Hey all - it's me again. Well after previous posts, trying to find some help to this problem, I am back once again. Originially in my computer, I had a GeForce2 MX/MX400 - Recently upgraded to an ATI 9600SE. When I tried playing Warcraft 3:Reign of Chaos or try to watch movies off of the Frozen Throne installation CD, everything seems to skip. Video will be smooth for intervals of about 3 to 4 seconds, then it will hang, then continue like nothing happened. This process repeats constantly, making gameplay almost impossible. After a while, voices begin to repeat and skip as well. So first, I downloaded all the latest drivers from ATI, downloaded Direct X9.0b, checked for spyware, terminated running processes....I mean, nothing I did seemed to change it. So last night, I switched back to my GeForce2 thinking it was a problem with the 9600SE. Turns out, the same s*** is happening now with my GeForce2 - I've never had problems like this before when I played Warcraft 3, Diablo 2, and even Tribes. I'm a computer newb compared to most of you, but was wondering if maybe the CD/DVD-drive was the culprit? I only ask because I downloaded all the latest drivers for the GeForce2 and nothing changed. This s*** never happened with lower versions of DirectX either.... Any suggestions?!?!? I am stumped!!!!! THanks for your help.

The GF2 doesn't support DX9 & the 9600SE is a P.O.S. Do some house cleaning & see if it helps. Scan for viruses, run a spyware remover, run MSCONFIG from the start menu & turn off unnecessary or suspicious startup programs, defrag your system. After doing all that, reboot, then hit Ctrl-Alt-Del & bring up Task Manager...click on "User Name" to bring all programs associated with your name to the top (this is just to see what you have running). All you really need is EXPLORER.exe & taskmgr.exe...but you'll probably be able to reconize some of the other names. Anyhow, don't do anything with that just yet...go ahead, try your game & see what happens. If it's still choppy, come back to Task Manager & use the "End Process" button to shutdown all programs with your name next to them, except EXPLORER.exe & taskmgr.exe. Then try your game again...if that helps, you'll have to do this everytime before gameplay. After you're finished, be sure to reboot so those other programs (such as anti-v) load up again Another suggestion would be to upgrade your RAM to 512mb...

Have your ram checked. Memtest86.com Or just try reseating the ram you have. And if you have less than 512 MB upgrade it. <===Lefty===

My computer is 3 years old - Will it support an upgrade to 512MB? I've heard a few things about mobo's having limits for the amount of RAM on the system.

You have a P4 system, correct? Check the motherboard manufacturer's website (or your manaul) about the amount of RAM supported. Chances are, you're limited to either 512mb or 1GB per slot...either way, you should have no problem installing another 256mb stick.

download memtest86 and prime95 run them and come back and tell us what your results were Q-TEC 550 Watt PSU MSI VIA KT4AV-L 2800+ Barton 512 DDR333 GeForce Fx5200 128Mb Aero 7 Lite 80Gb Samsung ATA133 HDD 120Gb WD ATA100 HDD LiteOn LDW-851S LiteOn LTR-52246S

Ok - I downloaded memtest86 last night, but forgot to run it. I'm at work right now, but I will post back with a new post with the results later tonight when I get home. Steady