Video turned Gray/Scrambled in Project

Hello Everyone,

I am having my first real serious FCP error and I need your help:

Once I open a project, any project, (that includes FCP tutorial video projects)- My video shows up only momentarily in the Canvas and once I scrub through the timeline it turns gray with subtle pink lines down the frame, or a scrambled multi-color mess. If I try to play my sequence I get the Dropped Frames error.

Here are my specs:
Final Cut 5.0.4
iMac G5 1.8
1GB DDR SDRAM
Version 10.4.4
QT 7.01

I reinstalled QT 7.0.1 from 7.0.4. Problems are with both versions. I have installed all of the Final Cut Studio updates. My FCP settings are default, because I just reinstalled due to a failed internal hard drive which was replaced. My original video files in the capture folder has no errors or corruption.

Please help with any suggestions on what to do with this problem. I am itching to start editing again and seeing FCP this way is making me sad.

Thank You!

What happens when you open your original files with the QuickTime player? Do they run properly?

When you re-installed QT, did you trash the older versions from the receipts folder? Also read this:

[docs.info.apple.com]