Does it work with traditional hard drives?
I suspect the system is just unstable, and so eventually any OS you install falls apart due to errors.

Can you boot memtest86 and leave it running several hours (enough to do at least a couple passes) or overnight?
You could also try Prime95 "torture test" if you can get that running.
If you have a multimeter, check voltages.

A system of that era will have lots of jumpers and maybe BIOS settings that can make it unstable, so make sure those are correct, let us know if there's any you're unsure about.

Try replacing the data cable if you haven’t yet.

Can you post the full specs of your build (e.g. motherboard, etc.)?

For DOS/Win95 builds I've had the most success using CompactFlash cards. I have several builds with 4 GB Verbatim brand cards and StarTech CF-IDE adapters. Use them with both DOS and Windows 95 without issues.

I'm using an IDE to SATA adapter

What chip is it based on ?
What IDE controller type/model is it connected to ?

Not all such adapters work with all IDE controllers. At least some of the no-name chip based ones are crap.

Have a look inside the power supply for visibly bad/bulging capacitors. Post a picture of it with the top removed too, if you could. PSU and random crashes / errors go hand-in-hand.
That said, also look for bad caps on the motherboard too. These can wreak all kinds of random havok on data likes too.

shamino wrote on 2024-02-25, 02:07:

If you have a multimeter, check voltages.

While still worth doing to see if one or more of the voltage rails on the PSU is not being under/over spec voltage, just know that even good voltage measurements won't guarantee that the PSU is outputting clean power.
I actually have quite a few (gutless) PSUs like this - they appear to have really good voltage regulation, but fail(ed) miserably in therms of ripple and noise. Some of them I upgraded/modified/re-designed just for kicks and they've turned into somewhat decent low-power units.

The PSU I fully tested before I used it for the build. The motherboard is an EPox/ProNiX EP-3VWM2.

I noticed an electrolytic capacitor on the board that has started to bulge so I suspect that might have something to do with it and there maybe more bad caps although the rest look ok they might still be bad. I've put this machine aside for now while I work on another build. I am also in the process of re-capping another 370 motherboard which I will replace it with once its finished and then I will repair the other motherboard with the bulging cap I don't have the right values on hand right now so there isn't much I can do for that board at this moment in time.