Lag with vista & SL

I have vista windows basic and i guess i lag bad. my top fps is 5 but people say they are running much higher than that. I have tried adjusting my setting but it doesnt help much. I have downloaded ATI Catalist control center to get on SL but its giving me an error that says I cannot change the settings cuz i am not admin which i am. Anyone have any ideas on how to improve the fps?

Also.. i tried to use windlight and it said my graphics card does meet system requirments. Is there a graphics driver download for windlight yet?

There are lots of things that could be the problem. Let's start with the basics; what are the system specs?

Make and model: HP Prolient 123? Dell Optiplex 789? somthing along that line.
CPU Type and model if you know it: Anything from Intel Centreno to AMD Clawhammer 1367 with 800MHz FSB.
RAM: How much
Video Card: Be as specific as you can

Do you have Windows Auto Update turned on?

Also, how do you connect to the internet? Dialup? AOL? Cable Modem? Wireless access at home? These are less suspect but anything youcan share will help.

I run Vista on my laptop, and the only lag problem I have is because my graphics card is feeble. I don't believe it's Vista.

I also run on Vista now and I have to say my lag has improved greatly. I really think it has nothing to do with Vista but really more to do with the graphics card that came with the new computer : )

i started SL with XP and had a regular fps of 25 or so. bought land, etc.

right away, i got a new puter, which was Vista. my fps went from 25 to an average of 7-11.... and then when new arrivals came to my land with lots of scripts, i was fps-ing at 1-4. it was evil.

i think it might be the vista. ever notice how long it takes to get a program to open/close... even non-internet programs?

ugh.

I am on a new vista machine and regularly run at 27-35 FPS on the mainland. BUT I am also runing dual ATI 1950s set up crossfire and have 4 GB of Ram.

the permissions thing I ran into after 5.5 hours of trying to install WoW and getting that at the end of the 6 disk install over and over I found the solution. In control panels there is one called User accounts. GO in and turn off User Account Control. Then install the software or adjust the settings then go back in and turn it back on again.

Solved all of my you must be an admin to do this (even though I was) issues.

i come up against this "admin" problem as well. i have my icons on my desktop, right click and 'run as admin' fixes it (i need to do this to run two SL's when i need my alt to test something... or just to shoot at him a while)