ok, I checked the logs to make sure there wasn't a problem and guess what: something even wierder shows up.. approximate,y 4 minutes before the system locks and forces a reboot (the hard way), all system logging appears to cease. no indications of shutdown, or other activities. they just have a time gap in them. the restarts do show up though. Hawke -- visit my webpage: http://pretorian.ath.cx/~proudhawk I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own - No. 6