A few days ago I was playing NHL 2003 when my system had a total crash. Windows said that there was a system failure, it had recovered, and to restart. I followed the instructions, but since I have a frame pause in every game or sim I use (including FS2002). Roughly every 1 or 2 seconds of smooth play is interruped by a pause, which is then followed by smoothness. It does not go away.I reinstalled my video drivers, defragmented the hard drive, and ran a virus scan (just to be safe). Nothing. I ran Windows Update, nothing. I un/reinstalled FS2002 and NHL 2003. It still is there.Is it possible this crash damaged the video card? When it crashed the screen froze for a good 30-45 seconds before Windows "recovered" whatever had happened.I am using a Gateway 600X laptop - 2GHz, 512MB Ram, 64 MB ATi Radeon Mobility 9000. I never had this pause problem prior to the crash.Any help is appreciated.

I would run DirectX Diagnostic to check the graphics, sound, etc. I would then check the sound acceleration to see if it is max'ed. If so, try lowering it a notch or two to see if the pauses stop.