Hello, If you play the tape and it goes through the normal procedure(loads, rewinds, fastfowards) without pulling the tape or stopping at random, then the upper-cylinder needs to be cleaned or replaced(dirty heads). If you have a cleaner try it in there several times, as long as necessary. I have found that the wet type cleaner works better, but go easy with the liquid, follow instructions. If the cleaning doen't go, you'll have to take it to get a professional cleaning or have the cylinder replaced(heads). Best buy usually has a model parts list available for the insignia brand products, but I am having trouble locating your model number, If you can verify the number, you can go directly to their website and scroll down to the end of the page and click on order parts, then follow instructions, here you can get parts availability(if available) and price. Thanks!