Re: Gaming Account in Windows

From: Neil Dela Osa \(MS] (neilde_at_online.microsoft.com)
Date: 07/16/04 

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 12:45:55 -0700

I wish things were that simple. I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations.
I've been exposed to computers for the last 15 years and the industry has
made a lot of progress compared to what things used to be like. We still
have a long way to go. Take a trip to your local bookstore and checking
out the programming section an you'll see just how big and complicated a
field it can be.

I'd like to take a moment to address your concern that we aren't doing
anything to work with third parties to make all of our products better. We
have a number of programs in place to try to help our hardware and software
partners. Here's a portal site with information on Hardware and Driver
design for Windows.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/default.mspx

This site includes information on programs we have in place to help third
party vendors create hardware for Windows. Some key things I'd like to
point out on the page include:

-- The WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) and "Designed for Windows"
certification programs. These programs provide testing tools for hardware
manufacturers to ensure their products run better on Windows.

-- The extensive work on the Windows Driver Foundation which provides the
technical underpinnings for how hardware interacts with current and future
versions of Windows.

-- The Driver Reliability and Windows Error Reporting initiatives to collect
information on customer bugs. We share this information with hardware
vendors and use it internally to fix bugs in our own products. Many of the
hotfixes you see on Windows Update come from these bug reports.

Here is a whole site devoted to helping software developers:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/

I'm sorry I don't have a specific answer for your frustrations but there are
literally thousands of people in hundreds of companies working to make
things run better. 

-- 
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights. 
Please do not send email directly to my alias.  This alias is for newsgroup 
posting only.
"kcolop" <kcolop@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message 
news:A80521EB-9855-45D4-94C5-B83823F51F59@microsoft.com...
> Neil, I agree with what your saying but I feel if Microsoft and the other 
> hardware vendors and software vendoor don't want to turn off the customers 
> they need to work together (somehow) to do these kind of things!
>
> I'm running a P4 3.06, 1GigRam, ATI 9700Radion Pro and still have problems 
> with games. You can't go by what's written on the software box and you 
> can't believe the computer vendors that your getting hardware beyond 
> current software.
>
> At some point we quit buying. I'm at that point now with games and 
> computers.
> They don't live up to there claims and give you the run around when trying 
> to get help.
>
> Sorry for the rant but it's disappointing to hear the it's too hard to do 
> from the vendor side. And the fix IS always in the next software version.
>
> "Neil Dela Osa (MS]" wrote:
>
>> That would be problematic because 3rd party vendors could install their 
>> own
>> services - for example, check out the helper apps installed by Creative
>> Labs, NVidia and ATI.  It would be impossible to predict what services 
>> are
>> present on any given box and deciding which ones are "non-essential".
>>
>> If you want to automate starting and stopping of services the commands to
>> look into for scripting are:
>>
>> sc queryex
>> sc stop <servicename>
>> sc start <servicename>
>> taskkill
>> tasklist
>>
>>
>> The DirectX team is looking at gaming on Windows and has some ideas for
>> making the experience better with the next version of Windows codenamed
>> Longhorn.
>>
>> -- 
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no 
>> rights.
>> Please do not send email directly to my alias.  This alias is for 
>> newsgroup
>> posting only.
>> "kcolop" <kcolop@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:75B98B73-143E-4109-98C8-5D704DC0C8DE@microsoft.com...
>> > Jimmy, Well I went through your procedure and set things up (not really
>> > that much work) and tried it out.
>> > The game I'm currently playing is Sacred. It's buggie on it's own both 
>> > SP
>> > and MP but I found that I can't get the MP server (LAN their server
>> > program on my computer) to execute so something that's turned off needs 
>> > to
>> > be turned on.
>> > I'll look at that late when I have time.
>> >
>> > I had been using msconfig and doing selective start and unchecking 
>> > statup
>> > items and your instructions seem to do the same thing.
>> >
>> > Thanks, this is a good place to start. Now one might hope that the
>> > Microsoft people might read this thread (and others) and since they
>> > produce games just might take the hint and build something into Win XP
>> > that does this from a User Logon level so all that would be needed is 
>> > to
>> > switch users when you wanted to game!
>> >
>> > "Jimmy S." wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi kcolop,
>> >>
>> >> I've tweaked my system to use a "Gaming" Hardware Profile.  :-)
>> >>
>> >> USE THE FOLLOWING INFO AT YOUR OWN RISK!
>> >>
>> >> I don't really want to provide a tweaking guide, however it's
>> >> clear that there's a demand, so I'll share some tricks I've used
>> >> as long as you promise to set a restore point right now. Is that
>> >> a fair deal? ;-)  Here's how to use Windows XP System Restore:
>> >>
>> >> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gethelp/systemrestore.asp
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> I use these methods only for special games such as grudge matches.
>> >>
>> >> A:  Setup Hardware Profile for Gaming
>> >>     Control Panel / System
>> >>         Hardware Tab / Hardware Profiles button
>> >>             Copy Profile 1 and rename it Gaming Profile
>> >>                 Leave Profile 1 at the top of the list
>> >>                     Set to Select the first profile in 5 seconds
>> >>
>> >> B:  Disable Services for Gaming.
>> >>     Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services
>> >>         For each service listed below do the following:
>> >>             Right Click / Properties / Log On Tab
>> >>                 Click on Gaming Profile / click Disable Button
>> >>                     Click Apply but Do NOT disable for Profile 1
>> >>
>> >> List of Services:  Alerter / Automatic Updates / Computer Browser
>> >> Cryptographic Services (Will cause "Logo" Errors when installing SP1 
>> >> or
>> >> DX9)
>> >> Fast User Switching Compatibility / Help and Support / Messenger
>> >> Print Spooler / Remote Registry / Secondary Logon (Run as... will not
>> >> function)
>> >> System Restore Service / Task Scheduler / Terminal Services / Themes
>> >> Upload Manager / VMWare Authorization Service (These services only 
>> >> appear
>> >> if
>> >> you use VM Ware) / VMWare DHCP Service  " " / VMWare NAT Service   " "
>> >> Windows Image Acquisition (I won't be scanning while playing) / 
>> >> Windows
>> >> Time.
>> >>
>> >> * You cannot expect to install games and use windows everyday with the
>> >> above
>> >>     services disabled.  Those are just safe services to disable 
>> >> *WHILE*
>> >> you're in
>> >>     a game.  After the games are over, reboot and use the original
>> >> Profile 1 again.
>> >>
>> >> C:  Disable Page File
>> >>     Since I have 512 MB Ram I find it faster to use RAM than to page 
>> >> to
>> >> the HD.
>> >>         Control Panel / System / Advanced / Performance Settings /
>> >> Advanced Tab
>> >>             Virtual Memory Change / Select each drive / click No 
>> >> Paging
>> >> file and
>> >>                 click SET.  ****If you do not click Set it will not
>> >> accept your change.
>> >>
>> >> *  Once you're finished your games turn back on the System Managed 
>> >> page
>> >> file!
>> >>
>> >> D:  Use XP's Firewall Instead of 3rd Party Firewalls
>> >>     We've already disabled your firewall (Norton's, Zone Alarm, etc.) 
>> >> by
>> >> disabling
>> >>     Startup programs in step D.  Check your services using the method 
>> >> in
>> >> step A to
>> >>     see if the firewall or antivirus program has services you should
>> >> disable, i.e. Zone
>> >>     Alarm installs a True Vector service you can disable for the 
>> >> Gaming
>> >> Profile.
>> >>
>> >> E:  Improve Framerates by Lowering Game Eyecandy and Sound
>> >>     I found that by setting my resolution in Halo to 800x600, and
>> >> lowering the
>> >>     visual effects, I was able to improve my framerate from 24 to 52 
>> >> FPS!
>> >> :-)
>> >>     This is more improvement than any of the other tweaks provided.
>> >>     Sound is something that you don't need.  Only keep sound settings
>> >> that will
>> >>     help keep you alive, for example to hear a tank rumbling near you.
>> >> Music and
>> >>     the sound effects made when you fire your weapons are expensive 
>> >> ear
>> >> candy.
>> >>
>> >> F:  Set Performance Options for Best Performance
>> >>     Control Panel / System / Advanced / Settings / Visual Effects
>> >>         Adjust for best performance (remember to change it back after
>> >> your games).
>> >>
>> >> G:  Disable Startup Programs
>> >>     Start / Run / type msconfig / Startup Tab / Click Disable all 
>> >> button.
>> >>     You will be prompted to restart, when it restarts you'll have 5
>> >> seconds to pick
>> >>     Gaming Profile or it will default to Profile 1 instead.
>> >>
>> >> WARNING - DO NOT CLICK THE SERVICES / DISABLE ALL BUTTON!
>> >> *Never touch the Services Tab in msconfig! It allows you to disable 
>> >> ALL
>> >> services
>> >> for ALL profiles with the click of one button and Windows won't 
>> >> startup
>> >> again!!!
>> >>
>> >> Okay, so now I've shared some of the tweaks I've used on my own 
>> >> system. I
>> >> hope this information will be helpful, and if used properly help you 
>> >> pwn
>> >> your opps!
>> >>
>> >> -- 
>> >> Cheers,                                 Windows XP MVP Shell / User
>> >> Jimmy S. 
>> >> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>> >>
>> >> Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
>> >> Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call /
>> >> Contact
>> >> MS Support at:
>> >> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
>> >> My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty;  nor do I confer any
>> >> rights.
>> >> _________________________________________________________
>> >>
>> >> "kcolop" <kcolop@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:B29E9596-F7BB-4DB9-8836-46360A322B5B@microsoft.com...
>> >> | Has anyone come up with a way to set up and account (Win XP Pro) for
>> >> gaming or any other resource intensive application that you
>> >> can just login as that user and your ready to go?
>> >> |
>> >> | This would be something that wouldn't mean you'd have to close 
>> >> taskbar
>> >> items and close things running in Task Manager. This would
>> >> be like booting with msconfig and doing a selective startup with out
>> >> startup items checked only better by not starting anything
>> >> that's unnecssary.
>> >> |
>> >> | Is there an app. that does something like this?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>