[Cykon]

A short while ago I went out and bought a crossover ethernet cable to connect my Windows XP desktop and Mac OS X 10.2.8 iBook (2003 model, G3).

I followed the directions that I found here http://www.apple.com/uk/switch/quest...g/network.html

I used the "Sharing files between a Mac laptop and a PC connected with a crossover cable" one.

After configuring both my mac and pc, I proceeded to connect the two computers. Everything went fine and the network showed up... This is where the trouble starts.

As soon as I click on the icon showing my windows pc in the network list in Mac OS X to connect the two computers, my screen immediately dims out and a large display message pops up saying exactly "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button."

Before I tried this I noticed that I could still see my mac's desktop in the backround, although greyed out, but neither the touchpad or keyboard would respond. As soon as I pressed the power button as the message said to do, the system didn't restart, it shut off completely.

From there I pressed the power button and heard the familiar chime indicating that the system had turned on. The initial boot screen came up with the gray apple and the little spinny thing... and then ten minutes past... and then it finally finished booting.

This now happens everytime I turn my mac on, it never took 10 minutes to boot beforehand. What is up with it? What should I do?

[Detrius]

Your system is probably busy being confused about a corrupt file system. Run Disk Warrior 3 and then turn on file system journaling (assuming you have 10.2.3 or later).

[Brazuca]

what system?

if before Panther, try to star with single-user mode and run a disk check (or just run disk utility if possible. It sounds like you have a corrupt prefs file.