Five to 10 minutes? Something's wrong, obviously. I have a dual 1 GHz G4, and I just timed it from off to usable. With a couple of doodad startup items, it took a shade over 44 seconds. Not a portable, but I'm trying to defend the honour of G4s everywhere.
When was the last time you let the maintenance scripts run?You should feel lucky. The time for my iBook is about 5-10 minutes. I'd kill for 40 seconds!!!
Yes, MINUTES. From the time I push the button, it takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes to stop "thinking" when it reaches the desktop. The grayish Apple screen with the circle spinner thing stays up for about 3 minutes, then another 3 or more on the "Loading Mac OS X" screen. Then about 2 for it to stop clicking on the desktop. We start the process of clicking and "thinking" all over again when I launch my Apps. I just click Safari, iChat, iTunes, and Mail all at the same time so I can just get it over with.
That sounds more like a bad hard drive. The area you described is where the HD is located.You know, like the "thinking" sound that any computer makes when opening an application or doing something "strenuous." That is the best way I know of to describe the sound. If it helps, it is coming from the left side of the computer, right under my palm.
That sounds more like a bad hard drive. The area you described is where the HD is located.
I had a G4 iBook 14" some time ago and I had a similar issue. I had the HD replaced and never had a problem after that.