Here's my setup Abit KT7 Duron 800 RIVA TNT 2 32MEG VIDEO CARD SBLIVE SOUND CARD I used to roll with 128m of pc133 sdram.. Last week I got myself a stick of pc133 256m sdram Now I run both (256 in 1st slot, and 128 in 2nd.) Now for some reason, after my computer has been running for a couple of hours, it kinda lags every 10 secs (video, audio, everything).... However, yesterday I was downloading all day, around 3-4 gigs, and it didnt lag at all.. after 8 hours of operation.. But today, after playing mp3s for like 3 hours, there is this lagging cycle. At first I thought it was the stick of ram, incompatible perhaps.. But now I'm thinking Win2000 struggles to handle additional sticks of ram, when on a AMD platform. What do you think? Man this sucks, I dont have time for this.. Every time you do something, something else f'up. thanks for your help, JP

It has nothing to do with your AMD processor. Could be a couple of issues. 1. Make sure you have an anti virus and it is up to date. Might be that you have a virus and it lags as it tries to mail itself out to others. (You didn't notice it during the download, but it probably was doing it's deed while the download was taking place.) In otherwords... it might lag when you are NOT connected to the internet. 2.It's highly unlikely, but it could be a timing problem between the two different sticks of RAM. Try running with only the 256Mb stick. See if the problem persists. 3. Are you running an IBM Hard Drive? or did you upgrade your hard drive? Certain versions of BIOS do not properly handle IBM DeskStar Drives. Upgrade your BIOS to the latest. 4. Your hard drive may be developing bad sectors and pausing while it attempts to read a failing sector. Go to the drive manufacturer's web site and download their drive diagnostic software. Run the non-destructive version. Also turn on S.M.A.R.T. in BIOS and watch the CMOS POST to check for failing drives. Listen to your hard drive during the pauses... is it straining to read? 5. Press CTL-ALT-DEL and check task manager for processes. Monitor your CPU usage. Is something taking more than its share of CPU time? 6. Do you have an IDE Zip drive? There are issues with VIA IDE Controllers and ZIP drives. Download the IDE Patch for Zip drives and WIN2K. 7. Take all CD's out of your drives. Do you still have the problem? It might be re-reading the CD's during the pause. One or more of these items should solve your problem. Good Luck. wiz

1- I use AVG antivirus.. yes its up to date 2- this maybe it.. But how come it only does it after I have been running audio or video for several hours?? 3- I use 30g 7200rpm maxtor 4- i will try this.. 5-nope, no spyware or anything.. 6-no external drives 7- no CDs either.. I tried all the basic stuff.. Its kinda hard to troubleshoot, cause the problem only occurs occasionnally. and after several hours of operation.. Thanhks for you help! Basica