Question Windows PC breaks

[peterW575]

Okay so, I have a very specific problem. I built a custom PC say about 5 or 6 years ago, and ever since I built it it has never worked right. Windows has broken in one way or another. At this point the build is a MSI B350 Gaming Plus - An EVGA 450 W bronze power supply - An MSI 1660 Super - A Ryzen 3600XT - 2 Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB SSD's- and one Samsung 960 Evo m.2 SSD. pretty much every part has been replaced with a new one save for the motherboard and the power supply. Every time I Reinstall windows 10 it breaks. usually in a different way, I've never even posted about it because i have no idea where to even start. The latest time it took only 1 day for it to break. After formatting every disk and installing a new Windows 10 build from a new install media I installed all my stuff - Steam, Discord, Chrome, Adobe - the works. And when I installed adobe it just broke. none of the apps would install and didn't have permissions to uninstall. After hours of trying eventually creative cloud just wouldn't open, neither would chrome and a few other apps. I've just clean booted windows at this point. stuff is still broken. What could be the problem? literally any advice would help. I suspect it is the motherboard that is at fault. But honestly i have no idea and no way of testing that theory other than shelling out 300 bucks. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Darkbreeze]

When you say "Adobe", what are you talking about? Adobe is not an application, it is a company, and they have MANY products. Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe reader, Adobe Audition, and so on.

Knowing exactly what software you are installing is COMPULSORY if you actually want anybody to have a chance at helping you to figure out the problem. Also, we need to know if ANY of the software you have been using throughout the entire process from when you first built the machine to now is in any way "less than legit", as in, having been obtained via Torrent or other methods outside normal channels. Whether ANY of it is in any way "shady" at all, because that could be very relevant. If there is anything that isn't entirely legit and licensed, that is important.

Also, the VERSION of each piece of software that you are installing, especially if it's what you believe is causing the problem, because there are a lot of applications out there with versions that are simply not going to be compatible with newer versions of Windows, period. There is no "fix" or "work around" for this fact in many cases. For example, a system I'm working on right now with Windows 11 (And had the same problem with 10 previously) running Quickbooks 2014 Pro has unresolvable script errors and the fact is this is known to Intuit and they simply refuse to fix the problem so that you will have to upgrade to a newer subscription based model. It's BS, but what can you do? Nothing, that's what. They aren't required to support the software indefinitely anymore than MS is required to support versions of Windows indefinitely, and they don't.

So knowing that is essential.

Also, what is the EXACT model of your 450w EVGA power supply? That too, might be highly relevant.

 

[peterW575]

When you say "Adobe", what are you talking about? Adobe is not an application, it is a company, and they have MANY products. Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe reader, Adobe Audition, and so on.

Knowing exactly what software you are installing is COMPULSORY if you actually want anybody to have a chance at helping you to figure out the problem. Also, we need to know if ANY of the software you have been using throughout the entire process from when you first built the machine to now is in any way "less than legit", as in, having been obtained via Torrent or other methods outside normal channels. Whether ANY of it is in any way "shady" at all, because that could be very relevant. If there is anything that isn't entirely legit and licensed, that is important.

Also, the VERSION of each piece of software that you are installing, especially if it's what you believe is causing the problem, because there are a lot of applications out there with versions that are simply not going to be compatible with newer versions of Windows, period. There is no "fix" or "work around" for this fact in many cases. For example, a system I'm working on right now with Windows 11 (And had the same problem with 10 previously) running Quickbooks 2014 Pro has unresolvable script errors and the fact is this is known to Intuit and they simply refuse to fix the problem so that you will have to upgrade to a newer subscription based model. It's BS, but what can you do? Nothing, that's what. They aren't required to support the software indefinitely anymore than MS is required to support versions of Windows indefinitely, and they don't.

So knowing that is essential.

Also, what is the EXACT model of your 450w EVGA power supply? That too, might be highly relevant.

When I referred to adobe, I was referring to creative cloud and the software downloadable within - I tried downloading illustrator, photoshop, premier, and after effects with media encoder, they all downloaded. But none of them opened, after a restart and the same problem, I uninstalled all of them and after that they wouldn't install properly.
The exact power supply can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-100-BR-...ocphy=9007215&hvtargid=pla-571063644465&psc=1
I've never used a torrent to download software.
And again the whole Adobe thing is just this last time i clean booted the PC. Before I clean booted this last time Creative Cloud and adobe products were running fine, but i had to clean install because for some reason edge and chrome wouldn't open and Windows couldn't fix it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, it's truly not (By far) the greatest PSU model EVGA ever sold, and in truth it's not very good at all especially with only a 30°C rating. When a unit doesn't have at least a 40°C rating it usually means it's either junk or very old. Besides which we know that platform is terribly (entirely?) budget oriented. How long has that unit been in service? 5 or 6 years? Jebus. That is extremely fortunate, now it's time to stop pushing your luck. Replace it with a decent unit, even if it isn't the reason for the problem you are having.

What CPU are you running? What is your motherboard's current BIOS version?

Have you run any drive tests? Maybe download Hard disk sentinel or Seatools for Windows, and check the SMART status and run the quick drive self test (DST) and extended tests on each drive to verify there are no problems with any of the storage devices.