There are a number of different problems mentioned above, and so possible a number of different underlying problems that all need to be fixed. We'll cover this in order, starting with your machine.

Before we continue you need a copy of SystemRescueCd. Go and download it now while you're reading the rest of this post. Its a Linux based system rescue disk available as a bootable CD-ROM.

Hardware

Looks like you're using decent brand hardware; good start. One thing to check (probably not the cause of your problems, but I'm trying to make this a fairly generic post) is the PSU. Check the wattage is suitable for you system; if its more than a few years old then consider updating it anyway. A poor PSU can result in any number of bizarre problems.

Also I'm going to assume that you've not over-clocked your machine nor flashed your motherboard or videocard with third-party firmware. If so you're on your own.

Memory / CPU

Boot your machine from the SystemRescueCd and select the memory test option; this should start Memtets86+. Let it run for as long as possible, overnight is good. Your looking for a 3+ passes, no errors. If there are any erors then get these fixed (i.e. replace RAM) and repeat this step before continuing.

Harddrive

Next up for testing are your harddrives; we're going to use the built-in firmware tests (SMART) for this. These tests are safe and non-destructive; no data is written to your disks.

Reboot your machine, again using the SystemRescueCd, and select either rescuecd or rescue64 depending on your machine.

We need to find your harddrives; these will be accessed via names of the form /dev/sdX where X is 'a', 'b', 'c', .... . Use the following command to identify your harddrives; this should print out the make, model, serial # (as well as a bunch of other information):

$ hdparm -iv /dev/sda

Once you've found your harddrives we need to test them. There are two tests available, short (takes 1-2 minutes) and long (takes 1hr or more. For each harddrive use the following commands:

Enable SMART for a harddrive:

$ smartctl -s on /dev/sdX

Display all SMART information.

$ smartctl -a /dev/sdX

Run the short self-test

$ smartctl -t short /dev/sdX

Run the long self-test

$ smartctl -t long /dev/sdX

Display all SMART information again.

$ smartctl -a /dev/sdX

Hopefully the last command will show that both tests run and completed without error. If the tests are failing you'll want to fix (i.e. replace) the harddrive before repeating this step and continuing.

If you've got multiple harddrives you can use different virtual consoles to run the tests in parallel; hit alt-F1, alt-F2 to swtich between the virtual consoles.

Operating System

Check that all Window updates are installed and all hardware drivers are up-to-date. Also that you've got anti-virus installed and a full scan is clean. There are numerous free anti-virus available, I tend to use Microsoft Security Essentials these days.

Consider also using the free version of MalwareBytes to double check your machine for problems, and CCleaner to clean up any register problems.

Perpetuum

Perpetuum crashing during installation is a common problem and has been reported several times on these forums. Its caused by a race condition in the installer when it tries to update the .exe file. The solution is simple; reboot and try again.

Network

I'm also a UK player, using a cable connection (Virgin Media ), with constent ping times of 150ms and very few disconnects (once / week?). While I don't want to point fingers BT hardly has a stellar reputation.

Couple of suggestions:

• Are you using wireless to connect your machine to your router? If so switch to a wired connection.

• Buy/beg/borrow a 3G modem (or Android phone) and attempt to play over a 3G connection. Lag times will be slighter greater but this will remove BT from the equation.

• While its true that BT owns the local infrastructure there are any number of ISPs with their own backend infrastructure. If you're willing to pay a fraction more I suggest looking at  aaisp.net. They run an uncongested network, constantly monitor your connection to quality (and make this information available to you) and more.

Hopefully this helps; any questions ask below.

The hardware and software appear fine, as I said this machine runs everything but PO okay, I suffer no issues when playing EVE for example. I live with 3 other people who all play MMOs, stream, DL etc all at the same time whilst I play other online games and I suffer no problems, and yet PO suddenly developed instability issues.

The only issue I have is PO producing some serious lag. Disconnects are likely due to such high ping or packet loss. Whilst I am in a position to change ISP soon, it seems a riduculous action when the game ran fine for over a week

In another thread, someone posted that the servers for PO are as follows:

195.228.152.151
195.228.152.152
195.228.152.153

I can ping those and at the time of this post, I get a ping of 73ms.... so what the hell is going on!?
"

Malpherius, in order for us to understand (and hopefully help with) your problem, please do the following:

- download and install Pingplotter from pingplotter.com and launch two (2) instances of it
- set  “# of times to trace” to Unlimited, “Trace interval” at 3 seconds and “Samples to include” to ALL,
- start tracing test1.perpetuum-online.com (at the game server location) and test2.perpetuum-online.com (a fairly fast host at a different ISP for comparison purposes) in the two respective Pingplotter instances,
- please pause all uploads and downloads during the course of this test,
- now start the Perpetuum client and play for at least 30 minutes,
- if you notice any disconnects or huge lag spikes, write down your local time, and resume playing,
- when you are done playing for 30 minutes, go to File menu -> Save Sample set in both Pingplotter instances,
- attach the two .pp2 files to your reply.

If you prefer to keep your results private, you can send your problem description, ISP information and Pingplotter files to the netsupport@perpetuum-online.com email address.