Choppy audio on winXP laptop only playing DVDs

Ok...

Another little snag for my living-no-electric situation...

My newer laptop (win8) burns up battery too fast... And I need it for what little audio work I can do when my generator is off...

I used to be able to watch DVDs on my XP machine but it recently began exhibiting choppy audio playback only when playing DVDs...

I've tried both the built-in sigma-tel audio as well as a Presonus 22vsl which both work fine in Sonar and file playback, but nothing I change stops the choppy audio when I play a DVD...

I've tried reducing quality demands... DMA is on... Nothing helps...

Any ideas would be very welcome!

Keni