I got my G3 in Oct 99. It has OS 8.6, it has 128 ram. It had a scsi card/2906 installed for my scanner when I bought it. Set it up Jan 00. It has never really worked well. Hired a tech to come out and he spent 6 hours. It didn't help and what he did was completely deleted the next day because Apple Tech helped me re-initialize. Didn't help. I've had it in to a repair shop, they couldn't find anything wrong. Yet, I have a book of errors that's nearly 50 pages in length. I swear that when it was first set up, and the printer connected, a strange sound seemed to go from tower to printer and this knocked the printer out. I replaced the printer (Epson 900). I works, but does not print all that well. The computer does a number of things habitually, and other things on occasion. It freezes, crashes, etc., on a regular basis. I've narrowed some of this down to being disconnected from Earthlink. But it's not all connected to that. I regularly get error 2, 3, 10, 11 and 41. While collecting email, my computer froze twice, message came up "the file"internet preferences was damaged and has been reverted to a previous system some preference info may be lost. A copy of the damaged file has been placed in the trash." Was on line typing a personal message on a forwarded email and system quit - Outlook express unexpectedly quit error l,0ll occurred. Started up again, got Sorry a system error occurred "finder" error type 10 restart machine. But "restart" never works so have to go to tower. Pointer studders or wobbles often. Have to restart when it does. Sometimes when application error happens, background color is 2/3 or screen. Can't restart on menu anymore. Have to go to tower. Often get to restart, temp turn off extensions. "Sorry, Control strip extension bus error" happens. I'll stop there. If it was you machine...would you throw it out? I'm about to.

I have a G3 b&w, your nightmare sounds too familiar. I have had my G3 in to have the Mac techs check everything out several times. They tested everything and couldn't find the problem. The errors inconsistent. Lost email, freezes, etc. and all the things you have named. I also have to reinstalled both netscape and internet explorer because of repeated java error on both servers that kepts happening. Browsers now load so low it's maddening. On my G3's last visit to the shop the techs came to the conclusion that there is some problem with the logic board. It's is mass produced I was told and it could be just one little mistake was made while beginning made. I asked how much to replace and was told $600.00. If you find out what's going on with your G3 please let my know. This is one big mystery! I sure hope it's not the logic board. Good luck.

I have a Mac G3, I bought it brand new in April of 99 and I can tell you that I've never had a problem with it. Maybe if "Somebody" knew anything about the Mac he would see that the Mac operating system is a lot more friendly to use than the stale Windows OS. I would rather watch grass grow than to stare at a PC running Windows.......sorry it was nothing about your problem...but something about PC's :-)

The problems that you've listed could be caused by numerous things. Try attacking one at a time. With the high incidents of crashes that you have first check to see that you don't have an extensions conflict. start the machine with a base set of extensions and keep adding until the problem appears again. If you can recreate the problem again then you've narrowed it down to extensions. You don't say how much Ram you have allocated - Not knowing your experience level, a mac doesn't allocate ram for it's programs you have to, virtual memory should also be turned off. another area you may want to check - are all your drivers and firmwares up to date on all pieces? As I said there are many things which could cause your problem - with the numerous problems you are encountering, it may be a smart move to start from square 1 with the OS install. - good luck.

I have owned a b & w G3 since Jan'99 and it's been great. But your machine is probably got a hardware problem, and that weird noise you heard the first time is a good clue. Believe it or not, but Apple has one of the best quality ratings of all makers! I'm sure that's small consolation to you right now. If it were mine, I'd start by disconnecting all perpherals, and remove your SCSII card! Only have your monitor, keyboard/ mouse, and internet connection connected. Now zap your PRAM by starting your computer while holding down Apple-option-P-R, keep holding these down until you hear the startup tone at least twice, then release. When it's up, go to your extension manager and turn off all non-essential extensions. Try your computer for awhile and see if you still have problems. If you don't, add you printer (and its extensions) and restart. Try printing various things. If you still had a problem before, get your install disks ready, save any files you cant live without to disk, and do a clean reinstall, including a hard disk format! This means you lose everything, but you start with a clean slate. After the system reinstall, try your computer again - thoroughly. I'd keep the SCSII card out for now, just try your basic system, then add the printer. I know this is tedious and time consuming, so if you don't have the means to do this, you need to find a real apple person wo can help. The tech you had for 6 hours doesn't sound up to the task. It's possible that your initial installation was faulty (I still suspect that SCSII card) which could have damaged your system. The card itself could be at fault; SCSII devices are sensitive and notorious for causing mischief. Bad drivers (not up-to-date) and conflicting extensions are the number one cause of all Mac problems. In any case, it's a matter of trial-and -error and process of elimination to narrow this one down. There are some good web sites: macfixit, macintouch, & mac- upgrade.com are usually helpful. If you need a new logic board or other hardware replacement, try milagromac, micromac, shrevesystems, macresq, or macworks.com; they're probably cheaper than your apple dealer or Apple itself. In any case, hope you get the Gremlin and strangle him!