I'm Back, and I have questions

Haven't had a lot of time to fly, but just got back into it. I got the acceleration pack, and have it loaded up now. I think I only have two problems. I have looked all over the site, but I guess I am not looking in the right places. Please help!
1. Sometimes the ATC screen (and anywhere there is words like the menu bar) goes all gibberish.
2. I was flying to Atlanta, and I THINK I flew through a rain storm. Suddenly, there were a lot of thick black streaks across the screen like tar was being poured down.
I have a feeling it might be the same thing. Thoughts?
CPU specs:
XP sp 2
amd athelon 64x2 DCP 3800+
2 gig ram
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256 mb ram
Anything else?
Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, but I did a bunch of searches and didn't find anything...
thanks!
1. Sometimes the ATC screen (and anywhere there is words like the menu bar) goes all gibberish.
2. I was flying to Atlanta, and I THINK I flew through a rain storm. Suddenly, there were a lot of thick black streaks across the screen like tar was being poured down.
I have a feeling it might be the same thing. Thoughts?
CPU specs:
XP sp 2
amd athelon 64x2 DCP 3800+
2 gig ram
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256 mb ram
Anything else?
Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, but I did a bunch of searches and didn't find anything...
thanks!