What could be making me lag?

[MarcK]

Every 20 seconds on tf2 my computer enters a 10-second fit of 2 fps video and skipping audio.

Specs:
Computer Model HP dv7 Notebook
OS Windows Vista 64-bit
RAM 4 gb
Processor AMD Turion x2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 (2.1 GHz)
Connection 100 mbps cable modem with an N Router connected wirelessly
Graphics Card ATI Raedon HD 3200

Every time I go to play tf2 I go into task manager and end all of my useless background processes, turn all of the video settings to the lowest quality and it still fucks itself up.

I played in offline mode with 2 players on normal (kicked his ass) and it still went into smaller fits of lag (a little less often, the fps doesn't drop so dramatically but its still noticeable.)

I scanned my computer for viruses, I connected my computer to the modem directly, my DirectX Hardware level is version 9.0, I have no fucking idea what else could possibly be the issue.

Is it just that vista sucks or am I missing another factor?

[rtil]

try -dxlevel 81

also i have a radeon and when i turn on AA my game flat out crashes (as well as every other game). i suspect this is some unrelated hardware conflict but you may want to try turning AA off if it isnt already

[MarcK]

Anti-Aliasing? that's off in default. I've switched around between dx 80, 81 and 90. I use 90 now because I'd be able to turn off color correction. Would dx 81 support this better?

[rtil]

i have no idea about cc. when i first got tf2 it would often stutter and get stuck on a short loop of soudn for 5-10 seconds, often ending in the video card resetting and me losing about 30 seconds of gameplay. but this is an issue i have with all games and not just tf2 and i haven't been able to put my finger on it. i'm not sure what's going on here either

[MarcK]

I might just have a really bad virus that my scans and searches aren\\\'t picking up and it\\\'s holding back my computer. The reason is that at random times in the midst of anything the screen goes black for 2 seconds and my computer shuts off immediately. The weirdest part is that windows doesn\\\'t even tell me that I went through a bad shut down and doesn\\\'t ask me to go on safe mode.

Spybot, Sophos and Windows Defender aren\\\'t noticing anything except for files that I don\\\'t even have the permissions to delete with the program.

My computer might be eating itself as I type under my hands :<

Also would the hard drive factor in? Like if I have 110 gb out of 250 gb taken up will it slow down my computer?

[rtil]

no.

try combofix

[MarcK]

incompatible: combofix only works with windows 2000 and xp :/

thanks though