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Geek Culture / Exclusive PC Gaming Mode

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Techno Freak
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:12
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Over at my friend's house last week we were getting real pissed off at how slow his computer was running, so we played xBox instead.

Later, I was amazed to see that my friend's computer had almost twice the specs of an xBox. I figured that the reason his PC runs slow is because of Windows XP running in the background.

So my question is:
Is there a way that you could get your computer to run a game exclusively (without the Windows in the background

Sam COrbett-Davies
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Jimmy
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:17
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That's easy, just delete the Explorer.exe file.


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Hawkeye
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:22 Edited at: 13th May 2005 06:22
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Nice try

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Neofish
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:23
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Don't you think the problem could be something else: pron (makes spyware) etc

Pi = 8
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Jimmy
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:23
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Nice try? That's how you stop windows from running in the background.


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Ian T
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:28
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I think Jimmy meant kill the task. I do that before I run memory intensive games.

Ultimatly a PC will never run as well as a console with equivilant specifications though, because modern consoles' entire operating systems are built around their specific hardware and designed with 3d games in mind.

And no, you can't just run a game completely independatly of an operating system, not even the ancient DOS games with boot disks, though I've heard you can put Tetris on your BIOS if you're really 1337

"Grif, if there's one thing I've learned working with you, it's there there's always a margin for error."
"It's pronounced margarine, dumbass!"
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Kentaree
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:29
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I think the problem is people forgetting the xbox is a dedicated gaming machine and has higher performance with lower specs, much like other game consoles.

Desktop: AMD Athlon XP2800+,Radeon 9800 128MB, 1GB DDR RAM
Laptop: AMD Athlon 64M 3000+,Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB, 512MB DDR RAM
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Raven
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:43
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Quote: "And no, you can't just run a game completely independatly of an operating system, not even the ancient DOS games with boot disks, though I've heard you can put Tetris on your BIOS if you're really 1337"


you know what's funny about that, is Tetris compiled to x86 asm was something like 230k.. most BIOS don't take up the full 2MB, so it would be possible to compile it in, with an option to play it.

god knows if you'd feel secure enough tinkering with your BIOS like that though.

most consoles speed comes from a few factors though..
a/ they're dedicated static specifications, so you can optimise the **** out of code
b/ operating systems are minimalistic in design, only being there as throughput for drivers really
c/ drivers are designed specifically for hardware rather than generally for each sub-design (i've seen geforce hardware gain almost 150% speed under linux this way!)
d/ PC Games generally run at 800x600 or even higher, X-Box games run at 720x584; If you have a Geforce you can put games down to these 'PAL' resolutions and you get quite a ridiculous speed boost. even over 640x480.. just how the chips are designed really.

i could go on for a while actually.
there is a way to minimise the OS Impact on your system.. if you download and compile Windows XP Embedded specifically for your mates system, then you use that instead.

It will run considerably faster, and programs will as well. Especially booted from the CD-Rom..

however if you upgrade your Drivers or need any security updates you'll have to completely recompile the build. no doubt there are Linux users going "bah I do this all the time", but Windows takes considerably longer to build..
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Jimmy
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Posted: 13th May 2005 06:47
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No Mouse, I meant delete it. You can't just kill the task, it restarts.


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Ian T
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Posted: 13th May 2005 07:56
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Doesn't on 2000/XP, at least XP Pro

"Grif, if there's one thing I've learned working with you, it's there there's always a margin for error."
"It's pronounced margarine, dumbass!"
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Benjamin
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:00
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Quote: "You can't just kill the task, it restarts."

Actually, you can. For me it only restarts if it has performed an illegal operation and crashed(this happens a lot).


"Lets migrate like bricks" - Me
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Avan Madisen
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:09
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Games consoles perform faster then pc's because quite often the designers and programmers spend a fair few months (sometimes far too many) tweeking the graphics engine to make use of specific speed-ups that are only possible on that specific hardware config. Plus some of them even route around within the binary programming to find undocumented commands within the system (they do this less now because it can cause instabilities) that can often speed things up further.

PC games are programmed with compatibility in mind, the more systems it runs on, the better, plus speed isn't as much of an issue since if the current systems aren't powerful enough they just wait 6 months and try again!

I don't suffer from insanity - I enjoy every minute of it!
Current Projects: Lemmings Remake
(Untitled) Puzzle Game for the Compo
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mm0zct
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:14
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shut down explorer, good idea i never really considered that. hl2 will now run faster woo...

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AMD athlon 64 3000+, 512mb ddr400, abit kv8, 160gb hdd, gigabit lan, ati radeon 9800se 128mb.
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Benjamin
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:20
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Quote: "PC games are programmed with compatibility in mind"

Thats a good point. Console games only need to be compatible with one set of hardware, so it can take the direct route rather than wasting time on making everything compatible.


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billy the kid
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:23 Edited at: 13th May 2005 08:30
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Umm explorer.exe is just the Windows shell. Although there is a whole lot of crap associated with it, deleting it or stopping the process doesnt actually delete or stop Windows. But it will free up resources, thats true.

And no you cant get rid of Windows or any OS in the background. The game needs some OS to be running because the OS actually runs the game.

Im being nitpicky but I dont want people to be confused.
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Avan Madisen
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:48
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Some of the more ambitious console programmers do actually write their own OS specifically for their games, so they could have only what they needed in the system. Again, this is done less now since graphics cards have become so much more complicated and not many people would relish the idea of re-writing the entire graphics drivers!

I don't suffer from insanity - I enjoy every minute of it!
Current Projects: Lemmings Remake
(Untitled) Puzzle Game for the Compo
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Ian T
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Posted: 13th May 2005 08:59
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Quote: "Umm explorer.exe is just the Windows shell. Although there is a whole lot of crap associated with it, deleting it or stopping the process doesnt actually delete or stop Windows. But it will free up resources, thats true."


That's the entire point, nobody said it stopped Windows.

And I don't think you meant shell:

Quote: "A shell is a command line prompt, often used to enter commands into a computer. Shells and the like are often most associated with POSIX-based operating systems, such as Unix, Solaris, and Linux, but Microsoft Windows has a DOS shell.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_(computers)"


Rather it's the window manager process-- but not the GUI in its entirely as the task manager displays normally without it. That's the extent of my knowledge though

"Grif, if there's one thing I've learned working with you, it's there there's always a margin for error."
"It's pronounced margarine, dumbass!"
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billy the kid
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Posted: 13th May 2005 09:15
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The term shell simply means user interface with OS. Although what you quoted is the exact and proper definition. It is also used to reference the graphical parts of an OS aswell since it IS part of the user interface with the OS. The slang use of the word basically. So yes I meant to use the word 'shell'. Take an OS course, youll see.
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Ian T
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Posted: 13th May 2005 09:25
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Quote: "The shell of an operating system is a program that presents an interface to various operating system functions and services. The shell is so called because it is an outer layer of interface between the user and the innards of the operating system (the kernel)."


I stand corrected.

But it's not the entire shell...

"Grif, if there's one thing I've learned working with you, it's there there's always a margin for error."
"It's pronounced margarine, dumbass!"
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billy the kid
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Posted: 13th May 2005 09:37
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true
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Raven
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Posted: 13th May 2005 19:58
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Visual Shell... sides there is always Aston which is quicker.
Not that it enhances the underlying speed, I doubt you'd see any real performance benefits from swapping the visual interface or turning it off.

This said if you did delete it you would effectively prevent the majority of your systems operations.
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indi
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Posted: 13th May 2005 21:40
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with macos9.0 and below u just stripped out all the control panels and extensions from memory that you didnt need save it as a startup setting and restart with a bare bones os.

Im not sure in windows land but if you could strip out the DLLS running or the apps/tasks running you would get a similar result, too bad windows isnt so modular in that regard.

MACOSX u can create a user who only has access to that game and that strips it down a fair bit but hardly what i would call pro system stripping to optimise a game.

i think windows 98se plays games a little faster then XP, or was that when XP first came out and now they have solved that issue by now. i remember hearing fps crys with older games on XP.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself
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Raven
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Posted: 13th May 2005 21:50
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No Windows isn't quite 'as-modular' however, there is a way (albeit not easy) to strip basically everything non-essencial and even boot a game as default. You can then assign it to a System Configuration.

I've not seen many gamers use the feature, and it does require you to put aside a good 30-40minutes to create each one. (i'd say 2hours if you want to do it right)
It is quite a useful trait for developers though.

Windows XP without a doubt runs games faster than any previous Windows, while Windows 98/ME/2000 run faster in general operations. The integration of DirectX with Processor Enhancements, Threading, ability to Minimise System resource on Full-Screen Mode.. allows it to run games faster than ever.

Still tweaking can sometimes help, especially if your running Firewalls or Anti-Virus applications.. they just suck resources up like Vampires in a Blood Bank.
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 13th May 2005 23:36
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Quote: " I think Jimmy meant kill the task. I do that before I run memory intensive games."


Stop everything for a sec Mouse. This actually works?
Say I have 256RAM and want to play HL2, if I terminate explorer.exe then more RAM will go to HL2 and it'll run better?

It's M-E-G-A-T-O-N. NOT MEGATRON.
DON'T MAKE ME GET THE RABBIT.
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Anti Dragon
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Posted: 14th May 2005 02:33
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It would help.

Ultimately, you need to stop all non-essential services and terminate unessecary processes - you'll re-claim some used memory and a few CPU cycles. It won't be a great deal, but it'll help. Bear in mind, it won't help if your graphics card or hard-drive is the bottleneck!

Anti-virus is a big eater-of-cpu-cylces(TM) but of course be very careful about turning it of.

Actually, there's a pile of sites dedicated to streamlining like this - um... here's one: http://is-it-true.org/nt/utips/utips76.shtml

A last suggestion - don't actually disable services, just write a BAT file with lots of "NET STOP [SERVICE NAME HERE]" and run it when you need to to turbo charge your PC. 'Course, you could have another with "NET START [SERVICE NAME HERE]" for when you find things aren't working....

....So I lurked for a year, deciding when to strike....
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UnderLord
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Posted: 15th May 2005 04:19
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The only game i ever have problems with on my comp is Counter-Strike Source but thats only because i lose 50 packets every damn 2 minutes thanks wifi in about 2 weeks i'll get my pay check and beable to run a cable from my gaming comp to my router then no more lag =P

Quote: ""Grif, if there's one thing I've learned working with you, it's there there's always a margin for error."
"It's pronounced margarine, dumbass!""


Love it mouse =P

When we talk to god, we're praying. When god talks to us, we're schizophrenic.
Schizophrenic beats eating alone.
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