I am running win2k sp4 w/ all windows updates and 512ram with a 3.14ghz celeron chip. I just installed a new AGP ATI all in wonder 256MB graphics card to support my new wide lcd monitor. Prior to any system changes (about 2 wks ago?) I could watch .avi and .mpg files without any problems, however recently every time i attempt to watch one, the sound cuts out in awful ways and the video at times will lag for a second or two frequently. I assumed I had picked something up, as i was browsing astalavista for a serial, so i ran every check i could think of and removed some low risk spy/adware. this didnt fix my problem though. so i updated all the drivers for: the graphics card, the sound card, and i even flashed the bios to the newest update. i have uninstalled and reinstalled drivers and devices and i have used the following programs to scan all my disks: ad aware, spybot s&d, kaspersky, avg, clamwin, and i have also used CleanUp!, hijack this, and stinger. i am out of ideas. is this a virus? i use VLC but when VLC doesnt work, i use the ati file reader which at times seems to play the files with only slight video errors, and someimes nero showtime to the same effect, but i really would like to have my computer working properly again! does anyone have any suggestions? has anyone ever had this happen before? this might belong in the software forum, but i'm not sure so i placed it here. thank you so much for your help, i appreciate it. oh ps. i am looking into upgrading ram but it is crazy expensive... could this be a ram issue, even though it worked fine before on just 512? thanks!

It sounds like a driver problem. You did not mention what video card you were previously using, or if you had removed its drivers before you installed this new card. Have you checked in the bios to see what the agp setting are auto, 4, 8? What drivers are you using for the monitor? What drivers for the new ATI card have you installed?

i was previously using a via/s3g onboard integrated graphics card, and no i didnt uninstall the drivers because i figured i didnt need to since it was still a working and present device. do i need to? also, i have no clue where i would find the agp settings in my bios- i checked and looked in my manual and it didnt say anything about it. im assuming it is set at 8 because the manual says it runs an 8x agp slot. i am using the most up to date drivers for my monitor as well, a proview 19inch lcd widescreen. i had installed the drivers for the ati card off the installation cd, but i also just checked the ati website and installed the most up to date drivers for the new card, and still no dice. it also cuts into the sound when it is loading windows, making me think it happens when the computer is under too much stress, but that doesnt make total sense because i could watch programs before without an issue. should i be uninstalling the other video drivers? i think if i do it will just re-find them when i reboot though... any other suggestions? and thanks again for your help with this...

When you enter the bios, check what the integrated peripherals are set to(AGP should be listed here). You should see that the integrated video is disabled. If the motherboard is identifying the new video card, your old VIA drivers are no longer needed and should be removed by using add/remove programs. Sometimes the latest drivers are not the ones you want to use, if your system is a bit older one, and since you are also using 2000. I think I would start fresh by removing the old VIA drivers, and the new ATI card's drivers, and delete the card in the hardware manager. Then restart the computer and enter the bios and check that the integrated video device is disabled, restart and let Windows recognize the video card and then use your installation cd to install the ATI drivers. HTH

The mobo apparently auto-detects the AGP card and disables the onboard vga. i removed the drivers for any old video cards though, and it is still giving me a problem. the drivers are compatable with win2k though, so i dont see what the issue is. i have gone through and removed many of my unused programs and my system tray only runs the bare minimum of programs, yet i am still getting this as an issue. i checked and my system still has like 200mb of free ram when this happens so i dont think upgrading the ram would help either... any other ideas?

Perhaps your new card is defective. I would return it the dealer and exchange it for another one. One other thing to check is how many watts does your power supply provide.

What DVD player software are you using? Is it a program like Cyberlink which is commonly the one that came with your new card? Have you gone to the DVD player's website to check for any updates?