Okay, this is horrible for me. My computer is a 1.8ghz p4 running Windows XP. I have a 256meg Geforce 5600, 768RAM. Sounds kickin' doesn't it?

I can't run games fo' shiz. When I play a game, like Vice City for example, every so often (VERY often) the FPS will go down to ZERO and it'll stay zero for 10 or so seconds. And this happens so often, its a HUGE problem.

I know what you're thinking, "Vice City, its a newer game, your system can't handle it." Check this out. I have the SAME problem with Planescape Torment, Total Annihilation and even MADNESS INTERACTIVE (yes the downloaded BROWSER GAME).

I don't have an internet connection on that computer, so it can't be a virus or anything =P and all my games are patched.

If anyone could help me with this, I will give you.... A COOKIE

-val

Get a virus scanner just to be safe. AVG have a 30 day free trial...get that. Just for added benefit, get Adaware and SpyBot to get rid of any possible spyware/adware. These things can come through any medium, be it the internet, CDs, Floppy disks or Zip disks.

Next check that you have the latest (and correct) drivers for all your major components, notebly your GFX card AND Sound Card. Don't use Windows Update for your drivers, its the shatz.

Next, make sure your GFX Card and/or processor isn't over-heating. Make sure the PC has good air circulation. There are programs out there that monitor your system's temperature - I use AIDA32 although can't find a download for it at this time. Make sure when checking the system temp you are actually in a recent game (such as VC), alt+tab out and then check the temperature. The temperature increases as you work the PC harder.

Next, on booting, check that your HDD is set as the Primary Master and your CDROM drive and any other drives are set as slaves or secondary masters/slaves. If you don't know how to check or change these settings, do a search on the internet about it, you're bound to come up with something.

Lastly (from me) check that there aren't any device conflicts in the Device Manager - conflicts will be expanded with a yellow circle next to them.

I know from experience that GeForce cards have really crap fans and heating problems; so I'd check that the graphics card isn't overheating. If it is, you can get new fans (like I did) for as little as $10. Get a good one, its worth it. Also leave your PC case on in a test run to make sure that no fans are stopping or being hindered by cables.

In addition to Darks good suggestions, do a ctrl-alt-del and see what programs are running. Or take a look at your taskbar and system tray. If there is a bunch o'goo, you might consider stopping some stuff. One other suggestion, run dxdiag to check and make sure all of your directx stuff is good. Download the latest, 9a or 9b and install if you haven't.

And make sure your hard drives are completely defragmented (use the DEFRAG program) and free from errors. (CHKDSK)
And just to make sure... you could get a registry cleaner from the Internet

If you want a good anti virus and protection program I recomend Norton Internet Security 2004. It comes w/ NAV 2004. Both are kick ass programs

In addition to the sound advice listed above, I would suggest you PM Marxist Bastard, a regular here. He seems to thrive on resolving such problems, and we're rather fortunate to have him among our ranks!