Do flash files have to be completely downloaded before they start playing, or do they stream the content until they run out of data, then pause until they catch up, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

download

Flash movies can be saved as a progressive download, which alot of people confuse as "streaming".
They look about the same, but it is a different process completely.
Progressive download is usually the best choice unless you have access to a streaming server, and know how to encode and broadcast streams.