With the input I got from some very helpful folks on this board, I was able to finally figure out what was wrong with my pc: the RAM. Dunno if it's all of it or just some of them.
So I burned memtest onto a bootable CD and ran it, but having never used this program before, i do have some questions. Do I run it with all 4 sticks in or do I need to try each one individually? How long do I need to run it for?
Thanks for any feedback, I appreciate it.