My computer is crashing and having troubles, is it time to replace the power supply?

You’ve got a lot going on, and unfortunately that means that the
answers aren’t going to be clear. Yes, it all might be power supply
related, but in all honesty that’s not where I’d start.

I’d start with a concept called “software rot”.

In a perfect world, we could all add and remove software, add more
software, make configuration changes and undo those changes and all
would be well.

This is not a perfect world.

After a while, where “a while” depends on how you use your computer
and what kinds of software we’re talking about, computers get unstable.
It just happens. It shouldn’t, but years of experience show that, in
practice is just does. It’s come to be known as “software rot”.

Typically, for average users that time is measured in years. In fact,
it’s often long enough that the computer has been replaced or repaired
for some other reason before it really becomes a problem, so you’d
never notice.

In my case, each of my more heavily used machines lasts about two
years before I have to deal with it.

Given how you’ve described your computer and it’s age as implied by
the 80gig hard drive, it’s the first thing that came to mind. In
particular, the fact that things seemed to get worse when some software
was installed really points to a software, not a hardware, related
problem.

The solution? Some very simple steps that turn into a lot of work,
but it’s work that you can do:

•

Reformat and Reinstall

• Back up. Back up your computer. That means making a
  backup copy of all your data, all the programs, everything. Back it up
  to an external hard drive, DVDs, CDs or even another computer on a
  local network, but back it up.

• Reformat. This erases everything on the
  hard drive. Typically, it’s most easily done as part of the next
  step.

• Reinstall Windows. Using your original install CDs,
  reinstall Windows from scratch. The installation program should offer
  you the option of reformatting the hard disk prior to installing, which
  is my suggestion.

• Update Windows. Windows Update should be the first
  place you visit. (I highly recommend you get behind a router prior to
  connecting to the internet, or at a minimum make sure that the Windows
  firewall is enabled.

• Reinstall all your programs. Reinstall every
  application you use, from scratch, from its original distribution
  media. If they offer updates, take them. (As part of this
  reformat-and-reinstall process I typically install applications as I
  need them, rather than all at once up front. That ensures I actually
  only install applications that I use.)

• Restore data. This depends on how you use your
  computer, but copy off your data files – documents, pictures, what have
  you – from wherever else they are stored, or copy them from the backup
  you took in the first step.

Yes, this is painful, but it’s by far the best way to make sure that
you have a clean and healthy system. As I said, I find myself doing it
every couple of years. Your timing will most certainly vary.

•

Other Possibilities and non-Possibilities

Let’s look at some of the other items from the original
question.

“…crashes and tries to continually restart when I have
appliances connected, ie printer, video machine…” this actually
points away from the power supply. Most of these types of devices
supply their own power; you’ll know, because you had to plug them in
separately. This actually points more towards software, as in problems
caused by the drivers or software attempting to control these devices,
even when not actively in use.

“…noises coming from the hard drive sound to me like it is
really struggling…” It’s hard to know exactly what kinds of
noises you might mean, but I’ll throw them into two buckets: good and
bad. In this context “good” noises are simply the drive being active –
that would be normal whirs and clicks as the drive does its job. If
you’re hearing a lot of them – as in the drive seems to be working
constantly even when you’re doing nothing, or out of proportion to the
task at hand, once again this points to software. Chances are you’ve
run out of memory, are swapping out to disk constantly, or there’s
other software or even spyware that’s constantly hitting your disk. On
the other hand if the noises are loud, obnoxious grindy type noises,
that would be “bad”. Backup NOW – as your hard disk is
about to die. (And yes, that, too, can cause the problems you’re
discussing.)

“… what would be the best size wattage to upgrade to?”
I’m not saying that this is, or is not the problem. My initial gut feeling
is that the problem is elsewhere, but even so a faulty or dying power
supply can also manifest with symptoms similar to what you describe.
Exactly what you need depends on exactly what’s installed in the
computer itself (not connected to, but actually installed inside). If
you haven’t added any hardware to the computer itself, in all honesty
400 watts could be plenty. However, there’s no harm in having more, so
when replacing a power supply I typically suggest getting the next step
up. 500 watts is good. If you plan to add more hardware (like internal
disk drives and the like) feel free to go bigger if you like.

“… is this a job easy enough to do ourselves …” That’s
a loaded question, because of course I think it’s easy for most people
to do so, but about that time someone comes along, takes that advice
and completely messes it up. So if the thought of opening your computer, disconnecting
some plugs, unscrewing the box that is the power supply, and then
reversing that process exactly sounds OK to you, then it may well be.
If you’re comfortable replacing a power outlet or light switch in your
home, then I think a power supply is within your reach. But only you
can decide if you’re “most people”.

But absolutely, positively – backup your machine first.