[beetone]

Sometimes, in the last few days, when I try to boot up my iMac G3, I get a black screen with a message in four languages: "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button." This occurs at an early stage of the booting process. It sometimes requires several attempts before the booting is successfully completed.
I am running OS X 10.3.7 with 320Mb SDRAM.
I have run DiskDoctor (which didn't find any problems) and zapped the PRAM.
Can anyone please help?

[pat++]

Might be bad RAM... I would try to remove any additionnal RAM and see if the problem is still there...

[Detrius]

I agree with the bad RAM hunch. However, the biggest issue with bad RAM is that it can corrupt everything on your hard drive. Therefore, it's possible that removing the bad RAM won't make the problem go away. If you have an Apple Hardware Test, run it.

It's also possible you have a failing hard drive. Drive Setup on the OS 9 install CD can run a good surface scan (it's the Test option in the menu). If it says "could not complete because of an unexpected error," then you need a new hard drive.

[beetone]

Thanks for the responses. I doubt if the problem is with the RAM as I have not changed it for a couple of years. I have erased the hard drive and reinstalled the operating system (and everything else). Fortunately I was well backed up.
So far, so good.