Speeding up a savegame, and a question about db size

I have two questions. I know I have read in the past about a way to "clean up" a save to make it run faster - deleting certain folders, I think (this is for WWSM 08). Which folders, where are they, is this safe, and is it done manually or is there some utility that I must download?

My second question is about db size, also for WWSM 08. If I click on "retain all players" for, say, England, does the db size affect the players included from England? In other words, does the "retain all players" command supersede the db size for those nations retained, or does a small db mean fewer "all players from England", and a large db means more "all players from England"?

Thank you in advance for your help.

It's "all players from England", regardless of database size.

I'll find you the FM Wiki page on speeding up the game

Running Football Manager 2009 in Compatibility Mode with Windows XP

''If running the game on Windows Vista, doing this should speed up your game significantly:''

1) Right Click on FM icon

2) Select properties

3) Compatibility

4) Tick Run this programme in compatibility mode for and make sure Windows XP SP2 is selected.

Threading (Multi-Core Processors Only)

Using this option on systems with multi-core processors can improve game processing speeds.

You can select threading by going into the in-game FM09 preferences, and ticking the 'Threading' box.

Do not have any unneeded programs running

Most users often have some unneeded programs running without even knowing so. Disabling such programs on startup could potentially speed up game processing.

1) Start

2) Run

3) Type in 'msconfig' and hit enter.

4) Click the 'Startup' tab.

5) Un-tick any programs that you feel don't need to be running when your program starts up. Examples include 'Windows Live Messenger', 'Google Desktop' & 'iTunes Helper'. You can also disable your anti-virus from startup if you wish/feel comfortable in doing so.

Free up some hard disk space

If you don't have much space on your hard drive, it is recommended that you free up some space. This can by done by uninstalling unneeded programs, defragmenting your hard disk regularly and using a registry cleaner.

How do I uninstall programs?

1) Start

2) Control Panel

3) Add or remove programs

4) Select a program you no longer use, & click the 'remove' button next to it. This should run the program uninstaller.

Note: Only remove such programs if you're 100% certain that they're not needed any more.

How do I defragment my hard disk?

1) Start

2) Programs

3) Accessories

4) System tools

5) Disk defragmenter

From here, what you need to do is:

1) Select the memory unit you wish to defragment.

2) Click 'analyse' to see if it is recommended that you defragment it.

3) If it is recommended that you should defragment it, click 'defragment'.

Note: Bear in mind that it usually takes a couple of hours to defragment your hard drive but it can take up to a day depending on the size of your hard drive and on how fragmented it is.

What is a registry cleaner and how do I use it?

A registry cleaner is a type of software utility designed for the Microsoft Windows operating system whose purpose is to remove unwanted items from the Windows registry.

As registry cleaners do not come with your computer, you'll need to download one. I'd recommend using CCleaner].

Once you have CCleaner open, this is what you need to do:

1. On the 'Windows' tab, have a look down through the different areas that you can clean out. Tick any box that you feel contains the files which you won't need. 'Temporary files' usually take up a lot of space, and in most cases aren't needed. Don't touch anything under the 'Advanced' header, as that could cause damage to your PC.

2. Again, under the 'Applications' tab, do the same as above.

Click the 'Analyse' icon if you wish, to see just how much space you could free up. Then, when you're happy with it, click 'Run Cleaner'.

Increasing FMs CPU availability usage and priority

FM uses CPU when it is processing or even when it is just switched on. But, if you run a lot of programs in the background then, you may not get as much CPU as you need to run FM and it may run slower.

What you need to do to allocate more CPU to FM is change the priority of it so, that it has a high priority so, the CPU is used by that instead of by other programs.

To increase your CPU priority for FM, you must do the following:

* Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the same time.

* This will bring up a menu with 5 options.

* You must choose the bottom option which is 'Open Task Manager'

* This will open the Task Manager

* Along the top of the task manager, there are a bunch of side-buttons.

* You must click on the 'Processes' tab/side-button.

* Locate the 'fm.exe' program and right-click on it.

* Go down to the 'Priority' drop-down menu and a new menu will appear for you.

* FM's default priority setting should be 'Normal'.

* Click on 'High' to change FM's priority CPU setting to high.

* FM will now be able to use more power(CPU) and so, will run faster.

This should improve the speed that FM runs at for you.

Note: This may cause some programs to stop working because of lack of power. Or, it can have other side effects. For example, if you are running a piece of music software at the same time, the music may skip and/or jump whilst playing. This is due to the music player receiving a lack of CPU power.

thanks helped alot !

i find that laptops are just a tad slower than pc's

especially with the 3-d match engine