I have the same issue. The thing is, when I first installed the game it worked fine. But then I had to reinsall windows xp to try and fix some windows problems and it has stuttered ever since.
For those circumstances, definitely look for updated drivers and DON'T trust drivers listed in Windows Update. I lost a sound card to WU listed drivers <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />
