It's possible that you have a memory problem.  A speck of lint in the
connector under the SIMM could temporarily cause this, or a static discharge
too small to feel could "blow" one or more of the transistors in a chip.

Static can be a problem, especially in winter, when dry air indoors permits
large charges to build up.  Grounded mats and wristbands help protect CMOS
circuits, but a 10 Megohm resistance between them and ground is recommended
to protect the OPERATOR in case of contact with a live wire.  The cheapest
protection is to make a habit of touching a grounded surface (such as the
shiny metal case of a plugged-in Power Supply) before you touch any other
components.

Can you use a known good system to check the SIMMs in?  Do you have
software to check memory thoroughly?

If memory goes bad, and the hardware fails to catch it, it could also
corrupt files, especially system files on the hard drive.  You could force
a boot from a bootable floppy by temporarily disconnecting a cable to the
hard drive.  If that works, then the MB and RAM must be fairly healthy.

Boyd Ramsay

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