What can you do if your computer is slow?

I have a buddy that I've been trying to get to play some more TF2 with me but his computer isn't the fastest. He refuses to play because he says the game is too laggy.

Who here thinks they have the slowest computer in the clan? What settings do you use to make it so TF2 is playable? I hope you can help me out so I can get him playing a bit more.

Edit: I am only talking about settings in TF2. As for speeding up computer using RAM, or spyware removal, please save those answers for someone who hasn't already mentioned those things to him.

Get a better PC
/troll

But no, does the pc meets the requirements of tf2? You could try to force it to use DirectX 7:
In steam right click TF2 -> properties -> set launch options -> type in "-dxlevel 70" without the quotes.
Nico came woth it once and Firestar uses it in l4d2 and it lags less during intense moments.

Sgt Pepper wrote:Get a better PC
/troll

But no, does the pc meets the requirements of tf2? You could try to force it to use DirectX 7:
In steam right click TF2 -> properties -> set launch options -> type in "-dxlevel 70" without the quotes.
Nico came woth it once and Firestar uses it in l4d2 and it lags less during intense moments.

That, and turning all the settings down in L4D2. But yeah, I was gonna say that, but couldn't remember what the command was
BTW for your friend, tell him not to turn the TF2 settings down, it just looks crappy and doesn't run any better...

That's not entirely true, lower settings equals less vram needed equals less lag on old video cards. We just dont notice it because we are 1337 cards :p
(well I have 512mb which is good enough for me xD)

Well, I used to play on a computer that was from ancient times. I have a new leet one now but those memories still haunt me. After you set all the graphics options to the lowest possible, you need to go into DX8 mode. You can find how to do this google by searching "DX8 mode TF2" and there are several guides. It's very simple to do and it basically just makes your game look like an N64 game. But it boosts your fps!

Also, ask him for his specs. There may be a couple of cheap upgrades he could do. Processors and Graphics cards that run this game fairly well can be obtained for well under 100 dollars if you put them in yourself.