I have a Mac 600 MHz PowerPC G3. I've had it for almost three years.
For a while it kept me very happy but then started to drag, so I took
it in for more memory and an OS upgrade. I went from 128 MB to 640,
and from OS 10.1 to OS 10.3.8. Since then, it's been much worse:
programs crash all the time, my internet has slowed to a crawl
regardless of what network I'm on or what site I'm viewing, it
frequently freezes. . . I don't know if this has to do with my recent
upgrades, with processor speed, with some other unknown cause. . . I
do have a good computer repair guy, but he almost insisted on the
upgrades, and they've been more trouble than they're worth. So I'd
like to be well-informed the next time I talk to him. I don't need to
solve the problem myself; I just need to know some possible causes, so
I can find the cheapest solution possible. I don't want to replace my
computer if I can help it.

It sounds to me like the 10.3.8 Update didn't go properly. This
sometimes happens when updating via the Software Update panel. Most of
the time, the solution is simply to run the "stand-alone" version of
the updater.

Step by step, here's what will fix things up for you.

1. Run Disk Utility (in your Applications / Utilities folder) and get
it to "Repair Permissions" on your start up drive.

2. Do Step One again, until it finds no errors to fix. ( If things are
badly muddled, it can take two or three passes before everything is
fixed.)

3. Go to Apple and download the latest stand alone updater. (At this
moment, that's MacOS X 10.3.9)

4. Run that installer.

If that process doesn't fix your problems, you may have installed a
new RAM DIMM that is unstable or defective, so get your repair guy to
replace it.

I'd be happy to go into more detail on any of the above, so please
don't hesitate to ask for clarification.

In preparing this answer, I found the information at Apple
(http://www.apple.com) and MacFIxit (http://www.macfixit.com) most
useful.

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Request for Answer Clarification by fieldlily-ga on 26 Apr 2005 10:55 PDT

Hi Daveslipp-ga,

So far, so good, thank you! I just have one quick question about the
"stand alone" updater. It's just the update available for download at
the following URL, right?:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/

If you can verify this for me, I'll accept your answer with many
thanks. :) If you have a moment, I'd love an answer to a couple more
questions, but they are not necessary for payment:

1) What's a RAM DIMM?
2) Do you think I should be skeptical of my computer guy for a faulty
install, or is this just something that happens?

Thanks so much!

Audrey

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Clarification of Answer by daveslipp-ga on 27 Apr 2005 06:46 PDT

Hi Audrey;

That download is exactly the one you want. Once you download it and
run it, be prepared for it to take a while to complete. One of the
things it needs to do is to "pre-bind" your programs. You see, all of
the programs on your Mac make use of libraries that are port of the
underlying  System and after the upgrade, the installer needs to
remind all of your programs where to find all of those external
libraries.

And as for your other questions...

1) A RAM DIMM is a memory card. (It is a Dual Inline Memory Module to
hard-core geeks)

2) There's really no reason to be angry or skeptical with your tech,
as I don't think the problem is really isn't anyone's fault. This
thing with the System Upgrade sometimes happens for reasons that will
probably remain obscure. If it is a the RAM that's bad, well that
happens, too. In fact RAM sometimes goes bad after years of being just
fine. (99% of the time RAM goes bad during the first 72 hours but that
pesky other 1% can lurk around for years before failing.)

I'd love to know that your up and running at full speed again, so
please ask for further clarification if you need it.

Computer is up and running much better, and I learned a lot, too!
Thank you so much,

Audrey