# My comp is too fast to run this program! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516 "2004-04-06T07:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/1 "2004-04-06T07:17:56Z")
I just went through a major hassle to get windows 98 installed on my 2nd hard drive in order to play a really old game that wont run on XP. Now I can play the game, but there’s a problem…everything moves super fast! The game was designed for “minimum” 100mhz comps, recommends 133 mhz, and i have a 1.8ghz processor. Are there any programs available that can slow my comp down without doing any damage to the hardware? If you cant tell, I’m a complete idiot about most computer stuff, so the simpler you can explain things, the better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/2 "2004-04-06T07:28:39Z")
well if i were you i would just get rid of that game. but you can manually set you processor speed in BIOS … the speed might show in terms of a multiplier setting. like a 1.33 ghz processor might be 133 mhz X 10. where 133 mhz is the bus speed and 10 is the multiplier setting. well most likely you will be allowed to change that multiplier setting to a lower value. you might also be allowed to change the bus speed lets say from 133 to 100 or whatever, which in turn would also slow down your processor given that multiplier setting is unchanged. i _think_ this change should be fully reversible and not leave any damage, but i would not bet money on it. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/3 "2004-04-06T07:29:24Z")
No help here, but I’ll watch this thread. I have a 2.4 GHz running XP that won’t allow me to play Myst. I suspect it’s a hardware conflict, but we’ll see. Otherwise it sounds like a driver/config problem. Again, don’t take my word for it. BTW, what’s the game? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/4 "2004-04-06T07:33:17Z")
> [@vasyachkin](#): > > well if i were you i would just get rid of that game. > > but you can manually set you processor speed in BIOS … > > the speed might show in terms of a multiplier setting. like a 1.33 ghz processor might be 133 mhz X 10. where 133 mhz is the bus speed and 10 is the multiplier setting. well most likely you will be allowed to change that multiplier setting to a lower value. you might also be allowed to change the bus speed lets say from 133 to 100 or whatever, which in turn would also slow down your processor given that multiplier setting is unchanged. > > i _think_ this change should be fully reversible and not leave any damage, but i would not bet money on it. Okay, definitely not doing that then. There isn’t a simple program to run that will cap your processing power without editing stuff in the bios? Maybe I can play 2 movies, a couple of songs and run a bunch of other programs in the background while playing the game. Think that would work? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/5 "2004-04-06T07:34:37Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > No help here, but I’ll watch this thread. I have a 2.4 GHz running XP that won’t allow me to play Myst. I suspect it’s a hardware conflict, but we’ll see. Otherwise it sounds like a driver/config problem. Again, don’t take my word for it. > BTW, what’s the game? The game is magic the gathering, the version microprose made in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Zcrysis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zcrysis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zcrysis)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-comp-is-too-fast-to-run-this-program/238516/6 "2004-04-06T10:15:28Z")
This [site](http://www.geocities.com/kulhain/) has a list of slow down utilities you can use.