My DESKTOP recently began to get jumpy. When moving the mouse, it like skips as it moves accross the screen. Music from my speakers has small gaps in between the sound.

any ideas?

thanksSee what processes are running. You didn't bother to post your computer specs or your operating system, so anything ELSE is just guesswork. Please post some specifics.How much RAM does it have? What OS is installed? how big is the processor?

Have you run virus and spyware scans?

Thats what we need to know...

R0SSI have a desktop with
windows XP, service pack 2
Pentium 4 - 2.4 GHz
512 MB of RAM

The system Idle process is showing it is using 96 - 98% of resources

I run norton antivirus ion a regular basis and all definations are up to date.
I also run spysweeper and microsoft antispyware

The HARD drive has been defrag'd

Anything I am missing?

Your system is too close to its limits. You need to shed some of your background or MULTITASKING processes.

If you give us a LIST of your running processes, we can make recommendations. Use Ctrl+Alt+Delete for the list.

DellSystem Idle at 96-98% is normal.
What does your Memory Usage say at the bottom of your Task Manager?Shut down Norton and see if it continues to happen.