Configuring XP to run for optimal gaming

I wasn't sure where to post this but I've been playing a game called World of Warcraft and I currently have a Dell dimension 3000. I have however upgraded it some with an Nvidia 512,maybe 1GB Video card and 1Gig of RAM. Now my problem is my frame rate inside of the game. If I'm lucky, I'm getting 20 Frames per second(FPS) while my boyfriend is getting around 60FPS. I took a look at the background programs and even when I'm running absolutely nothing there's still 42 System processes running. Various web articles that I have found suggest I should disable some of these to boost my frame rate.

Basically what I want to do is disable everything that I don't absolutely need to run windows and continue to have internet access. I just have no idea which programs are safe in MSconfig to disable. Any help would be most appreciated. =D

--Jess

 

This thread is about that very thing and there's a link that will probably help you quite a bit.

 

update your drivers - from the manufacturer's site
Update direct x perhaps
you might try tweak xp to automate a lot of the windows xp tweaks

 

42 system services may be running, but they may be doing absolutely nothing. Watch what is happening with the CPU and memory usage in Task Manager.

Frame rate is graphics dependent. Look at your drivers, starting with the chipset drivers, then the graphics.

Services should be set to run in the "background" when you are running a major program (at least that's my opinion).

I would not be blaming services unless you have just started up the machine and they all want run their "service" or they are scheduled to run the service "a lot ". Look at what is happening under the Processes tab in Task Manager.

If both sets of hardware you and your boyfriend are using are similar (?), check your drivers. Check the game's System Requirements for if you computer may have lower system specifications than his.

It may not be services running in the background, it may be a "junk" program (a badly written progam or one that will not stop when it is supposed to). Check for malware...spyware, trojans, viruses or other legitimate(?) programs.

Try setting up a different User and only using it for gaming.

Matt