ok first of all, Thanks to Ian P for getting back to me with this:
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I think Windows ME is the culprit, there are a few steps which will help
your cause.
From a post here a few months ago
1. Disable System Restore.
Open Control Panel -> System -> Performance Tab -> File System - >
Troubleshooting area -> Disable System Restore
(While you are in this window click on the Floppy Disk tab and uncheck
the
box so the system doesn't check for a NEW floppy drive every time it
starts.)
~~
2. Uninstall Pc Health.
Start / Run "\windows\pchealth\support\pchsetup /uninstall"
~~
3. Turn off Automatic Updating. (This will hog your modem for 30
mins every day when you first go on line if you don't turn it off.)
Start / Settings / Taskbar / Advanced
then check Expand Control Panel and close and go to
Start / Settings / Control Panel / Automatic Updates and turn OFF
Automatic
Updating
~~
4. Use ram memory rather than the swap file. (The system needs OVER 64
megs
of ram.)
Start / Search / Files type and enter: "system.ini" then click on it
and open it in Notepad and add this line after [386Enh] (without quotes)
"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
~~
5. Set file system to cache about 20 times higher than its default
setting. Copy and paste these lines to Notepad and name the file
MaxCached.reg then click on MaxCached.reg from Windows Explorer and say
Yes you want to add that information to your registry. (You must
set Notepad to "all files" when you save it or it will save as text.)
-------------------------------- copy
below ----------------------------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS
Templates]
@="Max Cache"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS
Templates\Max Cache]
@="Max Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:00,18,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:80,00,00,00
------------------------------- to
above ------------------------------------
~~
6. Disable these settings in the start menu.
Start / Run type and enter: "Msconfig"
then click on Startup and UNCHECK PcHealth, StateMgr, SchedulingAgent
and Taskmon Then allow the system to reboot so all these changes will
take effect.
~~
7. Run Windows Explorer and click on Tools / Folder Options / View and
select "Show hidden files and folders" then browse the c: drive and
delete the _Restore folder. Hold your shift key so it doesn't move it
to the recycle bin while you press del. This folder can have hundreds of
megs of temp files if you have been running ME for a while with the
system Restore and PC Health on. If you get an error message saying
there is a sharing violation you haven't successfully turned off Pc
Health and Restore. The _Restore folder should NOT appears again in the
future (unless you update a key Microsoft program like IE).
~~
8. See if anything unnecessary is running all the time.
Press CTRL + ALT + DEl at the same time, after you have first booted
up and see what programs are loaded. You may find several programs
running
that don't need to run all the time. Most of them, if actually needed,
can
be loaded from the Start / Programs menu.
~~
9. Don't let windows run HTA, SHS and VBS Script automatically.
Those file associations allow viruses to infect your system. Open
Windows Explorer and click Tools / Folder Options / File Types and
delete HTA, SHS and VBSscript. It is very unlikely a normal PC user
would need those file associations turned on.
~~
10. Disable "Automatic check for Windows Explorer updates"
From the IE "Tools" menu click on "Internet Options" then go to
"Advanced" and uncheck the 4th box.
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Secondly, I actually bought a UK Copy today (The one I had was a US
Version...)
Installed straight away.. ok took AGES to install.. hmmm okay
scandisk... defrag... okay setup and PLAY
ok now same gfx settins (all gfx except Mirror... and half-way slider on
world detail) running Direct3D TnL, ok now running at 80fps.. and VERY
quickly.. first lap stutters (does with most Direct3D games, caching-up
the graphics) after that.. PERFECT... ok the frame-rate DOES drop a lot
with so many cars on screen... I think mostly about 40fps.. but we can
live with it! also don't bother running the game at 32bit colors..
running it at 16bit looks the same and although you get the tiniest bit
of blurring.. running at 1024x768 you hardly notice.. and with a GeForce
GTS2 the optimum Res is 1024x768...
hope that helps everyone.. and remember.. Hard Disk Speed helps! so
Scandisk and Defrag often! and see if your hard disk can run with UDMA..
mine can only do UDMA33... but it's worth it!
<fluffypony>
