Dear List, Thank you one and all - bad RAM was the culprit! I took out my 512 and 256 "chips" and Jag installed like a dream. I know several listers thought that was the problem, and I hope they will now take a virtual bow. So - how do I figure out which one (both?) was bad? They were recognized by the system profiler and given a clean bill of health by Tech tool pro. Any advice would be most welcome. BTW - its on the 4th partition. Also - am I dreaming or does iTunes sound better in Jag than in OS9? (same mp3's) Thank you all once again - its great to find such generous help. Marty