well i think im just gonna wait a few weeks and get a new more powerful computer. i can play certain games like everquest and counterstrike but this isnt the first game ive had problems with. i think its exactly because of what you said. its not a gaming computer
thank you for your help though! maybe ill see you guys in-game someday

also, here is a screenie of  what my setup window looks like. notice the vertical white lines in the boxes. those dont appear until after i click in one of the boxes

everytime i open the client it is a black screen with the orange cursor and a small white veritical line. if i type, more lines appear to the right, and if i press backspace, then more lines appear through the ones that went right and go past the first vertical line. when i open setup, it starts loading and there are a few boxes where it looks like options would be, but its blank. if i click one of those boxes, there is ANOTHER vertical white line. it is the size of a basic l. if i try closing the setup window, it says it is unresponsive. id love to post my specs, but i dont exactly know how to get them. any help would be appreciated