Are you sitting there, wandering if your computer will be able to play Dragonball Online? considering getting a new computer because you think yours won't be able to play this game with no slowdowns? Well before you commit yourself to something like that, have a look at this guide, which may just speed your computer up, and make your Dragonball Online experiance that much better, without having to lighten your wallet.
Windows Update - How to:
Windows Update essentially updates everything in your current Operating System, which can improve performance, and also stability of programs. The larger of these are called Service Packs, which can dramatically improve the Operating System. Now to do these updates really depends on your Operating System, but I will explain for each system.
XP: To do a windows update, you need to go to "All Programs", and it will be at the very top. Click this, and an internet explorer box shall appear, let it load, then click "Custom Install" instead of the express, so you can choose which updates you need.
Vista/7: For either of these Operating Systems will have the same method of
getting to Windows Update. Click on the start orb, then click "All Programs",
and it should be in the list of programs. Also you can type "Windows Update" into the search bar at the bottom to get to the program.
When the program has loaded and all the updates, it will let you know which are important, and which are optional. All the important ones should be installed for performance benefits, but none of the optional ones are ticked to begin with, so you should review them, and check to see whether any of the updates you may need, e.g Sound updates, mouse etc.Once this is done, you may need to restart. If this is done, give the computer a few
minutes after it has loaded windows back up to install all the programs from the update before doing anything else on the computer.
Directx update:
Directx is the software that draws out what you see on screen, so it's fairly important to keep this updated, as it may add quality and performance. To get the updates for Directx, you firstly need to use Internet Explorer, this makes things so much easier from the start. If you use another web browser you will need to get an addon, then install it etc etc. So I say use Internet Explorer. Once this is loaded, go to this website:-
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
(If this doesn't work try searching Directx with google)
First, it will ask to install an extra installer, usually about 300KB in size, after that it will come up with a standard installer screen, so just keep pressing next till it begins to install all the necessary componants. Depending on how old your Directx is, this can take anywhere from 2 minutes to about 30 minutes. After this is done, simply hit finish, and you're done.
Graphics card update:
This would probably be the most important update to get onto your computer if your wanting to speed up your gameplay of the upcoming Dragonball Online. Graphics card updates will not only add performance, but a lot of the time will also increase the quality at which you will be able to play a game with playable frame rates, so it is always important to
keep a fully updated graphics card when wanting optimal performance. There are two companies that produce high performance graphics cards, and they are Nvidia and ATI. To update your graphics card by one of these companies, you are going to need to go to their websites, which are:-
Nvidia -
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk
ATI -
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
When on these pages, they will give you a lot of choices as to which graphics card you have. If you are unsure what your graphics card is installing your laptop/pc, then:
XP: Go to start, then run. A small dialogue box will appear where you should type dxdiag.
Vista/7: Go to the start orb, then in the search box press dxdiag.
When this is done, a box will appear and may ask whether you want to check for signed drivers,just say yes, and leave it till it loads all Directx information. When this is done, go to display, and at the top, it will say which graphics card you have. When you have this number, usually it will have a series number, which will be the first number (an Nvidia 9800gt would be a 9 series, and an ATI 4870 would be a 4800 Series). When this has been
entered into the corresponding website, it will then give you the correct download for your product. Nvidia has got only one download which will automatically appear, but for ATI you need to get the top download, as that has the driver and the latest Catalyst Control Centre.
One thing I have neglected to answer yet is for those of you who have got integrated or built in graphics cards, which are usually made by Intel. Now you can get updates for these but what you will have to do is check the exact series of the model you have got. Then go to this website :-
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support
At the bottom there is a product support section, which you can follow to find your correct driver. If your unsure which graphics chip you have, follow the above instructions to find the model which is installed in your computer.
Defragment:
You should do a disk defragment after doing absolutely every update and installation to get the full benefit of it. Basically this will speed up for disk access, so this will make gameplay smoother, and make the game load faster as well. There is a standard defragmenter built into windows, but I suggest that you download SmartDefrag 1.30, as this allows you to do a Deep Optimise, which really does make a difference after the defragment has completed.
After this has been done, your computer should be running at full speed, and hopefully should perform much better than previously. Happy updating people :)
Copyright 2010 Ashley Kristoffer Morrison
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