Like Max I too have been fucked by a multi-page memory card. I had purchased some 'Brand X' 4000-page megacard for the PS1 and used it to save all sorts of games, most importantly, my progress on Wild Arms. I was on the final area when my save was just nuked randomly. The whole page was just wiped away.

I eventually made my way through the game again.... and yet again the memory card exploded that save as well. >_<

I have never beat Wild Arms.

I only buy first part memory cards now.... which really sucked when I had all my PS2 cards full and the shortage hit. So many saves sacrificed to make space....

About reseting the machine, though, I've always found that if I just remove the card currently in the slot and stick a new one in that most games are set up to rescan. I've never restarted my system because of having the wrong card. That sucks.