I installed the 45.23 display drivers in winxp,. They seemed to have
solved that stuttering problem.
So the display drivers seem to be getting better..good luck all.

My system:
Intel Pentium 4 Processor (Northwood) 2.66GHz, 533MHz FSB, Socket 478
Asus p4pe Intel 845PE - black pearl
Corsair CMX512 3200C2PT 512MB DDR400 PC3200 XMS Memory
Geforce FX v9900 5800 none ultra
Western Digital drives

Pullit wrote:

Ignoring any other performance issues, do the current release drivers
(45.23) fix the stuttering startup sound in Windows XP that has been
prevalent throughout the 4x.xx series of drivers?