Weird lag/buffer problem?

[sk8a123]

hey guys, i'm recording with my presonus firepod. everynow and then, when i'm recording with my firepod, my computer seems to freak out. it will be recording fine, then it will start to lag INSANELY BAD. i'm recording with only 1gb of ram(which i know is really bad). would ram be my problem? or my buffer rate? I'm recording in 24 bit and the sample rate is 44100Hz. thanks

 

[cobaltaudio]

What software are you recording into?
What operating system are you on? Mac? Vista? XP? Windows 7? 64-bit? 32-bit?
And what do you mean by lag exactly, as in, is it audible? or the mouse slows right down? or the screen refresh rate drops?
What is the current buffer size?

 

[sk8a123]

I'm recording in reaper on xp 32 bit. And its audible. the audio gets VERY VERY choppy.