Uh oh, Liz. Sounds like the hard drive could be failing. You can replace the hard drive, but not the stuff you have on it, so find a way to copy the important stuff somewhere else ASAP. <br><br>

No luck, Jocelyn removed all the games from the computer( we think and hope) s.o now it will sign on to the internet, but it still will only stay on for about four mins. So I am going to see if i can find some one who might know a little about macs and see if they will come to the house and help me with it....thanks so much for all your help<br>liz<br><br>

If you can't find a friend or co-worker to help you'll have to take the machine into a repair place. There is only one authorized reseller and repair business in PEI.<br><br>Little Mac Shoppe<br><br>DO NOT call any old computer outfit that will come out to your home. Those folks service PC's and generally know little about Macs. <br><br>Make sure to get an estimate of repair. If the problem is more than a failing hard drive or a battery it's likely not worth your while to get it fixed. Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $200 on an old machine.<br><br>For your uses you could easily get by with a Mac Mini. They are a wonderful machine for the casual computer user.<br><br>Check out Apple Canada store<br><br>Check out Special Deals. (on left side of page, near the bottom) Apple online offers refurbished machines. These are like new and offer full warranty. I bought one for my daughter and it works great.<br><br>

Do you have any of the disks that came with the computer?<br><br>How much stuff is on the hard drive, and how much is important?<br><br>When you say it disconnects from the internet after 4 minutes, is it doing anything else bad? Are you still getting the spinning cursor? Is it still slow? <br><br>HERE is a forum for CUBE owners. Don't go away - but there might be someone there who's been through your particular cube blight.<br><br>HERE is another Cube resource.<br><br>is THIS your battery? Mail order has to beat driving for a battery where you live!<br><br>From the OWC page re: batteries going down, and effecting performance: <br><br>"Macintosh computers contain an internal backup battery to maintain system settings, such as the date and time, when the computer is turned off . The battery may last up to five years though actual life is determined by shelf life of the battery and usage patterns of the computer. The batteries used in the Macintosh computers listed below are lithium, and are 3.6 V<br><br>When the computer does not retain PRAM settings (such as the date and time) after it has been turned off, this generally indicates a dead battery."<br><br>You may have other things going on, but your computer is five years old - the battery replacement is very inexpensive, and a dead battery, or even a low battery, can make your computer behave as if it's been exposed to red kryptonite. <br><br>The next thing is to get ahold of a disk with Disk Utility on it, and just establish a base line. Don't go away, Liz, We're all interested in your cube getting better. <br><br> <br><br><br>The Bill of Rights doesn't grant us our rights, it merely enumerates them.

You are getting a lot of possible scenarios from the posters in here... don't let it overwhelm you. It's probably only 1 of these things. And it's as likely to be be an easy fix as not.<br>It may just need a battery... or some basic utilities run on it.<br><br>

With the shutdown after 4 minutes it's probably the power supply, it runs for a few minutes, overheats, then shuts off, or something on the logic board (mother board) is overheating and shutting it down. I've seen/heard of those symptoms many times, my money would be on the power supply.<br><br>------>#1 - JD's Trivia game<br><br>------>#2 - MM-MCF Trivia game

That's a good bet. So what's a power supply run... parts and installation?<br><br>

Oh crap... I forgot it's external.<br><br>$250.00<br><br>http://hardcoremac.stores.yahoo.net/66g4cuposu.html<br><br>

Looking at completed sales on Ebay, they go for about 50-60 bucks.<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by NucleusG4 on 04/23/08 09:06 AM (server time).</EM></FONT></P>

I don't know anything about the Cube but I had a similar problem with my old G4/400. There's a fan that's attached to the power supply that's not working properly. Unfortunately the fix is to replace the whole thing, not just the fan.<br><br>Even if I had the part, the repair isn't something I'd tackle myself. Liz is in the same position. She's not about to be opening up the Cube and doing anything other than a battery replacement.<br><br>