[Ronn_Bman]

I've posted several times here about the stutter problem that is discussed at great length on the Bioware forum, and even though no one here seems to have the problem, I thought I'd post my solution cause I'M SOOOO DAMN HAPPY

Here's my post from the Bioware forum....

I've waited a long time to post this, and it feels GREAT to have solved my stutter mystery.

To those still suffering with it....I DO feel your pain.
I noticed the stutter as soon as I started playing the game, and even though my problem was very mild, it drove me crazy.

***If you don't want to read the whole sad story, you can skip to my happy ending to see if this might help you***

I updated all my drivers, uninstalled/reinstalled those drivers several times, upgraded to a new graphics card (from the GeForce 2 MX 400 my NEW system came with), doubled my RDRAM, switched from using Norton's Speed Disc utility to Xp's defragment tool, tried every tweak and twitter listed on this and other boards, and anything else I could think of over the last last couple of months, but none of it worked becausing I was trying too hard

Now, I won't say there was no change after all this effort because somethings actually made the problem worse

A few nights ago, I was trying a new round of sound drivers that really increased the stutter, but after reverting to the older driver the problem didn't "calm down". I uninstalled/reinstalled the game, which usually restores the game to the mild version of stutter, but that didn't fix it either. Now I was worried because I had always been able to get it back to just the mild stutter. :look:

Now, I was ready to give up on the stutter problem entirely, if I could get it back to the mild version I said, "I'll never mess with it again." I thought, it's something I shouldn't have to live with, but that I can live with.

I completely removed all drivers and software associated with my sound card, and then reinstalled the driver from the Windows Update XP driver list, uninstalled the game, used XP's defragment tool (instead of Speed Disc, which seems to exaggerate the stutter), and then reinstalled and updated the game. It was late, so I didn't test it. I packed up my computer, mouse, cable modem, and headset, so I could take it to work with me over the weekend. I would use the moniter and keyboard at work.

I got to work yesterday morning, plugged everything up, loaded the game to see how bad the stutter still was and figure out what I need to work on first. Guess what? The stutter was gone. I played around for an hour, and it was totally gone without a trace. I figured it was either the XP defrag, removing the SB software, or something I'd left at home.

When I got home, I hooked my machine up and the stutter was back. I went through my peripherals one by one, and it was my printer. With the printer cable connected, I had a stutter in the game, and without it connected, the stutter was gone. I had the latest printer drivers, but reinstalled them anyway. This didn't make any difference. My printer is unplugged, and my game is stutter free! A small price to pay since I print about 5 pages a month, and when I need to print something, all I have to do is connect the cable.

I know this won't solve the problem for everyone, and I'm sure many people checked their peripherals first, but if you didn't, check out them out before you do anything else.

BTW, my uncle has a nearly identical Dell(before my new graphics card and extra ram they were identical), and disconnecting his 800 series HP printer solved his problem as well.

****Check your peripherals! The offending "item" causing the stutter, in my case, was the HP Photosmart 1000 printer. In my uncle's case, it was his HP 800 series printer.*****

I'm stutter free and feeling might fine!!!

_________________
Version 1.26
Dell Dimension 8200
Intel P4 2Ghz
XP Home/Service Pack 1
512 MG RDRAM
Leadtek GeForce ti4400 30.87
SB Live! Value 5.1.2602.0
40GIG ATA-100,7200rpm HD