If you feel comfortable with messing with your hardware, this could very well be caused by bad RAM and/or a bad hard drive.
You could start 1 of 2 ways:
First way: Ultimate Boot CD for tests such as what was mentioned above, all in one disk:
1. Download the
Ultimate BootCD.
2. Burn it to a CD. If you don't have a program that'll burn image files, download
ImgBurn, install it, and burn your CD image. I'd recommend sticking always to CD-R disks unless you have a specific need otherwise.
3. Boot the hurting pc with the UltimateBootCD (If you don't already have your system set to boot to CD before hard drive, then you'll need to change that in a boot menu or your BIOS/System settings.
4. Run 1 or 2 memory tests and/or 1 or 2 hard drive tests from there, and see what results you get. Write down what tests were run, and what results you received.
Other method: hardware quick tests:
1. Turn OFF your computer, if already on.
2. If you have more than one RAM (memory) stick installed, unplug all but one and try to boot. If the same problem persists, shut off the computer again, swap which piece of memory is installed, and boot the system again. Try this until the system runs stable or until you run out of options with differences. If it will run with one, but not all, try swapping around positions... or if you have more than 2 sticks, try to narrow it down to the one problem stick with the same method.
3. If that doesn't straiten out the situation, then while your computer is running, see if you hear any unusual noises from your hard drive - really loud clicks/pops, or any constant spinning sounds... sorta like something scratching constatntly... if any of these, this
could be a sign of a hard drive going bad. If you want, post here what sounds you hear, along with whatever info you can gather from your hard drive.
4. If no differences with your RAM, and no funny noises with your hard drive, then try swapping how the hard drive is connected - try a different wire if you have it... try to connect to a different port on the motherboard. If your hard drive is an IDE hard drive, rather than SATA, check to see that the jumper is set correctly on the back of the hard drive - most hard drives have a diagram on the top or back showing you how to put the jumper on the pins for different configurations.
Well, those are some thoughts. Try a few things, and post back to let us know how it's going. One thing to remember: in all this testing, if you CAN, back up your data to another hard drive or other storage medium... that's mostly just in case the problem is with the hard drive, so you don't lose any important data.
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"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
