Match Loading has Slowed considerably (Fixed)

[:1]Ok, here is the situation. I got my harddrive replaced over the summer (it was faulty) and i got my computer returned to me the day the 1.20 patch came out. Since then, I have noticed a distinct difference in the performance of the game. However, I am unable to tell whether it is the patch or another harddrive issue.
It take a noticeably longer time to launch a game (skirmish or MP) than it used to. Also, the background with the flags and such is very very choppy and only moves once every 3-4 seconds (however, the music and rest of the interface is fine). Any suggestions?
I've tried reinstalling supcom 2, installing the game on an external harddrive, reinstalling steam and supcom 2 and defragmenting. I have checked that all my drivers are up to date. I dont have any issues with other games, this is the only one that seems different since I got my computer back. The only thing I havent tried is playing a previous version of SupCom 2. I cannot download the demo (if anyone knows how, please tell me) and everytime I go to reinstall the game from steam, it conveniently patches the game before I can tell it not to.

Stats
CPU:Intel Mobile Core 2 Solo T9600 @ 2.8 GHz. 7200rpm.
Graphics: I have a NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M. The clocks are 500MHz for the core, 1100MHz for the shaders and 790MHz for the memory. the memory size is 1024 MBytes
Thanks for your help|||Have you ran a disk defrrag at all? as teh patches for supcom 2 are very large in size|||Did it before, ran it again anyways... still takes long to load (when i say long, i mean more than 20-30 sec for a 1v1 against an ai. That used to take all of 10 seconds).|||Tehre are new features added to teh ai that maybe why|||reddev32|||Steam should let you if it does not tehn u can't play teh demo |||The only loading slowdown I have noticed since 1.20 is the game loading times. It takes far longer to start the game the first time from Steam. Match loading is actually a bit shorter. It may be due to the patch.|||X-Cubed|||reddev32|||No it seems they toke the demo of compeltly|||reddev32|||Is your hard disk running AHCI mode? Are the AHCI drivers up to date?
Post a dxdiag and your windows scores (or whatever they are called).|||Spooky|||There may be a patch-related explaination for the slow loading: "GPNav now allocates all the memory it will require for Integration Fields at the start of the game to improve performance." I believe this means the pathfinder will cache all the necessary memory prior to the match beginning to improve performance during the game. It may however increase loading times.|||X-Cubed|||-The-Baron-|||If i am right AHCI is something to do with hard drive connections.|||reddev32|||go to tools > manage games and search for it|||reddev32|||-The-Baron-|||You probably should NOT touch AHCI mode at all.
Generally speaking, Windows gets a bit confused when it discovers the drive that it's stored on doesn't respond to the drivers it has.|||BulletMagnet|||Spooky|||It's exceedingly hard to install the drivers for a controller, on a driver connected to said controller, while said controller is operating.
If you can install the respective drivers while in the other mode, then that would likely work. However, I don't believe that's an easy task to do.