Peter Hayes wrote:

Duff memory? Do you have two memory chips? If so, swap them round and
see if the symptoms change, like it boots but crashes on loading/running
apps.


at first glance I would say mem indeed. Had the same problem a few years
ago. It's a bit weird agreed. I would get a copy of memtest86 from
www.memtest.org. That program will format a blank floppy for you.
Then, you boot from the floppy and the test will begin. No errors are
acceptable.

If it's not the mem off the top of my head I would say there are 2 other
possible reasons:

- PSU. Sometimes a cheap(er) power supply just gives up. Try checking
the voltage levels. If they fall below a really weird level, replace the
PSU.
- Driver-issue, combined with a bad sector on the HD.

--
Richard