I know this will sound stupid, but first try another IDE cable--I had a similar problem once and that was the culprit (it had been pinched and blacked out intermittently). Could also be a loose IDE socket on the motherboard; try pressing on it while the machine boots to see if that's it. Then again, could be the drive itself. (You do have the HD on the primary IDE channel and the CD on the secondary, right?) Probably not much help, but worth a quick try. Good luck....
