I'd also check cables...loose/dodgy cables are an oft-missed cause of random problems!

I'd also check cables...loose/dodgy cables are an oft-missed cause of random problems!

Also, check that your USB connection isn't loose. The vibrations may be causing intermittent disconnects.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

Update your interface drivers and firmware.
Perform a defrag of your hard drive.
Have a look at latencymon.

Unless there are really really bad vibrations which may mislead a member of the audience that they are having a minor earthquake I'm not convinced there is something physical going on...

Yup check the cables..

Hey, thanks everybody. They do play pretty heavy music, as you can reference here: http://www.reverbnation.com/amongfallenkings. But the techno is pretty key to some of their music, so they wanted to incorporate that live in an upcoming battle of the bands event they're in. I realize that one interface is best, but the fact that it plays fine when the band is not playing live should mean potential conflicts are not causing the dropouts, right? They have a practice session this afternoon, and they'll try out some dense foam under the laptop, at least for one song, just to see if that fixes the problem. I also have some rubber and cork squares that I'll have him try out under the corners of the laptop. I've given him the thumb drive as another option to try.
 
Thanks again.

>  I realize that one interface is best, but the fact that it plays fine when the band is not playing live should mean potential conflicts are not causing the dropouts, right? 
 
Not really... it could mean dodgy drivers (not handling record very well), fragmented drive (more read/writes), a process screwing up your latency that is fine during playback.
 
Recording may use different resources/more CPU power.
Oh and BTW if there were any underlying hardware fault (temporary or otherwise) I would be looking at the windows event viewer for it. Generally an underlying hardware fault would crash your entire OS (unless it's cables or something external plugging into it).

Make sure the stop on suck threshold is set high enough in (I think) preferences?
 
- Just playin' around now ...

Another option to consider is if this is only one track to put it in something that runs off an SD card (like cellphone/tablet). Most take a generic stereo 1/8" out and can run the audio track with a generic player with the right cable (stereo 1/8" split to 2 mono 1/4"), but that cable would be unshielded (possible grief caused here).