[SOLUTION]
OMFG IT WAS THE OPTICAL MEDIA (discs)
HOLY F************************
I have never ever had this happen before.
I assume it’s because my computer had so much heat, it affected the discs, or that they wore through use that quickly.
Regardless, I found out what the problem was.
This is CRAZY.
This should also go to show how much harder it was to deal with computers back then. Ridiculous.