Zapped my Pram, NOT good !

Hello !

My old Mac G4 is a:

Machine Model: Power Mac G4 (AGP graphics)
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.8)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 450 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: f1
Serial Number: SG9481YSHM1

and struggling for the past year with an unsolvable problem of my Mac "hanging"
at random, I suddenly lost my startup chime. Someone again convinced me that resetting the pram "zapping" might cure the problem. So I startup with opt-comm-p-r depressed, got the chime back but all my bookmarks in safari and firefox are gone AND a lot of mail, not all but A LOT. Like mail folders, everything I ever sent, my drafts etc. Also, the Mac is now much slower at startup.

Biggest problem, however, damn thing doesn't find my printer anymore.

HEEELLP !!!

Thanks

Takeo.

Hello Takeo,

As you can see from Apples Support Article RE: Zapping the PRAM, in no way should you have lost any of your mail .... even your web browser bookmarks shouldn't have disappeared! Sorry to hear about this.

Can you retrieve your mail from your ISPs webmail or were you using POP account types?

Have you ever ran First Aid in Disc Utility in the past, or recently to verify/repair your Disc/Permissions? You can even boot from your install media and run Disc Utility from there which is sometimes necessary.

How much free space do you have on your Hard Drive? At the bottom of any Finder window you can see all available disc space.

What version of Mac OS are you running? Do you connect to the printer wirelessly or wired? Was the printer directly connected to your Mac? What brand is the printer?

Have you tested your other USB ports (if wired) or have a spare USB printer cable around to test?

Have a look in: System Preferences ~> Print & Fax ~> Printing and see what it says for installed printers.

Have you tried to add the printer (if it doesn't show in System Prefs, that is) using the Printer Setup Utility (in Applications ~> Utilities?