How do I get my computer to run smoother and faster?

I dont really know my specs but when I play Empire Total War, it lags big time! Its more like a slideshow than a game or when the little movies go its like a..h...the...re...is...a...b...oa..t and the sound lags to and when I play fsx, The effects with the ground are black, like the smoke is black, and the dirt from the ground is black squares. help me fsx is also lagging! What do I need, Video card, grapchics card? what?!?!?!?!?!

If you're seeing geometric black areas that sounds like an old or maybe non existent graphics card. If the hard drive runs constantly, that means you don't have enough memory and it's having to swap to the disk. If the machine is old, there could be other issues and there's always the possibility that you have a virus or adware that's using up a lot of resources.

If it's an old machine, I wouldn't waste money on upgrading all of the above. You will likely spnd as much as a new box would cost and still have problems.