 2 or 3 other times), but SS2 has startled me more times than I can remember.) I haven't ordered anything on Ebay, so I can't really recommend getting it there, but man it's just to good of a game not to play.

Deus Ex and Age of Empires should run fine in XP. (You are running XP right?) I would try making sure your windows is all updated, as well as all of your DirectX, and your sound and video drivers. Also patch whatever version of AoE2 you've got to the latest patch(depending on weather it's just AoE2 or AoE2 with the Expansion) If that doesn't work, try this to see if it's graphics related. The game has a couple problems with certain graphics, and the integrated intel graphics lacks some meat so who knows. As for Deus Ex, it should probably work fine, but you should still install the latest patch anyway. Please post a response as to weather things work or not. This may help others in the future that might share your problem.

Good news. It SCi has apparently released a fix to make Carmageddon 2 XP compatible. So some (if not all, though I doubt it) of the steps above may not be necessary. It can be found here: http://www.sci.co.uk/games/downloads/default.asp?sortType=Patch

As for C3, don't have it, don't know it... Have you tried the patch? Hey, if you happened not to get C2 because of compatability problems in XP/2000 you may have read about, you could try this thread. I got it working wonderfully, except for a graphics glitch in the menu. Thanks to and DosFreak and Silvio3D for their input (take note). Also, note that SCi has a new C2 executable for XP. I'm not sure how well it runs, but it might reduce or eliminate the steps required that I and others mentioned in the above linked thread. The patch link is on the same page as the link to the C3 fix above.