Please first see my specs... Pentium 4, 3GHz 2GB RAM Windows XP Audiophile 24/96 Soundcard ------------------------- Sometimes, when I listen to Windows Media Player, QuickTime, MySpace.com, etc...or writing music, the audio on my computer sort of skips/clicks/clips. As if the processor cannot handle the audio. It may happen if I'm trying to do two things at once...like opening Microsoft Word at the same time I'm listening to a track. I really want to fix this problem. It's been bothering me for a long time now. I understand some possible problems are an IRQ conflict...or perhaps something is downloading behind the scenes. Another that I should just dedicate my soundcard for computer music applications, rather than let Windows use the soundcard to play audio. I've also altered Windows settings for music production. If you're a bit more computer savvy than I, below is a link showing my current IRQ setup. A red box surrounds the IRQ my soundcard is on. It is not alone on IRQ 19. Maybe you might suggest putting it on its own IRQ. http://www.qwlproductions.com/help/ I really appreciate any help in the matter! M

There is no indication there at http://www.qwlproductions.com/help/ that you have a conflict. It is unfortunate that Microsoft lists Conflicts/Sharing under the same heading because usually all there is there is harmless Sharing. Conflicts are more likely to show up in System Information - Components - Problem Devices, starting with red lettered headings. If you had an IRQ confict I would think you would have problems with your sound all the time. On the other hand IRQ conflicts aren't always apparent. Assumming you are saying the audiophile sound is on a card in a slot and not built into the mboard, three of the four things using IRQ 19 are built into mboard, they are probably working fine sharing that IRQ, and there may be nothing you can do to change that. If the audiophile sound were built into the mboard, there should also be no problem with the sound using the same IRQ , and there may be nothing you can do to change that. It can be difficult to get a PCI card to use a different IRQ than it is now using, but there are a few things you can try. - if PNP aware OS (or similar) is On in the bios Setup, try turning it Off, or visa versa. - you could try specifying that the slot the sound card is in use a specific IRQ in the bios Setup, but that is often tricky to be successful at, and which IRQ is (or which IRQ's are) available will vary according to which slot the card is in. - try the card in a different slot, or swap which slot it is in with another card if you have no spare slots, or swap cards if the spare slot you try is of no help. - avoid having the sound card in the slot next to the graphics slot or closest to the middle of the mboard if the graphics are onboard because in most mboards that slot is forced to use the same IRQ as the graphics and possibly other devices built into the mboard. Other than that, some programs can interfere with sound. E.g. I have noticed AVG anti-virus will make some sound "stutter" sometimes, especially during the loading of the Desktop. If I disable AVG or if load some other antivirus program on a computer that happens on, the problem does not occur. You could try e.g. using Start - Run - MSConfig - OK - Startup tab - and disabling programs you load there to see if the problem goes away. Your audiophile sound probably has it's own processor if it is on a card. Whether the mboard cpu is being used more intensly should not have any affect on the sound except when it is loaded at or near maximum, unless the sound is being streamed from the web at the time. Regardless of how much ram you have (you have way more than you'll ever need) Windows has a fixed amount of "core" memory. If you are getting into situations where you are using near the maximum Windows "core" memory, you can have problems, possibly including having sound problems. E.g. If you get messages about not enough memory, it is almost always because there is not enough Windows "core" memory available, not because you don't have enough ram (if you have more ram than the minimum rec.). You can reduce the amount of "core" memory you are using by doing things such as - reducing the number of programs that load in MsConfig - Startup by disabling them. Most people load far too many things there. - reducing the number of programs that you have running at once or that you have minimized. - disabling Services you don't need from running.