so this powerbook g4 1ghz starts then 3 beeps i know this (or think this is a ram prob) but before this i was starting then getting to the grey screen and the apple icon then that dark grey box with the hold the button to restart message the one with a few langauges so i hold the button and it just keeps doing it i managed to get off my info by starting it as a firewire disk so i think the HD is ok ? tried to boot of the system cd
which it did and managed to install a new system but it just goes back to its looping nightmare

please help
many thanks
mal

The reboot screen is called a kernel panic.

The 3 beeps is a bad sign, it means the boot sequence FAILED the POST (power on self test).. spcifically: 3 beeps = No RAM banks passed memory testing

Which means bad RAM. So, you'll have to replace the RAM or have it taken into an Apple Certified repair center to have them look at it.