Hi Bandit, just from my limited knowledge, here's a couple of things you can try.
Run a sweep for spyware, viruses etc first.
From your desktop click cntrl alt delete.
This will bring up your task manager. Under the processes tab, you should be running no more than 15 to 20 processes. (I have mine down to 15 before I launch AH). AH is a bit of a resource hog, so the fewer applications you have running in the background before you launch, the better. Be careful here, some applications must be kept running.
There are a couple of programs you can use to help you here. enditall and FSautostart are popular. I use FSautostart and it works pretty well.
Not sure what you are running for a sound card (is it a card or onboard sound?). If it's onboard (likely AC97) try this. from your desktop, click start then run. Type in dxdiag, and let the window load completely (it will take a few seconds) Click on the sound tab and set the acceleration slider to the 3/4 position (it will be at the full acceleration by default, move the slider one notch to the left).
Also, I'm not sure if you have sufficient memory to be running the high res pack. Do a search of the BBS here for more info on that.
Lastly, you should also do a search for the best driver for your video card. Sometimes the latest drivers aren't the best. If I'm not mistaken, Skuzzy is running the same card as you, and would be able to tell you the best driver for it.
Hope this helps a bit.
cheers,
RTR
