Massive System Instability

[D.Mentia]

I recently reformatted my computer and reinstalled Windows Media Center 2005. Then I of course updated everything, go all the service packs, etc, so as of today, everything on here is up to date.
I never had this problem before. Anyway, randomly, the system has huge problems. For example, games will crash randomly, even firefox closes randomly every once in a while (and is usually attributed to flash player in the error reports). I've had a few BSODs, which I didn't think existed in Windows XP, and often when I download an installer, I have to download it twice, because the first one is corrupted. Yesterday, I was trying to install Halo, and it told me to restart my computer and try again because there was low memory for file swapping; I of course checked my page files, system usage, and everything seemed normal. Restarted and it worked, but programs still crash randomly.

So has anyone ever heard of something like this? How would I fix it short of a reformat, and how would I be sure a reformat would work? Thanks.

[Rockpig]

Hi D.Mentia!

If the BSODs are for different reasons each time, along with all the other symptoms, I would suspect the power supply. Especially if you have added any new hardware before this started to happen (new video card etc). If you have added anything, the power supply may not have enough grunt for the additional load.

If you didn't add anything, it still sounds like it might be on the way out. See if you can borrow one from another system (make sure it is the same or higher Wattage) and replace yours to see if that's it.

If it is they're fairly inexpensive for a good replacement.

[D.Mentia]

I'll give it a shot, but my PSU is relatively new and very high wattage. Thanks, any comments are appreciated.