Has anyone out there heard of a reformat/reinstall of WinME that caused almost all games' performance to suffer (or not run at all)? It is not the drivers, version of DirectX, or Windows' system files as best as I can tell. The only game that has not been impacted so far is Serious Sam (D3D). Q3A frame rates dropped to 1/3, UT is unplayable, and Alice and Undying won't work at all. Before I reformatted, all of these games absolutely and positively rocked. Specs if they matter:  
 
P4 1.7  
256M  
GeForce3  
SB Live!  
WinME (d'oh)  
Detonator 12.10 (OEM, but tried 12.41 with no improvement)  
DirectX 8.0a  
 
I have been working with my PC company (D-blank-blank-L) for several weeks. They are blaming the games. The games worked fine the first time, why not after a reformat? I have been on an Unreal forum for a while with no luck - lots of problems but no solutions.  
 
Can anyone help? I bought an awesome gaming rig that won't game. Arg!

Probably, if after format-reinstall you put your resources, harddrive performance and other system settings on lower level then it was before.
 
Sure, as you told, you're OK with the drivers.
But in some other cases, the drivers cause the problem, if they installed not in proper order, sequence. Some people forget about the drivers that came with the motherboard.  
 
Sorry, just a silly question. If everything was running fine, why format-reinstall?

Ahhh, but everything wasn't running fine.  Games were great, but when I attempted to install a cable modem with the provider's software, Windows was severely messed up.  Uninstalling all of their software did not help.  When I learned I didn't even need their software to use the cable modem, I decided to start fresh and try again.  The cable modem is working great, but now I have a much bigger problem.
 
As far as your comment about reduced performance, as best as I can tell (and my PC maker can tell), everything is the same as the factory install.  Not sure myself, but no way to prove it either way.

On yuor machine you got a new device with its driver(s). I don't believe the program that came with the new modem ruined the Windows. The new driver is more likely.
Even a hardware modem can't work on Windows without driver(s).
I guess, you've got a new network card to connect your box with your external cable modem, have you? Anyway, tell more about new hardware, do you have NIC?. What's modem's make/model? It's strange that you don't provide info on your new hardware installed.  
 
Sometimes the problem looks like a Format/Windows/game performance problem, but it's a modem, NIC or other hardware/driver problem.  
 
I think, that your problem might look different. Need some more info on what you read from Device Manager. You can use Print feature there to get the whole bunch of your settings from there.

My PC came with an onboard ethernet adapter (3COM 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller).  No new ethernet drivers were installed to get the cable modem working.  All that was required was a specific computer name & domain, and some network configuration for TCP/IP settings.  After that, the cable modem was functional.  No drivers were loaded/needed for the cable modem and my PC does not know it's there.
 
It's funny you ask about the device manager, though, as I do have one unknown device (didn't have one until after the reformat).  I asked Dell (oops, can I say that?) tech support about it several times, but they were never able to tell me how to determine the identity of the device.  I have tried removing it but it always comes back.  And, it never knows what driver to install, no matter if Windows performs the driver search or not.
 
Also, on your prompting to print out the device manager, I found the Unknown Device in more places than I thought.  It shows up at the top of the "*** SYSTEM DEVICE INFO***" section:
 
*DISABLED DEVICE*
Class: Other Devices
Device: Unknown Device
No resources used.
 
But, it also shows up three more times ina a row like this:
 
*DISABLED DEVICE*
Class: System devices
Device: ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
No resources used.
 
I'm not sure what to think about this.  Do you know what to make of it?
 
P.S. The first cable modem installation attempt is a long story, and I didn't include it here.  Many unnecessary steps were taken because the particular room's cable outlet was never hooked up on the outside of the house. *head shake*

You have hardware configuration conflict. There's comprehensive info on MS site:    
 
<A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q272/2/91.asp?FR=1" target="_new">http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q272/2/91.asp?FR=1</A>
 
Compare what is on the MS site, an look through your devices.
 
Don't worry, you have to do some reinstall and probably some tweaking. You can find the right answer among similar posts at Motherboard forum.  
 
Have a printed list of devices from Device Manager,
and don't forget to make a backup of registry: go to Start > Run >(type msconfig in window, hit OK)>System Configuration Utility > Create Backup.

The article you mentioned does exactly match my situation, but it doesn't say it necessarily indicates a problem (the whole "The behavior is by design" comment).  It also doesn't mention how to resolve the issue.  I checked into the links off of this page as well, but found nothing concrete to say I'm on the right troubleshooting path.
 
I did find a link, however, that explained how to identify an unknown PCI device by checking some things in the registry.  This did not pan out, either, as apparently my device is not PCI.  It shows up in the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\ACPI\MGMT180" instead of "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\PCI" section.
 
You also mentioned that I might be able to find some info in Tom's Motherboard forum.  Did you happen to have an article in mind?  I looked through the titles of the first 20 or so pages, but nothing jumped out at me.  Do you suggest just checking post-by-post?

ACPI, Advanced Configuration & Power Interface – <b>device disabled: is not a problem.</b>
A problem exists only if you have an exclamation mark in Device Manager.
I think it’s faster to solve the problem (to delete the device and reinstall it using the right drivers) than to find the exact message match as an example.  
But for understanding the procedure is better to read several basic and problem related articles.  
 
 A hint on the type of a conflicting device is possible to get from Windows PnP message during Windows install, and from Conflict/Sharing section of Accessories>System Tools>System Information.

Hey, this new WinME System Information tool is pretty cool! Too bad I don't know what the heck it is telling me.  Anyway, I've included the "Conflicts/Sharing" portion of the printout, removing anything that is not related to ACPI or my video card.  I saw an item that causes some concern, but I'll let you be the judge:
 
[Conflicts/Sharing]
 
Resource Device  
IRQ 3 NVIDIA GeForce3  
IRQ 3 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering  
   
IRQ 10 Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM SMBus Controller - 2443  
IRQ 10 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering  
   
IRQ 11 Creative SB Live! Value (WDM)  
IRQ 11 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)  
IRQ 11 Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller 1  
IRQ 11 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering  
IRQ 11 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering  
   
IRQ 9 SCI IRQ used by ACPI bus  
IRQ 9 Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller 2  
IRQ 9 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering  
   
Memory Address 0xFD000000-0xFEFFFFFF PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge  
Memory Address 0xFD000000-0xFEFFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce3  
 
 
Why is my GeForce3 fighting with my PCI bridge?  Is that normal?  If you need more info from my printout, please holler!
 
 
P.S. I really appreciate all of your help.  You seem fairly confident that my problem can be resolved, whereas I am freaking out about my PC.  I am by no means new to computers, but have never encountered a problem close to this (I also have never built a new computer from scratch, where one might run into these types of problems more).

Again, if <b>no exclamation marks, - no configuration problem.</b>  
I would check/reinstall for updated video drivers, direct X, its software rendering mode. Even though changing the IRQ may help the game, it’s probably not the root of the problem. Especially you mentioned "No new ethernet drivers were installed to get the cable modem working."
Are you sure the network was enabled in BIOS before modem install?
 
If you want to change the IRQ anyway, you can try to in device manager by highlighting either hardware device and choosing properties, unchecking the automatic settings and selecting an IRQ that’s available. But most times they can share without any troubles.  
But if you want, you can also try to take the card out of PCI slot 1 (next to AGP) and move it to next empty slot. Through BIOS (in case of Asus P4T, I don’t know your motherboard) you can change either
Slot 1 IRQ   [Auto]
Slot 2 IRQ   [Auto]
Slot 3 IRQ   [Auto]
from [Auto] into free IRQ (probably IRQ5). More likely it won’t work for SoundBlaster though.

Ok, I don't have a configuration problem, but I would still feel better if I didn't have an unknown device in my Device Manager.  One of the SysInfo printouts (and registry for that matter) pointed me towards ACPI as being the culprit.  Where can I get ACPI drivers?  I have tried loading drivers for my motherboard but the device remains.
 
Any ideas?

 
What can I add? Just repeat what is already posted:
the drivers cause the problem, if they installed not in proper order, sequence. Some people forget about the drivers that came with the motherboard.
 
You can’t play with the drivers for your motherboard on top of video drivers installed.  
 
Have all your disks with drivers ready.
Uninstall all your troublesome games, DirectX. Don’t forget to restart after every uninstall.  
From Device Manager in Safe Mode delete all the devices.
Restart the machine, follow the procedure on how to install the drivers from the CD.  
Reinstall the devices <b>starting from motherboard drivers on CD </b>, then video, and the rest.
There might be a tricky thing at the beginning of driver install:
you have to answer NO if PnP asks whether <b>you want</b> to restart the system.  
You must restart, when PnP says: <b>You must restart</b> or something like that.
 
I would rather reinstall the system from scratch  
after FDISK /MBR, FORMAT /U
Do not start with any program installation if you see that the drivers in the Device Manager are not installed properly.  
   
 
Good luck and happy gaming!

PS:
From Girish Pundlik: <font color=blue><i>“…Many of you with …. motherboard might have wondered about the some Unknown Device that crops up in the Device Manager and have no clue whatsoever about it. Its the FWH that goes unrecognised by Windows. Installing the Inf update that comes on the motherboard CD will let Windows identify this device.”</i></font color=blue>

In a manner, I tried what you suggested, but couldn't get online to remember the fdisk and format switches.
 
1) FDISK - removed existing partition and added FAT32 P.D.P.
2) FORMAT C:
3) WinME Setup
4) Setup did its thing (no prompts)
5) When setup was done, I installed M/B drivers from my Dell OEM disc.  I think it was Intel's Configuration Utility v2.5.something.
6) When I rebooted, Windows found a few new devices - PCI stuff etc.
7) My "unknown device" was already present, and this time it DOES have an exclamation point.
8) Thinking the unknown device might be another system device, I installed more drivers (from the same OEM CD) for ATA stuff and NIC stuff.  Unknown device remained.
9) Pending a possible response, I have not installed any other drivers.
 
I saw your note on the Firmware Hub.  Is there supposed to be an individual driver for it?  If not, where can I get this "INF Update"?  I downloaded the latest Intel Chipset Config Utility (v3.??), but installed it over the top of the existing drivers.  Bad?  Is this the INF update that was mentioned?
 
I haven't tried any games yet, per your advice.  Until the Unknown Device is resolved, I don't think they will work, anyway.
 
Thanks for your continued support! *sheepish*

Chipset Config Utility over top is OK.
Sorry, I don’t know, what else.  
It is possible to get the "unknown device" untill the last hardware will be installed.
In order to troubleshoot the problem it were better to do clean install first with minimum hardware installed/enabled on the motherboard.
Then you add/install the hardware one by one.  
 
If Sound is already installed:
- go into your volume control...make sure you're in advanced controls, and ensure that "digital output only" isn't checked.  
- Double check that all the devices/drivers on your sound card are working,  
or check, whether it possible to delete the "unknown device" with the sound card uninstalled/deleted.  
 
 
Try again Search Board on this page on the left and Google.com for "Unknown Device"

*The following my void manufacture's warrenty*
 
Try this, but it will only work if you have a WinME companion CD or update (update CD will require you to have proof of previous Win9x purchase, like 95 CD or 98 CD), and you are able to find drivers for everything.  Since this is a pre-made computer, this may not work as well, since your drivers might all be on a recovery CD.  At that point, your best bet is to take everything out that didn't come with the machine (i.e. everything you have added over time) and run the recovery program.  Then, while the PC is still vigin, update any and all drivers you can find, and add back anything new one at a time.  That includes your cable modem.  In fact, unless you have no choice, do that last, and use a dial up to get online driver updates, if your PC came with a modem pre-installed.  Otherwise, you might have to install it first, which might make it cranky again if you're not careful.  If your PC came with a seperate WinME CD-ROM, or all the device drivers can be found without the recovery CD, read on.
 
Sinc

*The following my void manufacture's warrenty*
 
Try this, but it will only work if you have a WinME companion CD or update (update CD will require you to have proof of previous Win9x purchase, like 95 CD or 98 CD), and you are able to find drivers for everything.  Since this is a pre-made computer, this may not work as well, since your drivers might all be on a recovery CD.  At that point, your best bet is to take everything out that didn't come with the machine (i.e. everything you have added over time) and run the recovery program.  Then, while the PC is still vigin, update any and all drivers you can find, and add back anything new one at a time.  That includes your cable modem.  In fact, unless you have no choice, do that last, and use a dial up to get online driver updates, if your PC came with a modem pre-installed.  Otherwise, you might have to install it first, which might make it cranky again if you're not careful.  If your PC came with a seperate WinME CD-ROM, or all the device drivers can be found without the recovery CD, read on.
 
Since's you've formatted many times, I think I can assume that all important data is either backed up, or important data didn't exist.  
 
1) Get all updated drivers for system (video, sound, motherboard, ethernet, etc.)  Also make a WinME startup disk (Start->Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Startup Disk tab->Create Disk)
 
2) (Assuming you have a burner or ZIP-like removable media) Save all driver updates to a removable media.  If you don't have those resources, find someone who does.  Makes life easy.
 
3) Now, forget you have an old PC.  Pretend it's new.  Turn off the PC and take out all unnessicary cards (i.e. sound, ethernet, modem, etc.)  You should only have a video card, hard drive, floppy drive, and cd-rom drive connected to your PC.  If you have onboard sound (sound card that is integrated into motherboard), don't worry about it.
 
4) Take startup disk and insert into floppy drive.  Turn on PC.  When the startup screen comes up, choose the Startup option without CD-ROM support.
 
5) Optional: If you have a larger HD (20GB or more), it is recommended that you use FDISK to create two or more drives on the one HD.  Usually, you make a 3GB partition for Windows, and, unless you have a really large (60GB+), use the rest as a second drive for apps and games.  You can find out how to use FDISK <A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q255/8/67.ASP" target="_new"> here</A>.  Follow the onscreen instructions, and then skip to step 7.
 
6) If you just want to format, without using FDISK, just type "format C: /s" without quotes at the A: prompt.
 
7) After format is complete, restart PC.  This time, select the startup option <i> with </i> CD-ROM support.
 
8) After the PC loads to the A: prompt, insert the WinME CD into the CD-ROM, type "D:" without quotes (or whatever letter your PC assigns the CD-ROM, usually D:, E:, F:...etc.) at the prompt, then type "setup" without quotes.  This should launch WinME setup.
 
9) Follow onscreen instructions to install WinME.
 
10) After installation is complete, use your removable media to istall the latest motherboard and video drivers.  Also intall latest sound drivers if you have onboard sound.
 
11) Once that is complete, add all the other cards, one at a time.  Order really doesn't matter at this point.  Just make sure you only install one at a time, load up the PC, install the manufacture's drivers, restart, then install the latest version of those drivers.  
 
If this seems too technical for you (which it was for me the first time I went through it) find a friend who knows PCs, and ask them.  I'll warn you now that if you format or fdisk incorrectly, you can really screw things up.  So, read through, ask questions, and above all, think of this as fun.  That, or send the PC back and use the money to build your own.  That way, if something goes wrong, you know it's your fault, and if you can't fix it, these boards can help you out, since a home built PC doesn't have all those bells and whistles that those pre-made PC makers put in them.  Hope this helps.
 
-SammyBoy