I have a problem with my G4 (OS 9.0.2?, 256 Mb) booting, or not, as the case may be. I should mention that this computer is on my desk at work, so I am not financially responsible for it's repair. I should also mention that I have an identical G4, an old Gateway, and two white G3's running fine (and a Dell on order). But I like my G4! In mid-August, I noticed that the G4 wouldn't read a floppy disk (external USB drive), The disk would spin, but didn't appear on the desktop. I was away for a week. When I returned, my computer was off. Someone said there had been some storms, so I assumed the electricity had been out. Beginning then (August 20th), and continuing to present, I have had trouble with the G4 booting. In addition, on August 21st, a transformer blew out, and on August 30th, there was another major power outage. When I power up the computer, it gives the happy Mac, and the start-up message, but stops there. Extensions never load. Well, almost never. The last time the boot was successful, I had tried to restart 61 times. Since the problem began, I believe I have been able to restart 4 times, out of over 100 tries. The computer will not boot from CD, either. Tech support ran Norton Utilities. Nothing showed up except bad dates on files. The battery was replaced. Disk Warrior couldn't be run because it needs to boot from the CD. Tech support zapped the p-ram; after that, the gong start-up noise disappeared. I pushed the silver button behind the battery; that didn't help, either. Without seeing the G4, a local repair shop told the tech support person that to replace the logic board and the front panel board would cost $485. (The machine is 2 years old, and I doubt the dept. would pay for this, given that the new Dell is on order.) I have thought of interchanging the hard drive with the other G4's hard drive, but am not sure I have a screwdriver small enough to release it from the casing. Any help/hope? Or should I scrap it?

Corrected message (a few more details): I have a problem with my G4 (OS 9.0.2?, 256 Mb) booting, or not, as the case may be. I should mention that this computer is on my desk at work, so I am not financially responsible for its repair. I should also mention that I have an identical G4, an old Gateway, and two white G3's running fine (and a Dell on order). But I like my G4! In mid-August, I noticed that the G4 wouldn't read a floppy disk (external USB drive), The disk would spin, but didn't appear on the desktop. I was away for a week. When I returned, my computer was off. Someone said there had been some storms, so I assumed the electricity had been out. Beginning then (August 20th), and continuing to present, I have had trouble with the G4 booting. In addition, on August 21st, a transformer blew out, and on August 30th, there was another major power outage. When I power up the computer, it gives the happy Mac, and the start-up message, but stops there. Extensions never load. Well, almost never. The last time the boot was successful, I had tried to restart 61 times. Since the problem began, I believe I have been able to restart 4 times, out of over 100 tries. The computer will not boot from CD, either. The last time the computer froze was upon opening Explorer. Tech support ran Norton Utilities. Nothing showed up except bad dates (1904) on files. The battery was replaced. Disk Warrior couldn't be run because it needs to boot from the CD. Tech support zapped the p-ram; after that, the gong start-up noise disappeared, and the computer never powers down fully. I have to pull the plug to power down, then restart. I pushed the silver button behind the battery; that didn't help, either. Without seeing the G4, a local repair shop told the tech support person that to replace the logic board and the front panel board would cost $485. (The machine is 2 years old, and I doubt the dept. would pay for this, given that the new Dell is on order.) I have thought of interchanging the hard drive with the other G4's hard drive, but am not sure I have a screwdriver small enough to release it from the casing. Any help/hope? Or should I scrap it?

Have you tried booting with extentions off?

Yes. I have tried booting with extensions off. It still doesn't get that far. I have also tried rebuilding the desktop, and it doesn't get that far, either.

I came into my office this afternoon. The G4 booted on the first try. *scream* I think it may be time to erase my files.

Why not upgrade to OS X??

More like time to back up your files, it sounds like. See if you can get your support folks to check out that box with the hardware test CD that came with it. It sounds like one of those power outages might have been followed up by a surge that farked the hard drive if not other components. And tell them to buy you a surge protector. p