ok, so my Powerbook 12" started slowing down extremely just earlier this afternoon. then everything froze...internet browsers, finder. tried restarting, but it was excessively slow. when the finder finally launched, i clicked on a video just to see if it would work, and the icon immediately changed to another icon that was on my desktop, and the video wouldn't open because it had been 'changed.' weird.<br><br>so i backed everything up, decided to erase and reformat. erasing in disk utility won't work. put in original restore disk, held down c at boot, and the apple pops up with its ticking circle friend, then the screen wipes and says "you must restart." i've done it a bazillion times, and i have no clue what to do now. <br><br>I just wanna clean it off, start at square one, and re-install everything. sorry so much to read, can anybody HELP!?!<br><br>

The hard may be dead. Do you hear a faint clicking sound when it's trying to start up?<br><br>

Even if the HD was dead it should still boot off the CD. Could be a MB problem.<br>I hope you purchased Apple Care or you've had it less than a year Ninja.<br><br>

I got this advise on this message board on a similiar issue:<br><br>Command Option - O - F is better than PRAM<br><br>Restart - move quickly to the keys Command - Option - O -F<br><br>At Open Firmware type in: reset-nvram (then hit return)<br><br>then type: reset-all (then hit return)<br><br>Your screen will go blank - this rests all hardware and software. This will tell you if it's a hardware or software issue.<br><br>This was great to find out and I've used it a few times successfully on that aweful "you must restart" screen. However, I found that first issue to be a bad airport card.<br><br>