music skipping problem

I don't know why, but this music skipping problem has affected my whole computer which includes music I've downloaded, the start up tune, and on any site that happens to play music.. the music skipping consists of a several pauses then a few notes play then another pause..etc. I can't seem to find out how to get rid of this problem. My computer is a little slow, but doesn't seem to be any different than before. So, what could the problem be and how do I go about fixing it in great detail because my computer knowledge is limited. I also want to note that I was reading someone posting about what seemed to be same problem and they were told to check under device manager to see if there are any yellow question marks in front of anything and I found a yellow question mark with an exclamation in front of PCI Modem. Would that cause the problem to my computer? This is a windows xp computer by the way.

Christine

PCI modem? Are you on a dialup?
I had a skipping problem once. If I remember correctly, I changed the sound card.

Does the skipping happen when you listen to streaming audio or just when you play a CD?

hat would effect the music on sites i would of guessed but not the start up music and the like weird that :S