IBook won't start up all the way...

My iBook G4 has been great. But recently, I've experience a little trouble. Sometimes when it starts up, it seems to only startup part way.
Meaning, that none of my external connections work (iBook won't recognize any of my USB periferals like my printer and external mouse... and unfortunately my wireless internet connection is supported through a USB port, so when this happens, I can't log on to the internet!).
I've also noticed that when this happens, although I get my Mac OSX desktop, I don't see anything on the top-right-hand-side of the menu bar. So I do get my "apple" menu, and Finder, File, Edit, View, Go, Window, and Help on the left-hand-side, but nothing on the right (display control panel, volume indicator, Date/Time).
So, sometimes I start it and it starts up all the way and everything works fine. Other times I start it up, and I can't find my periferals, and I don't have anything on the right-hand sinde of the menu bar.
I have tried troubleshooting on my own by running Disk First Aid (everything checks out okay), and verifying and repairing my permissions. Doesn't help.
Any suggestions? Hopefully I can get some useful advice on this discussion board. If not, I will have to take it in for service.
iBook Power PC G4 933 MHz   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Hi mac824,
It sounds like some system corruption.
Download and reinstall the 10.3.9 Combined update. If that doesn't correct it, an Archive and Install should.

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