If you find that video clip playbacks are jerky, don't assume that it's the player software. Players are very sensitive to multimedia drivers and codecs, so check your multimedia drivers. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the Multimedia icon. Click the Devices tab and double-click the Video Compression Codecs entry to expand it. Check for duplicate entries. If you find more than one copy of a video codec on the system, this might cause a driver conflict that impairs playback performance. Select one of the duplicate entries, click the Properties button, then click Remove. Repeat this process for Audio Compression Codecs. You may need to reboot the computer after clearing duplicate drivers.

Formerly part of Computer Currents, Stephen J. Bigelow's Computer Advisor column has been resurrected on computeruser.com as a daily tech tip column. Find Stephen at www.dlspubs.com.