You’re definitely not alone.
captain_videoYou’re definitely not alone. Been using mine for about six years. I’ve probably upgraded it at least 3 or 4 times over that period, but that was mostly due to a couple of flaky motherboards. I have two HTPCs that get used on a daily basis. The wife uses one for watching live TV and that’s about all. The main HTPC gets a workout for recording and watching TV shows and watching ripped Blu-Rays and DVDs from my server as well as a few downloaded shows.
Before you do a complete overhaul I’d recommend doing a fresh install from scratch using a different hard drive. Sometimes things get hosed along the way due to Windows updates or funky drivers so starting with a clean slate is usually the best approach. This should fix your video errors as a minimum. Install Windows and your motherboard drivers and then install all Windows updates to make the OS current. Make sure you have the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s website for any hardware you’re installing. Install your hardware and reboot often to ensure proper installation. Add in your hardware one device at a time and install the associated drivers. Install just what you need to support Media Center (i.e., tuners, drivers, cablecards, etc.) and then run Media Center setup. Once you’ve got WMC configured go ahead and install any add-ons like comercial skipping apps and such.