On Feb 23, 2012, at 8:52 PM, Cat wrote: > not my exact problems, no. > > So..am I to understand that this is a hardware problem? The problems that you are experiencing are so bizarre that a hardware problem would tend to be my suspicion. Try creating a new user account and seeing if the problem persists. If it does, you might want to run Apple's Hardware Test. ___________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html ___________________________________________