Half Life Problems

Recently, games like the original Half Life have awkward pauses that shouldn't happen since my computer can definately handle the game fine.
A year ago, this didn't happen. I have a 1.90 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, and Direct X 9, so even the newer Half Life 2 should be able to work fine. But both have the pauses.

Any idea whats causing this?

 

Loading problem perhaps

Have you found that your PC has not been working at full speed generally?

The pauses suggest that another program, function or undesirable element is competing for CPU cycles.

Check to see what else is running with Task Manager.

A bit of PC housekeeping may be in order: antivirus and spyware check perhaps with a good disk defrag. Maybe a Start menu and Registry cleanup - if you feel confident in running a Registry Cleaner.

If you have added any new background programs recently - remove it/them and recheck your performance. Maybe you have changed your antivirus or firewall programs?

Just a few thoughts.

 

Recently, my computer has been running VERy slow....its been like this since I installed Norton Anti-Virus about a week ago. But this was happening in November with Half life 1, WAY before I had installed Norton.

Also, how do you run a registry cleaner? What are the risks?

 

Registry Cleaners....

There are many Registry Cleaners and the best of them requires some knowledge of the subject.

Rose City Software provide Registry First Aid which is a good product but needs knowledge or down right bravery!

Registry Drill - for experts.

Reg Organiser - a bit of knowledge would be a help.

jv16 Power Tools - knowledge required.

Norton WinDoctor - not difficult but not accurate.

CCleaner - liked by many novices.

Registry Mechanic - probably the most popular with average users but not on my list of recommendations.

I would try CCleaner to start with. It gets rid of all sorts of junk and is free.

Whatever product you select, I thoroughly recommend you back up your Registry before doing anything. I cannot over stress this point.

I assume you have given my other points some thought. A virus or piece of malware can cause such a symptom - as can an overloaded system, faulty hard drive or other ageing component.

Just a few more thoughts.

 

OK, I have WinRegCleaner (Not sure what company) - Will that work?

 

Maybe or maybe not...

I don’t know this product but it would appear that it will only perform a scan for free "“ you have to pay to have any problems fixed.

Perform the scan and see what it comes up with. If it only gives the total number of problems it has found and fails to give details then I would look for another product.

However, others may have some experience of the program and be able to give more specific advice.

Beware some of these "scan for free, fix for fee" products. Some are not reliable.

Do I take it that you do not like CCleaner? While I have no confidence in Registry Mechanic there are many users who use it on a regular basis. This suggests that it doesn’t do any harm and may be worth your time.

DO backup the Registry before using!!

 

Well, I purchased this Ultra WinRegCleaner, and it found 58 invalid registry files, and backed them up before deleting them. It also cleaned out internet clutter and other things.

As for ccleaner, I can't say I don't like it, because I have never used it.

I will however reboot my computer with the newly cleaned registry and let you know if it worked.

*BTW, I've already done loads of spyware, adware, and malware scans