[Rising Dragon]

As some of you may know, my previous computer troubles necessitated getting an DVI-to-HDMI adapter so I can use my computer with my HDTV again, as I had to turn off the onboard graphics to gain access to my graphics card.

Now, somehow, during that timeframe when I wasn't using the computer until I got that part, my computer acquired some new problem--how, I don't know, I didn't even have it turned on for a week or two--and it's now worsened to the point where I need someone's help fixing it, or to take it into a shop--something I cannot afford with my 16-to-20 bucks one-day-a-week job.

My computer will now sometimes freeze up or crash upon Window's loading up. Some of the icons on the desktop and in the start menu won't load up; they'll appear as standard white page images, the typical "We don't recognize this file" type of file icon. When these don't revert to what they're supposed to be, I know the computer has glitched up. On occasion they'll load up but crash anyway. Sometimes just moving the mouse over to the start bar will cause the computer to freeze up. Sometimes it'll load up completely but opening up a folder will cause it to freeze up. Sometimes during these events, the desktop background will turn completely white as it tries and fails to load something.

There have been a few occasions where the computer did not crash. During these times, I would sometimes encounter an entirely different problem. When watching some of my anime, when skipping segments of a video playing in Media Player Classic, the screen will suddenly turn a transparent, wobbly transparent purple-pink color. Sound will continue as normal, but everything on screen except the mouse would freeze into place. Sometimes the mouse would freeze as well. I have attempted to rectify this by reinstalling my graphics drivers, and I had not had the problem since.

Sometimes, it'd load up and I wouldn't have any problems at all.

Today, however, my computer has given up any pretense of working properly. At first it loaded up fine, but attempting to play a video quickly brought about the purple screen issue, proving that reinstalling the graphics drivers did not help. This forced me to reset, and upon loading back up the second time after loading Safe Mode (which thus far has not encountered any of those issues mentioned above). At this point, I had the first assortment of issues mentioned. This continued for the next seventeen attempts at getting the computer to load properly. Normally I gain regular access to the computer without issue within three to four resets, so I know it's done pretending it'll be cooperative.

At this point, my only idea left is to reinstall Windows 7, but the thing is, I don't have an install disc for it, and have to put the program onto a flash drive. I also do not want to lose all the files on the computer, and I don't know if reinstalling the OS would cause me to lose those files.

Any ideas? Or will I have to put myself into debt again to get it fixed by a professional?