Comp freezes playing game then runs slow

[Vasago]

Hello,
Im new to this post and frankly im not as comp litterate as I'd like to be.
I have 2 problems and think both may be related.
here are my syst specs before I state the probs.

Win XP pro (upgraded from 98 SE 3 weeks ago)
Amd Athalon 1.29 Ghz processor
256 MB SD Ram
32/64 MB Radeon RV100 Graphics Accelerator
Dialup isp (downgraded from cable)

#1 I play a very popular online RPG game and sometimes (mostly evenings)
when Im in certain areas of the game, I freeze up. I can hear things going on around me in game sometimes but im frozen on screen and cant do anything. I end up having to hit crtl+alt+delete to get out of game. When i try to log back in, it seems to stay frozen till I reboot my syst.
Im not sure if its my comp or the dialup thats causing this. I never had this prob with cable but also didnt have XP at that time,and havent upgraded any new components in my comp.

#2 Alot of times my comp lags so bad on and offline that i have to reboot my syst. just to open IExplorer. (also didnt have these probs till i downgraded to dialup and upgraded to XP. This has only been happening for about a week now. I also noticed that my processor is running at 100% with 20 processes running. But since im not that litterate I have no clue if that affects anything.
I have also run Spy-Bot S&D just to see if I have anything slowing me down but Nothing has helped

I cant afford to buy a new syst at the moment or upgrade any parts but I thought what I have was sufficient.

Any help is greatly appreciated And maybe It will keep me from tossing this out the window
Thanks

Graphics card. You're running a R100 32/64MB (which one you have? 32MB or 64MB?) which is up to DX8 compatible. If you are running a graphics rich environ game...you're going to be pushing the envelope for your card. Since cards are getting pretty inexpensive...I'd go for an upgrade.

[GReddy4u]

What is causing your lag, is your connection i would think. I currently dongraded to dial-up and i have a major decrease in gaming speed. I suggest switchin back to high speed internet. Also getting a 128mb ram to add to the 128 you already have. This would reduce lag majorly. I have a 1.4ghz amd with dial up, its alright on the net, but on games like Counter-Strike it doesnt run as smooth as i would like. Also, make sure when your on the net that you dont have alot of programs running. Try to just keep 1 or 2 programs running. When u start up your computer, some programs run in the background, make sure you set those to not start-up and make sure there isnt many programs in your start-up folder, hope i helped

[Catweazle]

Windows XP is certainly memory-hungry. 256 is the minimum I'd suggest, and 512 is a good figure to aim for.

Have you installed XP as an 'upgrade', keeping your existing programs and data in place?

If so, consider backing up your data, downloading up to date drivers for your components and installing Windows XP as a fresh, clean install. Upgrading over the top of an old Win98 install is problemmatic, with any 'hidden' problens of the old installation being magnified, and with potential problems of driver conflicts.

[Vasago]

The graphics card I have says just that on box 32/64 mb and if its something you can set to 32 or 64 i have no clue how to do that. Ive also been thinking about upgrading mem from SD Ram to DDR but wasant sure if i really needed it

[Catweazle]

Nope. The box will be printed to cater to either version of the card.

Next time you start your system, turn the monitor on first and give it a little time to 'warm up'. Then turn your system on and watch the displayed information you see as the machine does its 'tests'. The first bit of information you should see displayed will be the ID for the display card, and the amount of video RAM that it has. ;)

Even if you have had cable modem...if you only have 32MB for your vid card...you're going to lag on certain places in most new games. So I'd be more inclined to believe that your graphics card is the culprit especially on an RPG unless it is one with lotsa shader intense scenes or action driven scenes where there are many motions on the screen at the same time. I dunno...I know I had a GF4 MX 440 that I used for a long time and I wondered why battlefield 1942 lagged for me with a cable modem. I upgraded to an ATI 9500 Pro and filled my shorts. That card eliminated any lag problems I ever had. Even my recently purchased GF4 Ti 4400 screams on BF1942...I was bottlenecking myself. Just my exp. with vid cards for ya...take it or leave it. :)

[GReddy4u]

Yes, the computer i am currently on was a 32mb and just had a newly installed cable modem, the modem requires atleast 128mb to work correctly. Now it has 160mb ram and there is still major lag. One of the reasons is the lack of lag and the 700mhz processor it runs off.