Please help!

[queenerica]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for the problems I am having....so someone please direct me to the right place if it isnt'.
In th erecent past, I had been having some problems with my computer. I guess for a full list, you can search my user name and see my previous posts but in a nutshell, I was having kernel panics ALL the time, spinning wheel, safari would freeze and unexpectedly quit, computer would randomly shut off. hard crashes, date and time would reset occasionally.
So I reinstalled my operating software thinking it was some incompatable program or driver I had on there.
So after my reinstall my machine was working fine for about 3 weeks. The only software I downloaded were the updates from apple and I installed a driver for my Canon PIXMA IP4200 printer...that's it.
I turned my computer in last night and my destop picture was returned to the default blue instead of the pic of my nephew that I had on there. I also noticed that one of my internal hard drives was not showing up on my desktop or system profiler.
Can someone please help me? I am assuming it is not software related since it is just the internal drive that is missing (the wallpaper pics were on the missing drive). Other than this missing drive, the only other problem I have had is text edit unexpectedly quit one and safari did once or twice.
I should mention that I did have a power surge at my house the day before these problems but my computer was not on and I have a power surge protector anyway. Not sure if this could be related.
I am running a Power Mac G4 dual gig mirror door with 10.2.8.
Thanks!

 

[ex2bot]

Queenerica:

A bit more info about your computer would be helpful. For instance, how much RAM is installed?

If you're having kernel panics over and over, that is likely a hardware problem. OS X doesn't normally panic. You may have some faulty RAM chips or you have a USB hub attached.

You may want to do some troubleshooting on your RAM chips. Start by removing one of the DIMMS, if possible. Let us know if you want a step-by-step. ** Warning, internal components can be damaged by static electricity. You have to ground yourself before working with RAM chips and other hardware. **

Also try unplugging all USB devices except keyboard and mouse. It could be other hardware too, but I think RAM and USB devices are a good place to start.

-----------------

Issue #2: I suggest you upgrade your operating system to at least 10.3 (a.k.a. "Panther"). 10.3 is more polished and performs better than 10.2. Highly recommended, though this will _not_ likely solve your kernel panics. 10.3 Panther can be found relatively inexpensively online. For example, Macsales.com has it for $49. You might find an even better deal. That's better than the full retail of $129. 10.4 is very nice too and has some powerful new features, such as Spotlight search.

Good luck and let us know if we can help.

Doug

 

[fryke]

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