The
first thing you need to know what graphics card you are using
Introduction:
In this article you will learn how to get the
most out of your graphics card by installing new drivers and tweaking
Windows. The guide is based around Windows XP Professional Edition but
you can use the same guide to tweak other Windows operating systems.
Step 1:
The
first thing you need to know what graphics card you are using. The most
popular graphics card companies are
nVidia and ATi. Both these
companies have an excellent range of products and offer excellent
service. Once you know what graphics card you are using, then head over
to the companies website where you can
download the latest drivers.
Drivers
are software that runs your graphics card, printer or scanner
correctly. Being up to date with drivers will help solve issues that may
arise with modern
PC games. Just recently I had to update my drivers to
fix a problem I had with a game I recently purchased, and this solved
my problem.
OK once you have downloaded your drivers for your
graphics card make sure you create a restore point using the utility
System Restore. This can be done my click
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System
Restore. Then follow the on screen instructions to create the restore
point. By doing this it makes sure that if a problem occurs after you
installed the new drivers, you can return to the restore point to see if
the problem is the drivers you installed.
Once you've finished
creating your restore point, you need to install your drivers. This can
done by double clicking on the file you downloaded and then you follow
the on screen instructions. After you've installed your drivers you will
have to restart Windows so the changes can take effect.
If
everything goes according to plan you should see an increase in
performance in your games and you will not need to go back to your
restore point. If you do have problems, use your restore point to go
back and fix the problems. If the problem persists, then contact the
company that made your graphics card.
Step 2:
Make sure you have the
latest version of DirectX. This can be done by going onto the Microsoft website
http://www.microsoft.com
and searching DirectX. Once you've downloaded the latest version, you
will need to create another restore point. One person I know installed
the latest version of DirectX and then had problems afterwards, and
because they didn't create a restore point they couldn't fix the problem
and so they needed to reformat their computer to solve the problem.
Again to create a restore point, go to
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System
Restore.
Once you've created the restore point install the latest
version of DirectX by double clicking on the file you just downloaded.
Follow the on screen instructions and once you've finished you will have
to restart your Windows.
Step 3:
In this step I will guide
you through tweaking Windows XP. The first step will be changing the
performance of Windows, to do this right-click on My Computer and then
Properties->Advanced->Performance->Settings and select 'Adjust
for best Performance'.
The next step is to change your Themes, so
right-click on your desktop and select Properties. Under the Themes tab
set your theme to Windows Classic.