thanks to all you here guys but I think this is not about the VIA drivers, cause it was the same with the very first driver that came with the ASUS board install CD (v.424) to the last one I'm using (v.443; last one before the Hyperion series where I decided to stop cause my 'old' KT133)
Please don't ask me for a complete reinstall, I'm just recovering from one!! win2k sp3
Haven't try removing VIA 4in1 drivers and see what happens with just M$ originals (are they already there and just uninstalling 4in1 they'll take care?, will that affect other more important issues than skips in the music from CD playing while accessing the hard drive ?