Dave, the sound only drops on the internet usually after a half dozen or so navigations and it never returns untill I reboot. Also, sometimes when the sound drops my computer will also freeze up at the same time. This requires me to shut down from the on/off button since pressing cont/alt/delete does no good. I did try reinstalling my sound card (Vortex Multifunction PCI Platform) and downloading updated drivers and that seemed to work for about an hour or so on the net but then bingo, the same problem plus it froze. I'm open for more suggestions. If I thought buying a new sound card would do the trick, I would, but if I'm going to have the same problem then why go to the expense? I'll keep trying any suggestions untill we run out of options. Thanks for your patience and help. delibean