Vista - Why does every game I play on Vista Home Basic lag?

Old or not, I bought Halo 2 a few months back. When I got it set up, it lag'd bad. I've played Halo 2 on the xbox. It goes MUCH faster. Could anyone help me on what I can do to get it, and any other game I may by, going faster.

NOTE: This is the first PC game I have bought.. so, help?

what are your system specs?

Halo 2
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie Software Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista
Processor: Pentium 4 @ 2 GHz
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 7 GB Free
Video Memory: 128 MB (800×600 Resolution MINIMUM) Pixel Shader 2.0 (Nvidia 6000/ATI x700)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard & Mouse
DVD Rom Drive
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista
Processor: Pentium 4 @ 3 GHz (32-Bit or 64-Bit)
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 7 GB Free
Video Memory: 128 MB (Pixel Shader 3.0, Aero Capable) (Nvidia 7800/ATI X1800)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard & Mouse
DVD Rom Drive
XBOX 360 Gamepad

Where exactly can I find my PC specs?

easy way, what brand / model # is your computer.

I, uh, made a mistake on what I have. I actually have Vista Home Basic.

And model #? I went to System and Maintenance, and then to System, and it said

Model: a6683w

Is that it?

is an HP a6683w?

Yes.

you should be able to run it with no issue's.

try these to update your video driver

ForceWare Release 169

nForce Driver

Here are the specs of your PC... link below

HP Pavilion a6683w Desktop PC*-* Product Specifications*

I don't know much (anything really) about AMD or ATI but I do believe that the Sempron from AMD is like the Celeron from Intel, great workforce CPUs but not really ment for anything else, let alone gaming.

Aside from that, you have a cheesy PSU (Power Supply) and an even cheesier integrated video card so you are just lucky you can play a game.

Frankly, I don't even suggest you spending any money on a better PCIe video card since I doubt your PSU will be able to move it.

Sorry, don't mean to be so harsh or put you in a down mood, just stating the facts and the obvious. My suggestion is to save some $$$ and build your own rig next time... we will be glad to help you

Updating your drivers and doing a windows update + defaging your hdd might help a bit though

Thank you for this. I went into the Video section of Halo and but it on low. It runs fine now. Sucky graphics or not, they are fine for me. Thanks you guys though. I might have to do the same thing for every game I have, but oh well.