I discovered if I created a new user account, the problem didn't occur there; it only occurred in my administrator account!
I then decided to upgrade, very belatedly, to OS 10.4.11. Well, not only did the problem persist....no go in my administrator account but no problem in my new user...
I've got a mystifying problem. This problem occurs ONLY on one Mac...a 17" 1 GHz Powerbook; I have no such problem with another Powerbook that I have, an old 667MHz Ti nor with any other computer.
I can no longer log in to an account that I have with a major bank. No such problems for several...