Help making UT not suck so bad in XP!

[meaty]

WinXP(home) & UT not going good

Cant get the thumb button to work on any mouse unless I install the mouse software <--(bleh).
Cant seem to fix the mouse lag either?
FPS dropped by 30 from 98se.
Sound crackle has got to be the worst bug of them all, ANYONE have anyidea on how to get rid of it?

Most other games play fine??
HELP

 

[DefRef]

I run UT just fine on WinXP and it's an old install that I just launch from a shortcut to the EXE. I had probs with Win2K and the mouse 'skipping', but WinXP is smooth and fast. What kind of mouse are you running?

 

[meaty]

I am running the M$ explorer (newest version).
I have tried cordless explorer, even worse lol.
I have also tried logi opti.

I would really like the sound issue fixed , anyone?
the crackle makes it impossible to play