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Check Drive
storage and free space
Find your drive icon on your
desktop (should be in top-right corner or in
side bar of a Finder window), select it with
one click,
then choose "Get Info" from the Finder's
File Menu.
The resulting window shows drive
capacity, space available and used space. If available space is
getting down to 10-15% of drive capacity,
your drive is full;
less than 10% means trouble ahead if not
rectified soon.
About
This Mac (Apple menu)
Properly identify your machine by
collecting its system specs and details.
Select "About This Mac" under the
Apple Menu in top-left corner of screen.
Here you'll find your OS version number,
details regarding your machine's
processor(s), installed
RAM information, and
the name of your startup disk. Clicking on
version number will cycle thru build ID,
serial number, and back to OS version.
Much more complete and detailed
specs may be found in the System Profile by
clicking "More Info" or "System Report"
button within the "About..." window. Here
you'll find listed detailed specs of all
internal components.
The System Profile
Illustrated here is System
Profile's Memory pane, selected in left
column, showing specifications for each
installed memory module in each available
slot. Equally detailed and specific
information is also available for every
drive, card, bus, port, and device from list
on left side of Profile window.
If you use a notebook computer, you'll also
find battery condition and charging status
located under "Power" heading.
Serial Number
All Macs have their serial numbers
recorded in "Hardware" at the top of the
System Profile window and in the initial
"About This Mac" window. Serial number may also be found
on back of MacBooks in wee-tiny print (and
on a label inside battery bay of way-old
laptops with removable batteries). iMacs
have serial number and machine specs on
underside of stand, towers have a label
under side door or on back panel. The serial
number may be used to ascertain warranty
status and further identify machine specs.
Model Number
For some inexplicable reason, Mac model numbers are seldom
used to identify individual models, even
tho every machine has one. Macs are best
identified by the specs on their labels,
details in System Profile, or by machine's serial number. Other identifiers include
order number (ending in LL/A), two digits
separated by a comma within System
Profile's Hardware pane, CPU speed and
type, and by machine's date.
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Start with an overall examination,
take nothing for granted
If your iMac, Mini or tower is
doing absolutely nothing - no chime on
startup, no fan, no sign of life at all -
odds are the power supply has failed.
Laptops that aren't getting power will run
on battery until drained, then - nothing. Test and confirm power from
outlets and check connections. bypass any
surge suppressors or power supplies (UPS), and try a different outlet.
If power isn't the problem, try going thru
the inspection process below as though
you're seeing the machine for the first
time. Some steps may seem unnecessary, but
try 'em anyway, just in case. Be methodical.

Power down if necessary
Shutdown, then disconnect power to
machine and unplug all peripherals. Two
reasons for this: First, it eliminates any
possibility of damage that might be caused
by disconnecting/reconnecting powered
devices. Second, removing power from
computer and all components for a minute or
two (including printer, modem, router, and
all) will cause some devices to reset when
powered on again, thus eliminating a few
possibilities right off the bat.
Initial
examination
While things are shut off and unplugged,
take a good look at cables, plugs and ports.
Are contacts clean and shiny, straight,
intact and in good shape? Any debris stuck
in ports? Damaged cables should be replaced,
but damaged ports may be another matter; try
a different port if available. Carefully
clean connectors as needed, blow out ports
and sockets, then reconnect devices. Make
sure plugs have a snug fit and cables aren't
being strained, twisted or bent.
If a new device has been added
recently - including any internal PCI cards
- remove it and leave that device aside for
now, to be added back later. (Hardware
problems often manifest themselves during
startup or sleep/wake functions, causing
freezes, hangs or blank screens.)
Reconnect power
and startup
Connect and power-up peripherals first
(printer, display, ethernet, USB devices,
etc,) and allow each to go thru its startup
routine - then startup your Mac and see if
problem remains or reoccurs.
If you've added a new device recently, try
running without it for a bit, then connect
the new device and see if anything changes.
If problem never went away or startup to
(desktop) is impossible, the next steps may
be unavailable and you might want to bring
machine in.

Failure on startup (powers on)
Make a note of what - if anything
- appears on the screen and how long it
takes to get there. If machine sounds like
it is starting up normally but screen
remains black, try to brighten the screen
(usually the F2 key at top of keyboard). If
it's still dark, shine a flashlight on the
screen and look for a ghost image of what
should be visible on startup - the login
screen or desktop image. If you see
anything, you've lost the backlight.
If you see an icon of any sort, make a note
of it. Various icons at startup mean various
things and are important indicators.
If you can shutdown normally, do so. If not,
hold power button down for 6+ seconds until
machine goes off. Next, try startup from
Recovery: Hold the Command + R keys down and
momentarily press power button to startup.
Continue holding Command + R until you see
the Apple logo, then release keys and be
patient; startup from Recovery takes a bit
longer than normal.
You should arrive at a screen where you pick
a language and continue, but eventually you
should be presented with four options. The
one we're interested in is Disk Utility -
choose Disk Utility.
You should then see your drive in left
column, with first line showing drive type
and a second, indented line showing drive's
name ("Macintosh HD").
Select first line (drive type) and click
Verify Disk. This checks drive format, is
usually pretty quick, and if successful it
will say so. If an error is found, it will
show in red - make a note of it. If you have
the opportunity to repair, click Repair Disk
ans see if repair is successful. Continue
with next step in either case.
NOTE: If you do not see
your drive in left column, drive is not
mounting and testing is done. Hold power
button until machine shuts off.
Next, select second line with drive's name
and click Verify Disk again. This time it
will check the directory and will take a few
minutes to do so. As before, if a problem is
found it will appear
in red - make a note of it. If you have the
opportunity to repair, click Repair Disk. If
not, shutdown.

Check System Prefs
If you startup to a date/time
error message, your desktop computer's PRAM
has been erased (common for notebooks) or
clock battery may be dead (very rare,
desktop machines only). Replacement
batteries are readily available for desktop
Macs, but will require disassembly for
access. (Notebooks have no PRAM battery,
relying on main battery to maintain
settings.)
Open System Preferences and check
settings in relevant control panels and
panes, and set date/time if necessary. Check
Startup Disk and select your drive if it
isn't highlighted already. Look in Users and
Groups > Login Items and see if there is
something launching on startup that might be
the culprit. NOTE: Now is not the time to
change anything other than those settings
that may be related to the specific problem
at hand; you're likely to see login items
installed by your OS (iTunes Helper, for
example) that should remain. Third-party
(non-Apple) items are always suspect and may
be removed.
Try to isolate the
problem
Record any error messages that appear. Is
the problem repeatable? Did a specific
action or event precede the problem? Does it
seem to be related to a particular
application? If so, check the program's
preference settings.
If problem appears to be related
to an external device, make sure any
necessary driver is current by checking
version numbers and system requirements.
(Drivers on CDs included with most devices
may be unnecessary for use with Macintosh,
or they may outdated at time of purchase.)
If you've done an OS upgrade, you may need
to download/update your printer driver, but
drivers in general are seldom a problem on
Macs.
Before you call for help
Regardless of where you might turn
for assistance, you'll save yourself time
and trouble by having the following
information readily available:
- Machine type (notebook,
iMac, Mini or tower), processor type and
GHz speed, OS version number, installed
RAM and machine's serial number. Hard
drive capacity and available (free) space
might be helpful, too.
- Recent changes or events
related to the issue, and specs for any
peripheral device that might be involved.
- A record of error
messages, symptoms encountered, and steps
taken.
The amount of relevant information
you have on hand when you call tech support
will determine a lot of your success in
receiving help. From a tech's point of view,
it's much easier to have a coherent
conversation when both parties know what
equipment is in use, under which Operating
System, and exactly what errors or symptoms
are being generated.
NOTE:
Using Google to search for "customer
support" will likely produce a top hit with
a toll-free number leading to offshore
scammers. Carefully read the actual web
address before clicking any link,
and go to vendor's genuine web site to
obtain a _real_ contact number.
If your Mac is under warranty, you may be
entitled to free tech support - check your
warranty info (also available by serial
number from Apple's support page found under
our Apple links). Most hardware/software
vendors charge for support by incident. We
don't provide free tech support, either. In
fact, it's rare to diagnose a problem over
the phone, let alone solve it, so we
respectfully request you bring your machine
to the shop for a proper diagnostic
evaluation. See our Service Policies and Ops
page for details.
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Oooo, pretty!
First, be patient; the beachball
cursor is there to indicate machine is busy.
But, if it seems stuck for a minute or more,
there's a "Force Quit..." command under the
Apple (logo) menu that should get you out of
it. If that's not an option, you might have
to force shutdown by pressing/holding power
button for 6+ seconds which will end a hang
and shutdown machine. Try startup and ops to
see if problem was solved - but don't be
surprised if it happens again. If you want
to prevent beachballs in the future, or you
find it's happening far too often and for
too long, then something needs to be
corrected.
And the cause is...?
Common causes of slow ops - from
minor to major - include:
- Using 'List View' with
file size displayed. Your OS will waste
valuable CPU cycles as it calculates the
size of each file in folders you open.
Use Column View instead (Finder >
View menu) or, if you prefer List View,
uncheck "Size" under View Options.
- A cluttered desktop
littered with over 2GB of folders,
files, pics, music or video. Apps and
huge downloads on desktop can slow
things down, too. File things where they
belong - within the drive - and clean up
that desktop. Empty the trash.
- Running too many apps at
once. Closing windows does not quit an
application; when you're done with an
app, choose "Quit" from the app's menu
or press Command+Q on the keyboard.
- Unnecessary anti-virus
and bogus utility apps. Anti-virus apps
insert themselves into practically every
process, and will slow things down with
little or no benefit. Many legitimate AV
programs come with
an uninstaller attached - use it.
"Slow" is a pretty vague
complaint, and it helps to know if slowness
is related to a particular program - web
browsers for example. Browsers collect a lot
of so-called "cruft" these days, a term
encompassing cookies, history, location
info, icons, autofill and other web data. A
good habit to get into these days is to
clear cruft when quitting your web browser
(Safari, Firefox, etc.). If slow operation
is system-wide and not limited to a
particular app, a little more investigation
is required, but we can usually get it
sorted out if you bring your machine to the
shop.
More complex causes: Internet
downloads
Bogus utility and
trouble-shooting apps can do more harm
than good when installed, and some are
actually malicious. Many will slow ops to
a crawl. Purloined programs downloaded
from offshore sources (torrent or
"file-sharing" sites) are always suspect
and frequently cause trouble - which is to
be expected, since you're dealing with
thieves. Garbage may come onboard
pretending to be Flash Player, a "viewer,"
update, search assistant, cleanup utility
or virus scanner. One
notorious example is MacKeeper, an
insidious scam that can be difficult to
remove. If you were unfortunate enough to
install any version of MacKeeper (paid or
free demo), it will have to be removed
manually; MacKeeper's "uninstaller"
doesn't, and trashing MacKeeper won't
remove it, either.
There are countless other browser
extensions, bogus utility apps, adware and
malware on the internet hoping to get into
your Mac; see Security and Protection page
for info on how to avoid junk and protect
your Mac.
Insufficient memory (RAM)
In ballpark numbers, 2GB RAM will
be consumed by your OS alone. If you only
have 2GB of installed RAM, everything will
be slow as System is forced to compensate.
RAM is working space, and if the OS is
taking it all, there won't be any left for
other apps to use. Freezes/hangs may result
from running out of memory or having too
many apps running simultaneously. (Polite
apps might warn you before they run out of
memory, but don't count on it.)
Amount of RAM required depends on what you
use your computer for, and some apps require
much more RAM than others. Quit apps you're
not using. A simple shutdown and restart
might help, too, if your machine sleeps when
not in use and seldom gets shutdown.
Other
possible causes related to slow,
unresponsive Macs include failing or full
drives, corrupt (damaged) or missing System
segments, wacky apps, optical drives or
peripherals gone wild, and a whole slew of
other things. A damaged input device can
mimic a freeze, too. Bring it in if
necessary and we'll figure out what's
slowing things down.
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Is mail down or is all internet
offline?
Either way, you might find a
solution below.
Mail.app has a "Connection Doctor" function
that might offer a clue as to what has gone
wrong if you are
suddenly unable to send and/or receive
email. Try it. But
before assuming your computer is to blame,
eliminate a few other likely suspects.
POP/IMAP = incoming
mail settings, SMTP = outgoing mail
settings.
If Mail keeps asking
for your password, and you
haven't changed anything, the
problem might be on the server end. Some
ISPs post network status on their web sites,
but most avoid mentioning down time. If
server is down, you will probably receive an
erroneous message that your user name or
password is incorrect until service is
restored.
Write down your email settings if you
haven't already (user name, password,
POP/IMAP settings, port numbers, SSL yes/no
and all SMTP settings). If you change
anything, these will have to be changed back
to the working set.
Check hardware, cables and
devices
First,
reset
modem and router: Unplug power to each
device for a few seconds, then plug them
back in and watch lights as they restart.
Those lights indicate signal and status, so
if they all eventually light up correctly
they have reset and should be operational. A
modem failure stops all internet ops, not
just mail. A failed router can be bypassed
by connecting computer directly to the modem
with an ethernet cable, then testing
mail/internet.
Service providers also make periodic changes
that might mess things up, like the switch
from POP to IMAP protocols, a new web mail
program, spam filter or security feature. If
you've been ignoring messages from your ISP
regarding a pending change, now might be a
good time to dig one out of the trash and
read it.
Check System Preferences >
Network, and Mail.app prefs
A helpful Apple Mail.app support
page may be found here: Mail.
It's important to make the distinction
between ISPs and ESPs:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) = Comcast,
ATT, Cox, Hughes, Wildblue, etcetera; these
are cable, phone, satellite and microwave
companies.
Email Service Providers (ESPs) = Yahoo,
Google, Hotmail, et al.
If you can't get online at all, it might be
your ISP. If you can't get mail, it might be
either. Try web mail: Launch a browser
(Safari), go to ESP's server and login to
your mail. That might narrow things down.
If you're on a wireless network (AirPort/WiFi), your AP menu and/or Network pane
in System Preferences should show name and
status of your selected network. If it shows
as connected, your Mac and router are
communicating and the problem is somewhere
between router, modem and ISP.
If you use a laptop Mac, take it out on the
town and try connecting to a different
network at a restaurant or friend's house.
If it works on another network but not at
home, problem is not on your computer.
Modems
sometimes fail, as do routers, and most have
lights indicating status. A damaged modem
may report any number of odd (sometimes
misleading) errors, it may endlessly try to
connect or disconnect, its power supply may
have failed, or your network prefs pane may
insist that there is no device connected.
If none of this works, then either your ISP
is temporarily offline - there might be a
phone number on your bill to get a status
report - or something more serious has
changed that requires further evaluation.
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Make sure all connections are
intact and power is on.
Sometimes it helps to power-up
printers and peripherals _before_ starting
up your computer. Check printer's ink tanks
or cartridge. Look for any physical damage
to the printer/scanner and its cables and
ports. Make sure everything is properly
connected. Unplug/replug cables.
Consult your
printer/scanner manual and try running
printer's self-test to see if the printer
itself is malfunctioning. This may be done
with computer unplugged from printer. (Don't
think scanners have a self-test.)
Check settings and
output
Open
System Preferences -> Printers and
Scanners. Make sure
your printer and/or scanner appears there
and is selected. If not, its driver has gone
missing or was never installed. Go online to
manufacturer's web site, find the support
page, and look for the driver appropriate to
your printer or scanner model and your OS
version. Download and install.
If
printer is producing distorted output (too
small, too large, sideways, missing fonts or
styles), check and adjust Page Layout or
Page Setup options in the app's File menu.
If output appears as a page of gibberish, or
machine spews out blank pages along with the
desired job, try printing something from a
different application. Launch TextEdit, type
something, and see if that prints properly.
If so, the problem is app-specific and Print
options need to be adjusted.
Check driver and
source
If you've recently upgraded your
OS, you may need to download and install a
new driver. (Same may be true of scanners.)
Go online to
manufacturer's web site, find their support
page, and look for the driver appropriate to
your printer/scanner model and your OS
version.
If you are trying to
print a page from some web site, know that
web pages are not necessarily designed for
printing and output might be spread over
multiple pages or distorted in ways you
wouldn't expect. There are workarounds for
this - but don't blame your printer. Try
printing a screen shot of the page.
Check ink tanks
or cartridge
We've seen aftermarket ink tank
"refills" leak and damage printer's
interior. If yours is an inkjet printer
using third-party cartridges, you might want
to remove the tanks and inspect these where
they connect to printer.
It may be that your printer is simply worn
out. If it's very old and on its last legs,
don't waste any time trying to fix it - new
printers are pretty cheap these days -
probably cheaper than trying to make
repairs.
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Check and fine-tune your System
Adjustments in System Preferences
will frequently solve minor "problems" and
may present options you were unaware of.
Some commands show or hide controls, others
produce shortcuts to apps and folders, and
some turn various features on/off or change
appearance of windows.

Clockwise from top: Disk
Utility, Finder Prefs, System Prefs, and
Get Info window
Disk Utility
Disk Utility (in Applications
-> Utilities folder) is the only
troubleshooting and maintenance app you
need. Launch Disk Utility, click the
First Aid tab and click Verify Disk at
the first hint of trouble - or, just to
make sure all is well.
Select drive identifier (in blue at top
of left column in illustration above)
and click Verify Drive button to check
drive's format; this will be quick.
Select the indented drive name below
identifier ("nCity1TB" in illustration)
and click Verify
Drive button again to check drive's
directory. This operation will take a
few minutes, so be patient and wait
until process is finished; best to quit
all other apps and avoid interrupting
Disk Utility.
If any format or
directory problem is present, Disk
Utility will let you know and tell you
how to fix it. If
your DU version has a Repair Disk
Permissions button, click that, too.
Again, be patience, as this can take 5
minutes or more if it hasn't been done
in awhile. (Newer OS versions have
automated the permissions repair
process, so there is no button.)
Show items in Finder's sidebar
Open Finder's Preferences
(under Finder menu) and you will see
four tabs as illustrated above: General,
Labels, Sidebar and Advanced. General
tab allows you to show/hide drive icons
on your desktop, among other things. The
Sidebar tab will show important folders
in every Finder window sidebar; these
should all be checked (on) by default
IMHO, but they aren't, so have at it.
Experiment with settings under Labels
and Advanced, too, if you like. Remember
where these settings are in case you
want to change Finder pref settings
again later.
Review System Preference
settings
Your System Preferences
control the appearance and operation of
your machine's Operating System across
all apps. System Prefs are available
from the Apple menu or from its icon in
the Dock.
User accounts, date/time
settings, desktop color/image and screen
saver options, Dock settings, network
settings (email and internet), printer,
keyboard and mouse, startup disk and a
host of other controls are located in
System Prefs. Each of these controls can
be changed and customized to suite each
user; settings are specific to each user
account.
While we're on the subject...
Many people think clicking a close
button in a window's top-left corner ( ) is the same as quitting
the application. It isn't. It merely
closes the window (in most cases),
leaving the application open, active and
running. Why is this important? Because
quitting unused applications frees up
precious RAM. Instead of clicking the
close box when finished with an
application, choose Quit from the File
menu, or type Command+Q.
Get info
Any and all files and icons
located anywhere in the Finder have
metadata attached describing that
file's kind, size, location, dates
created and last modified, all sorts
of helpful information and options.
Handy when trying to identify a file
or sorting thru duplicates to see
which is newer or bigger. Get Info can
answer most questions you may have
about a mystery file, including what
apps will open it and which app it was
created in.
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Run Disk Utility periodically
Inside
Applications
-> Utilities folder is the Disk Utility
application. Running Disk Utility to verify
your hard drive and repair permissions can
fix many minor errors before they become
bigger issues.
PRAM Battery (aka "backup" or "clock"
battery)
If
your desktop Mac is over 10-years-old, its
internal battery may be getting weak.
Symptoms on an iMac, Mini or tower include
date/time error on startup, preference
settings that may revert to defaults, and
possible startup issues (extremely rare).
Very old Mac desktops used a 3.6v,
half-AA-size lithium battery with a life of
5 to 7 years, but all Macs with Intel CPUs
have a 3v CR2032 button battery that seems
to last forever.
Replacing a battery is easy for tower
machines (Mac Pros), just make sure you pay
attention to polarity. MacMinis are a bit
more involved, requires some careful
disassembly, and may be beyond a typical
do-it-yourself job.
iMacs require major disassembly, expertise
and special tools to access the battery. The
newer the machine, the more difficult
service is. However, the need to replace a
PRAM battery is all but non-existent and
failures are very, very rare.
Notebook Macs don't have PRAM batteries as
such; they rely on machine's main battery to
maintain settings (incl. date/time). Older
laptops had a capacitor instead of a PRAM
battery (so that main battery can be removed
and replaced without losing settings), but
new MacBooks don't even have capacitors
since main battery is difficult or
impossible to remove. Newer Retina-display
and later MacBooks all have batteries
secured by adhesive. Entire top case,
including keyboard, trackpad, and battery is
replaced as a unit.
Fan noise and/or excessive heat
Desktop
or laptop, all computers have fans in them
these days to help cool processors typically
running at 140-150ºF. They all collect dust
over time.
This
photo shows where fan sits in a MacBook Pro
and the dust it left behind. Fan's exhaust
vent is almost completely blocked with a
buildup of lint. Those little fins carry
heat from machine's heatsink to the fan, but
they also catch fuzz from blankets, pets and
clothing that pass by. Whenever any machine
gets serviced here at the shop - desktop,
tower or laptop - we thoroughly clean fans,
vents and interior because they all get
dusty over time. A good cleaning can add
years to a machine's life. In this case, the
fan itself began to make noise and had to be
replaced. They sometimes get so clogged and
dirty a fan may stop spinning altogether.
All Macs have sensors within them to protect
machine from overheating. You may get a
warning - or not - but machine will put
itself to sleep if it senses an overtemp
condition, and/or shut itself off.
In normal operation, fans go on immediately
at startup and ramp-up as needed during
normal use. They're usually so quiet you
won't hear them, but when they go full-tilt
they can sound like a drone. If your Mac is
making noise, getting abnormally hot or fans
are running at high-speed all the time, it
may be due for a cleaning.
Clear out browser cruft
Older
versions
of Safari had a simple and convenient menu
item that could empty Safari's cache
(right), or clear out everything all at once
- the Reset Safari command. Reset clears
cookies, history, icons, auto-fill text, and
all the other junk (except bookmarks),
setting Safari back to pristine condition.
Sadly, this command has been removed from
later versions of Safari. You now have to
wade thru individual panes in Safari Prefs
to get rid of cookies, history, extensions
and junk that collects - collectively known
as cruft. Clean out the cruft periodically
to keep Safari running smoothly.
Firefox
and other browsers also allow you to clear
cache, cookies, extensions and junk. These
commands are typically found somewhere in
browser preferences or under Tools menu.
Clean out old emails
We've
seen mail apps so stuffed with old email -
including unemptied trash and spam - that
messages number in the tens of thousands.
(Current record is almost 80,000.) Nobody
has time to sort thru all that. Clear out
that inbox, delete all that spam, and empty the trash. Try to empty your inbox when you
retrieve email by dealing with incoming
messages as they arrive. Mail Preferences
has settings that will automatically empty
trash, spam and sent messages that are older
than a day, a week or a month, as you
prefer. Or, you can manually delete
messages. Take the time to clean up and
organize your email as you see fit - it will
streamline use and make things easier to
find.
Archive old email
you wish to keep
If
you like, you can collect and export old
emails from Mail to a TextEdit rich text
file, which includes all photos, graphics
and live links. Here's how:
First, select the messages you wish to save;
the idea is to get them all into a single group,
so you might want to create a Mail folder to
contain them, then drag messages into that
folder.
Arrange those messages by date, by name, subject or
whatever order you want to keep them in;
once exported, they will be end-to-end in
one long file that can't be rearranged
later.
Select all messages to
archive by using
Select All in Edit menu, typing Command+A,
or by clicking the first one, scrolling down
to the last one, then Shift-clicking the
last message.
With messages selected, choose "Save As..."
in Mail's File menu. From the resulting
dialog box (above) give the file a name,
select a destination, and be sure to save in
Rich Text Format, check the "Include
Attachments" box to preserve images, links
and attachments - all inline, with your
messages - then click Save.
Five easy reasons
to clean up those files
- Your primary hard drive -
or boot volume, if you prefer - requires a
minimum 10-15% free space to run
efficiently. Deleting unused/unwanted
files frees up valuable space. A crowded,
near-full hard drive can be sluggish, and
a full drive may eventually refuse to
startup.
- Searching thru organized
files is easy. When you save a file, pay
close attention to where it is going, and
be sure to send it into the proper folder
where it belongs. Whatever scheme you use
to sort and organize things is fine, as
long as it works for you. The Operating
System creates a Home Folder for each
user, along with root-level folders for
Applications, Documents, Music, Pictures,
Movies and the like - a good place to
start.
- A neat, well-organized
drive makes for a neat, well-organized
backup. Get all that junk off your desktop
or you may be seeing double when you mount
your backup drive. Empty trash (including
email and browser cruft), and run Disk
Utility's First Aid now and then.
- Have a backup plan in
place (see Backup Schemes page).
- A nicely organized drive
lends itself well to customization. A nice
desktop photo and screen saver, custom
window colors and fonts..... Since you'll
be creating special folders to hold
special files, why not create custom
folder icons while you're at it? Google
"custom OSX icons" for ideas and custom
icons if you like.
- If a drive fails - Heaven
forbid - a tech will have a much better
chance of recovering your data if files
are well organized and properly stored. If
recovery options disintegrate to
select/target files - photos, for example
- there won't be time to search drive for
loose pics, but there might be a shot at
recovering the pictures folder in its
known location.
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Startup
problems.
Startup issues are best handled by
exploring easy solutions before moving on to more
complicated ones. Start with status of the
boot volume. If it's a notebook, has it been
dropped or damaged? Will it boot from its
Recovery partition? If so, does the main
volume mount?
Reading Symptoms:
Simple as it may sound, failure on
startup arrives in a variety of ways with a
variety of symptoms (and clues). Try to
answer these questions:
- Did you hear the normal
startup sound? No sound (audio turned down
or off)? A different sound, a long tone or
series of beeps?
- Does the power button
light up? Does it stay on, go off or flash
once? Is it pulsing? Does any sound at all
come from the CPU (fans, drives spinning,
other noises)?
- Does an icon appear
onscreen? If so, what does it look like?
If machine hangs, what's on the screen? Is
the screen black, blue, or gray? What is
the cursor doing? Do
you get a message saying that you need to
restart? Or does it get stuck in a
startup/shutdown loop all by itself?
- How far does startup get?
Nowhere (black screen), to the Apple logo,
to a blank gray, white or blue screen, to
the desktop? What's on the desktop, what's
in the menu bar? Anything launching on
startup/login?
- Is screen image distorted,
striped, broken?
If
you've checked all the usual suspects and
machine still refuses to boot, try starting
up from your Recovery partition (hold
Command+R on startup) and see if you can run
Disk Utility from Recovery. If so, try to
make repairs.
Set Startup Disk in System Preferences
If your startup volume is not
specified in System Preferences, your Mac
may take longer to startup as it searches
all connected volumes. Check your Startup
Disk setting and make sure the proper volume
is selected.
Select Startup disk in System
Preferences
Pay special attention to the Operating
System
Even if Disk Utility passes all
tests, various hardware tests pass, and all
signs come up OK, that doesn't mean your
Operating System is intact. A damaged OS can
certainly prevent normal startup, but it
might not produce any errors during
diagnostics.
If your drive contains critical data, unique
photos, or important files representing
years of work, you do not want to risk
losing it. Before doing anything drastic
(like erasing/reformatting your drive,
overwriting your OS with a new one, or any
number of other ways to make matters worse),
call for an appointment and bring it. If we
can't recover your data, we will know fairly
quickly - and we can recommend a recovery
service that can.
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The dreaded
Kernel Panic (KP)
With instructions to restart in
four languages, the old Kernel Panic would
appear with a gray curtain descending over
the screen and a black box with white text
that didn't give you any choice. If it
appeared again after a restart, it usually
meant something serious had gone wrong.
Newer OS versions don't even present the KP
message; instead, machine just automatically
restarts itself. If restart solves the
problem, great. If not, machine will be
stuck in a startup/shutdown loop until
someone holds down power button for 6+
seconds to stop it.
Before putting yourself (and your
Mac) thru the trials listed below, you might
save yourself the trouble and risk of making
things worse by bringing the machine to our
shop. Having said that, presented below -
for information purposes only - are a few
basic steps toward diagnosing possible
causes of a Kernel Panic. What follows is a
brief test using the Recovery partition that
should have been installed to your drive
with the Operating System (versions 10.7
on). If your OS is older than that, it's
probably time to replace the machine.
First, shut off
computer and disconnect all attached
devices. Then startup machine and see the KP
has gone away. Yes = suspect external
device, no = internal problem. Normal
troubleshooting routines start by checking
simple things first in search of a quick
fix, but troubleshooting Kernel Panics is a
little different. By eliminating connected
hardware components, we are eliminating them
as possible causes. They can be reconnected,
one at a time, and tested individually if KP
was solved without them.
IMPORTANT:
Do not attempt to make any sort of repairs
or startup from any software older than your current
Operating System. Newer versions might be
okay, but anything older than your current
OS is certain to fail (if you're lucky) or
cause further damage (if you're not).
KPs in general
These can be indicative of both
hardware and software problems, making them difficult to troubleshoot.
Possible causes range from defective or
failed memory (RAM) to damaged ports,
connectors and peripherals. Failing or
corrupt drives, failed or damaged video
cards, everything from a damaged logic board
to a corrupt font. Older OS versions
produced a gray screen with black dialog box
as illustrated here.
If hardware is not the cause,
other suspects include corrupt or damaged
Operating System, firmware issues, device
drivers, even corrupt fonts and incompatible
apps. The list goes on and on.....
KP while running, versus KP on startup
The timing of a KP's appearance
can be a significant clue as to its cause.
If KPs appear during the course of
operation, it might be connected to use of a
particular application, a specific OS
component, or a device driver. If so,
uninstalling and/or reinstalling (or
updating) the suspect software might return
your machine to normal. If you're not sure
about deleting things, don't. Just make a
note of file's name and location.
If a KP appears on startup - on
each and every startup - the problem is
probably more serious. It might still be a
software issue of some nature, but more
often than not it will turn out to be
hardware related.
Recent changes might suggest cause
With so many potential causes, it
might be helpful to recall events
immediately preceding the appearance of a
Kernel Panic. Recent changes or
hardware/software installs may have been the
cause; KPs might not appear until your next
startup, so go back to the last change that
was made.
Run Apple Hardware Test
Try booting from Apple Hardware
Test (AHT) by holding down the "D" key at
startup, or by using Startup Manager; select
AHT and continue startup. With some OS
versions, there is no AHT, so don't be
surprised if "D" key is ignored.
Run AHT's Quick Test if possible. If the
Quick Test turns up nothing, try the
Extended Test. If no error is produced, you
might try letting it loop a few times. AHT
may uncover hardware issues, but it does not
test software.
If all
tests pass without error, and all hardware
is properly identified, that - sadly -
does not mean everything is A-OK. We've
had machines refuse to boot from anything
except
AHT - and pass all AHT tests anyway.
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