Just a question,Did your system come with XP installed on it, or did you put the upgrade on it? If you upgraded, did you do a CLEAN install?The reason I ask, is because it sounds to me like it is most liekly a hardware related (or driver) issue.I upgraded from Win-Me first (which I did intentionally knowing I would have to eventually do a clean install) and man, lock-ups everywhere when it came to running my simulations or games.After I wiped the hard disk, and did a fresh install, that took care of the lock-up issues and no more pauses.I also have more than one hard disk (and partitions) installed on my computer. This way I can keep the operating system seperate from any programs. I have MSFS2K2 installed on an entirely different hard drive partition, and this has made a huge difference also.As far as issues with possible hardware/driver problems causing FS to "pause," be sure ALL your hardware drivers are up to date. (I know you have probably heard this before.)Anyways, another good forum site to troubleshoot performance / hardware issues is: http://www.xp-erience.org/forum/There are forums related to gaming, hardware, drivers, and much more at this site!I have had good luck getting information to boot, tweak, and solve the types of problems that you are discribing from this site and the xp-erience site.Scott :-)ATP/CFII - In the real aviation world

Scott: Have you tried some of the other "fixes" for VIA/SBLive/XP?bthttp://www.viahardware.com/686b_1.shtm

No I haven't. Wasn't aware of the other web sites covering these problems. Thanks for the link, I will review that web site and see if I get any more information that leads to better peroformance for the SoundBlaster Live cards.Thanks!!!Scott :-)