Won't log in, applications won't open

Question

Hello. I've had some problems with my iBook G4 12" lately. I upgraded the RAM from 256 to 768 and it ran very well. The next day, I turned on my computer, logged in, the screen went blue and came right back to the log in. I logged in again and it just keeps returning to the log in screen. After hours of trying, I popped in the Tiger disc and formatted it and reinstalled Mac OS X. It then worked fine. Now, 2 weeks later, this problem came back. I log in, and then the screen just stays blue. I logged into another account on the computer and when I click on any application to open it, it just keeps bouncing forever and doesn't open. Does anyone know the problem? Could it be a hard drive issue?

Answer 1

The problem may be with your new ram. The fact that it manifested after having it installed is rather suspicious. Having it removed is worth a try. Additionally your ibook came with a hardware test cd. This is either a separate cd or part of the OS installer cd/dvd. The test is not 100% accurate but it is quite good at indicating whether there is a problem with any of the hardware components.