.mov files and system webcam do not show smooth video

My system is Microsoft XP.

My web camera does not producr smooth even vido is shows one new frame every 2 to 15 seconds and does the same thing with .mov files.

Movies played through the DVD player and on line files play fine.

Is there a resource setting or something setting that should be changed.

The computer runs fine in every other way.

What program do you use to play .mov files? Is it QuickTime Player? Furthermore, what’s the resolution and codec of the video? If in doubt, use the instructions here http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/50048p1.html to find out.
I suspect you’re playing a high-definition (like 1920x1080) mov file in H.264. Those are extremely processor-intensive, and if you don’t have a powerful enough processor, it’ll get really choppy and drop frames. One way to check this is to run task manager and monitor the performance tab while you’re playing the videos. Press ctrl-alt-del and you’ll see the task manager, and go to the performance tab. If it’s at 100% CPU usage during playback, and when you look in the processes tab the player is the one using most of the CPU power (CPU column should have a value like 99%), then my guess is correct. You can try VLC Media Player, as the bundled H.264 decoder is much better optimized. Beyond that, there’s not much you can do besides get a more powerful processor.
If the problem wasn’t high definition, try VLC anyway and see if it plays better.

What program do you use for your webcam? (I say webcam specifically, in the hope you didn’t confuse a camcorder with a webcam - I’m wondering if you’re getting HD videos from your HD camcorder, hence the confusion). Try using vidcap32. I wrote a little bit about it here
http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/63024p1.html
(post #2, second paragraph)
See if you can preview your webcam with vidcap32 without choppiness and try a video capture.
If it gets choppy, run task manager and monitor CPU usage. If it’s at 100%, see what program is hogging the CPU in the processes tab. If it’s vidcap32 I’m not sure what to do then (could be badly written or incompatible drivers - check on the manufacturer’s site for updated drivers for your webcam). If it’s some other program, try to see if you can terminate it. And in general, try to monitor task manager to see if something is hogging the CPU.