So, my ibook is in a mess. I've tried re-loading the discs that came with it but that hasn't worked - basically it seems like nothing is being stored - when I switch it off & reboot it it defaults to the original settings on the dock, the settings in Thunderbird & Firefox (including bookmarks/scrapbook) disappear. Iphoto won't load any pics from my camera & the machine is generally messed up. Its as if its only storing things I put in while its on or asleep, but not retaining anything when its switched off & back on - like the disc is full but checking the hd it shows over 13gb free.

I've tried disc utility & checked everything. Is it possible to wipe everything & reload it all from scratch - do I just dump everything into the trash - or will that completely destroy the machine? All my files are stored on a separate hd.

That's a strange one, maybe a hd fault, but it doesn't really sound like it.

You may be best taking it to the Apple Store in Meadowhell to get it looked at, it may be something to do with user profiles?

A strange one... Have you tried the Erase option in Disk Utility after booting up from the CD (pressing C on startup with the disc in the drive)? The Software Restore Discs that should have come with your machine may also fare better than reinstalling OS X, but remember to back up anything you need before you try either of these...

It's possible, of course, that you have a large scratch file form Photoshop or something similar that isn't showing up for some reason.

The other thing to try (maybe) is resetting the PMU (Apple Knowledgebase article (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449)) or you could search through other articles on the site to do a bit of troubleshooting.

Good luck!

What OS are you running? Pre OSX10.3 had issues such as loosing settings, and bookmarks etc...

It is wierd. However, having run both the Software restore discs & the Install discs a month or so back (I've been making do for that time as I could get onto the net & use email) & it making no difference, I tried again with the install discs just after posting here. This time it seems to have worked - but why this time & not last is a mystery to me. However, I'm keeping my fingers crossed & trying not to think about it going wrong again.

I've noted down your suggestions just in case......