Common Problems Playing Games
1. "THE GAME WILL NOT PLAY!"
When it comes to playing PC games, this is probably the biggest and most frustrating problem anyone can face. I have bought games that weren't working properly and I didn't know why. When I have this problem, I do a few things to help me figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.
A. The first thing I do is go to the systemrequirementslab.com site which has a very useful computer application to tell you whether you can run the game or not. This will analyze what hardware your computer has and compare it to the minimum and recommended specifications of the game you want to play. This can be extremely useful as it is difficult to remember your computer's exact specifications and can help you identify what you need to upgrade if you have to.
B. Check the drivers for your computer or graphics card. Sometimes computer peripherals will have a driver update, if you don't have the right drivers installed it can cause some issues while running some games.
C. Check the game settings. Some games are very good at optimizing the setting for what will work best on your computer, but they don't always do it correctly. If a game isn't performing well in most games, you can change the graphics settings to see if it will perform properly.
D. Reinstall the game. Sometimes it is possible that a file gets damaged during the game installation or over time. If this is a problem, it can be fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Most games can be installed through your computer's control panel, but if it is not, you can sometimes uninstall the game from the game launcher itself.
E. Sometimes, unfortunately, there are random issues with games which are very difficult to identify. If this problem occurs, you can contact the game company. Many companies have dedicated help lines or forums to help people who are having problems running their games. Usually they respond quickly and will do whatever they can to help you resolve your issue.
2. "The game is running unstable online!"
This is another common gaming issue, and it's not just for PC gaming. Sometimes your PC or gaming system will work just fine, but you have a lot of online gaming issues, luckily there are ways you can try to fix this problem.
A. The first thing to do is to verify that you are getting the correct speeds from your Internet service provider. You can run an online speed test at speedtest.net which will help you identify your download and upload speeds. If the speeds are slow or not what you expect, there are several things you can do to try and remedy the problem before calling your ISP.
B. If you have speed issues the first thing I recommend you do is check your router. Sometimes speed issues are due to an old or faulty router. I recently had problems with my internet connection and decided to check my router. I was using an old router with old wireless technology but didn't think it was causing any problems. I ended up buying a new AC router and it doubled the internet speed that I used to get with my N router. N routers have been around for a while and AC is a newer technology which provides more bandwidth and better performance. better signal strength than N routers. With so many devices connected to home WiFi, I think upgrading to an AC router is well worth it because everything will work better.
C. If you find out that the router is not the problem and only your computer is having speed issues, you can check for any obstacles that may be blocking the wireless signal. Sometimes the causes of the interference are completely random and I've heard of people who had terrible speeds, moved their computers a bit in a different direction and everything worked fine. You can also run a malware scan on your computer to make sure that a virus is not consuming your bandwidth.
D. There is also the possibility of a faulty wireless card in your computer. I had a desktop that had a wireless card that stopped working at random, it took me a long time to identify the problem, but when I did it was fixed by simply purchasing a USB WiFi adapter. They are not very expensive and got my computer back online quickly and easily.
E. If your problem is not resolved with any of these solutions, you may need to contact your ISP. Unfortunately sometimes there are just issues with the incoming line and a technician has to go out and fix it. Sometimes the IP can identify a problem over the phone and determine if the problem is on their end or if they need to send a technician.
3. Other quick tips to improve PC performance
A. I strongly recommend that everyone install an SSD on their computer. An SSD is an SSD drive that can replace your existing hard drive. Traditional hard drive is a moving part hard drive that spins and reads and writes data, while an SSD has no moving parts and everything is stored on flash memory chips. Due to the way the data is stored access is much faster and more reliable than standard hard drive, they are more expensive at the moment, but the speed increase is worth it in my opinion. I recently swapped my computer to an SSD and it changed my boot time from minutes to seconds. Everything seems to load a lot faster and I can't imagine going back to a regular hard drive.
Upgrading RAM
A. Sometimes upgrading the amount of RAM in your computer can improve performance. However, you need to know what kind of RAM you can use first. To do this, you can view your computer's system information which gives you a system summary. In the summary there will be a system model, I used this to research online how much RAM my computer could support and what type I should use.