Micca, it is not a soundcard issue, I am certain on that. It does not effect everyone and there seems to be little logic as to the why (although I have noted that BillD does not use the Smart Update).

Re the AOL involvement, I have no idea in terms of Netscape but I beleive the newer ICQ versions (and I use one - 2000a) have AOL's involvement. These versions have addiotional fetures and seem to have produced a mixed response from users. My own feeling is that rather than perfect a good program. they have produced a bloated package with needless features, have not addressed the old bugs but have introduced new ones...

Jon