HELP! I think I killed my Mac!

I have a Mirrored door, 1 ghz dual, G4 that I bought new in 2002. I recently needed to do some upgrades and I think I exceeded it's capacity and fried it!
I recently upgraded (a month ago) to 2 ghz of ram, added a 20" LCD monitor, and added a 4th internal drive 2 nights ago (500 ghz ATA, joining my 2 old 80 gig drives and a 20 gig drive). The new HD was added in desperation when my external 230 gig drive went down with all my UNbacked up files on it. I was able to getthe drive working again and desperate to get everything on all my drives backed up. Finished backing everything up to the 500 yesterday morning and everything seemed fine... then last night I was reading email and suddenly my screen went blue and wouldn't come back. I restarted and at first the power wouldn't even come on... or the button lighted up and then died out before the start up tone. I thought maybe the power supply couldn't handle the load, so after letting it cool down for a long time, I unhooked 2 of the internal drives... leaving my startup and 500 gig running. This time the power came on, start up sound played and the button stayed light (and I could hear fans), but the monitor stayed black. I turned the monitor on and off and got the little "analog / digital" box in the upper left corner for a couple minutes and it seemed like the screen lightened a tiny but, but then it gave up and went black again.
Soooo... is my mac dead... the motherboard fried... or could it just be my graphics card? How can I tell?
I'm in the middle of several huge deadlines and need to resolve this NOW... if it can't be fixed today I need to buy a new Mac immediately, get everything installed and get the deadlines done by Monday even if I work all day and night through the weekend, so I'd really appreciate advice ASAP.
I have every reason to believe my data is intact... but if I get a new Mac, is there anyway to move my internal drive to the new Mac so I don't have to reinstall all of my software or is that just an exquisite form of suicide?
If I get a Mac Pro (w/intel processor) will my regular Mac OSX software still work ok? Or Should I go for a G5 machine for convenience?
HELP!
G4 dual 1Ghz, Mirrored Door Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Unfortunately this goes to prove why backups should be external, not internal. Neither G5 nor Intel Macs support ATA/IDE drives directly. They use the new SATA technology. However, a Firewire/IDE hard drive case will let you use the old hard drives on a new Mac. The G5 Mac has better support for Mac OS 9 applications, though not as good as a non-Firewire 800 Mirror Dual G4 (the Firewire 800 Dual G4 only could use Classic and couldn't boot Mac OS 9), and the Intel Macs have no support for Mac OS 9 at all. In addition if your applications have no Universal equivalent they may run slower on an Intel Mac than a G5 as my FAQ explains:
http://www.macmaps.com/macosxnative.html#INTEL
Macmaps will be down briefly today for an upgrade.
If once you connect the old hard drives you aren't able to see them on the new machine, you may want to use some of the tools on my backup FAQ:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
and directory FAQ:
http://www.macmaps.com/directoryfaq.html
In the worst case scenario you may be forced to use a data recovery firm.
Good luck in retrieving your data!

Similar Messages

I think I killed my Mac, trying to install XP - Help, please!

I am at a loss. I cannot boot my computer in OSX, but when I try to boot it will the install disk....it comes to the first screen for what language, but then says OSX cannot be installed on this computer.
Perhaps it is still on the computer and that is why...but I cannot find it, though I am not that savy with this stuff. I tried holding down the option key and it just lists a windows start up disk...but that is not working as it just recycles trying to install windows xp.
oh my, I am sick.
If anyone can help, please let me know!!

It is common when installing Windows for the install disk to have to reboot the machine to proceed to the next step. People familiar with Windows installation are not thrown by this - but a person new to the task might be confused.
In Boot Camp this can throw you off because it does not prompt you as to your job in the procedure.
If you don't do anything your Mac will boot back to OSX and Windows will remain un-finished. Here it is: if you are installing Windows and the machine closes down and re-boots, always hold down the 'option' key (or if you like - the 'c' key) so you can avoid an automatic boot to OSX - choose the 2nd hard drive icon. Windows always wants to boot back to Windows - to finish the job.
If you want to erase your Boot Camp error - just boot to OSX, open Boot Camp Assistant (found in "Utilities" which is found in the Applications folder) and choose to create one partition. Your OSX install will not be hurt by this.
If you want to wipe your computer completely (as if factory new) in order to install OSX from scratch then first install your OSX DVD and boot (holding down the option key or else the c key - then select the disk icon) - after language selection wait for the tool bar at the top to appear, select utilities > disk utility and click the hard drive (listed at the top of the list) and then click 'partition'. Then under 'volume scheme' select 'current' and create a 3 or 4 partition (takes a minute) and then undo this and create a one partition. This should blank-out the computer hard drive completely for you to start fresh - all will be erased.
If your Mac will not boot properly and you happen to have materials on your machine that you MUST save or recover, then you will need different help than I describe here.
Message was edited by: NA Smith

I think I killed my Mac!

Ok, first you need to know that I am “Not” a Mac guy, (I want to be though) and my Boss gave me a G4 Imac PowerPC to take home and learn on. Here at the office he gave me a G5 with 10.4.11 on it. Anyway to make a long story short, I took the little Imac home and was playing around with it and I noticed that even though I had an admin account on the computer I did not have ownership. So I decided to just reinstall the computer and have a clean start. Now you have to understand that I have been an IT engineer for 17 years and never really had much to do with Mac’s other than networking them into the Windows environment. So there I was thinking “well how hard could this be” and I attempted to wipe the drive using the disk sets Matt (my boss) gave me. He had given me 2 sets one box has a big blue X on it and reads version 10.0 the other box has another big X on it but the X has a Leopard skin on it and reads 10.2.3. So I put the blue X disk in thinking (from what I read) that you should use the original disk to wipe the computer. We it would not boot to the disk (yes I held the C key) I tried several times with both disk sets to get it to boot. Finally I decided that this was stupid and I was just wasting time, so I took the computer apart and pulled the drive out and connected to my big PC and formatted the drive. I was thinking that the Mac disk would see a clean drive and boot right into the OS so I could reinstall. This was not the case, in fact it did nothing but flash a little folder and a question mark. By now I am sure you all are laughing pretty hard but please try to understand that I am only now learning how a Mac works and believe me when I say they are very different from PC’s. Can someone please tell me how to fix this?
Thanks for your time, I am really impressed how well Mac’s work and wish I had started using them years ago. (but that’s another story)
Have a great day,
Mike,
Message was edited by: Eagle77

Wow, you really have to let go of some of those IT engineer habits. You don't have to rip the disk out to get a new OS on it. But I know the feeling when you're trying to get something done and things don't work as expected, and you're trying to use you acquired PC skills on the Mac.
The question mark simply means that the Mac can't find a bootable partition, so it's no indication that you killed it! Mac and PC use different partitioning schemes, so repartitioning on the PC (which I assume you did to be able to format the disk) will not work.
As an alternative to the c key, try d (for dvd), or alt (which brings up the boot menu, takes some time though). Also, you have to press that key as soon as you hear the chime, and keep it pressed until you see a reaction. The Mac won't start beeping at you for doing that.
Those disks are ancient, btw. The current version is 10.5.2, that's three major OS versions more recent. To get started, those should work, but I wouldn't try to do any development on such an old system.

Please Help--10.4.6 is killing my Mac Mini

Please help. I am new to Mac.
I have a Mac Mini G4. I installed through Software Update 10.4.6. Partway through through the installation process, the system said there was an error, that the package was moved to the trash and that I should try re-installing. So, I did. And the same thing happened again. I tried re-booting the computer. In "About This Mac" it says that I have 10.4.6. But now, everything is messed up. I can't mount any disk images on the desktop (I checked, and .dmg files are associated with the right application). I can't even install any software. Someone had posted an ftp that had 10.4.6 as a .sit file rather than a .dmg. However, when I downloaded it and tried to run the installation package, partway through, it stopped saying, "There were errors during installation. Please try installing again later." I tried to "Archive and Install" from the Tiger DVD (10.4.0), and, early on in the installation, it gave me the same "error" message. I tried to repair disk permission (I hadn't done than before downloading the update), but it just hangs there (how long is it supposed to take anyway). Moreover, Mail won't launch and while Safari launches, it crashes. Firefox works. Please, please help me. I don't understand what's going on.
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Thank God, everything is OK, again.
I posted my question on two forums, “Using Mac OS X Tiger” and “Installation & Setup” because I wasn’t sure which one to go to, and received useful information from everyone involved.
I want to profusely thank everyone who helped, not least Dr. Smoke and his extremely useful Web site: www.thexlab.com
Here’s what I did:
First, I tried to Repair Disk from the Tiger install DVD. The repair failed, gave me the following error:
“Invalid volume free block count
should be 15966423 instead of 15966422
Error: underlying task reported failure on exist
1HFS Volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on Volume 1
Could not be repaired”
In looking through Dr. Smoke’s site, I saw that it said that third party applications like Disk Warrior might be able to help. It reminded me that my friend made me get that program when he sold me his Mini (sorry I didn’t mention it earlier). I booted from the Disk Warrior CD and told it to repair the disk. And guess what: it actually worked!
While I still had the same problems: could not mount disk images, etc. I was at least able to do an Archive Install of 10.4 (I followed all the specific instructions as outlined). And that worked, too. Now, everything is working again!
I updated to 10.4.5 (I figured that was the last one working OK, so go with what works. I am sure 10.4.6 is fine, but as the xlab Web site notes, “Before installing software updates, you should decide if "now" is the right time.” And, frankly, after what I have been through, “now” is certainly not the right time.
One last question: all the applications seem to be working just fine. How do I delete the “Previous Systems” folder? Where is it located? Is the procedure the same as the one outlined in this document, “Mac OS X 10.2: How to Delete a Previous Systems Folder” (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25461) or is it different for 10.4?
Again, thank you so very, very much for your help. I really appreciated it.
Best,
Amir
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Never owned a Mac, thinking of buying a Mac Pro, could use some advice...

Hey guys,
I know this was a lot to read, but I sincerely hope someone will take the time to answer my questions:
As the title of my post implies I've never owned a Mac in my life. I've always built my own desktops and usually gone to HP or Dell for my laptops. I'm approaching that time again where my custom-built desktop is looking outdated and I'm getting the upgrade itch. I'm looking at all the parts I need to order to build a computer and I can't help but think I'm older now with a full-time job and a one year old daughter in the house. Do I really want to go through the hassle of building a desktop from scratch again? Not really. So I started evaluating things a bit. As I get older I’m really just getting sick and tired of Microsoft’s antics (Vista was a huge disappointment for me) so I decided this could be the year for me to take the Mac plunge.
Now I’m an IT guy, so I have a pretty atypical setup at home. I’m currently running both Windows and Linux on all my computers. Rather than dual boot or use virtualization software I have a pretty intricate system in which I use a product called Acronis Trueimage to experiment with operating systems. What I do is perform a a clean install on an operating system, tweak it as needed for security and to use resources on my LAN than back up the customized OS install to a server a an image file. I have pre-built images for XP, Vista, Ubuntu and OpenSuSE that I can roll out to one of my machines in an average of 15 minutes whenever I get the urge to switch operating systems. I also serve all my data off a NAS box, so since data and OS are kept separate on the network I don’t have to worry about erasing something when I swap between Linux and Windows (as loading an image literally destroys the previous OS install).
So you can see I’m pretty highly specialized. I even have things down to the point to where I have custom images for specific purposes. For instance I have one XP image customized for development, one XP image customized for gaming, etc. Naturally if I got the Mac Pro I’d like to have the freedom to create a similar set of custom OS deployment images (Windows, Linux and OSX) for it as well. In researching the Mac Pro I have some concerns my current system might not work if I go that route. Am I correct in assuming that in order to run an alternative operating system on a Mac I’ll have to run boot camp or something like it? Or upon unboxing my Mac and tweaking Leopard will I be able to use disk imaging software to make a backup image of my preinstalled Leopard hard drive and then do a clean install of Windows XP or Ubuntu and set it up to function like a PC? I guess I’m asking if it’s possible (now that Macs are Intel-based) to run Windows or Linux exclusively on the Mac hardware?
Also I have some concerns about the proprietary nature of the Mac platform. From what I can gather in my research it seems the hardware is pretty locked in. One area that has me really concerned is gaming. I pretty much use Ubuntu exclusively at home for productivity and web surfing. However I still like to load that XP image every now and then to play some games on the LAN with my buddies. I’m not a fan of virtualizing for gaming because of the obvious performance hit you take, so I’d have to be able to run Windows XP free and clear. Also I checked Nvidia’s site and I see no OSX drivers listed there for their cards. Under the Windows platform they are always releasing driver updates to squeeze more game performance out of your card. What if I want to upgrade my video card? How do drivers work on OSX? Does Apple just integrate drivers for just a few specific video cards into the OS? Will I be stuck only able to pick from a handful of video cards approved by Apple?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer advice!
Message was edited by: ZeusABJ

Hi Zeus
I may be able to answer some of your questions. And sorry in advance if this sounds like yet another of those "religious conversion" stories
I'm a software developer/architect, mostly doing Microsoft .NET/C#/Web Services coding. I'd been a loyal Microsoft guy since I started on the original IBM PC back in the 80's. Like a lot of people (or so it seems) I just got fed up with Microsoft's high-handed and self-important ways. More importantly, the company always seemed to be lagging behind technically. Looking at beta versions of Vista did not bode well for the future - it just seemed awful. When Vista came out it it was the last straw - I just could not get enthusiastic about this bloated, slow, mess of an operating system. I really hated it. Still do. Even with a top-spec machine, Vista didn't run in the snappy, responsive way it I thought it should. Nothing seemed well thought out.. yuck!
Then, by chance, I was staying for a few days with somebody who had a Mac. Now, for years and years I not even considered Macs as remotely serious machines. My only experience of them was in the late 80's when somebody at work had one. He took delight in pushing a floppy disc into the machine so that it would respond "Ah, it's so big!". Great, just a toy. Not for serious programming work. So, encountering Mac OS X Tiger on my friend's iMac was something of a shock. It was so responsive, clean and elegant. When you turned it on it only took about 30 seconds or so for the thing to be ready for use, etc, etc.
Long story short, I bought an iMac, then a newer, bigger, faster iMac, then a MacBook Pro and now I have a Mac Pro. I still have to work with Windows to do my .NET-related day job. But 95% of the time I work on the Mac using various VMWare virtual machines. I can switch between Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP in a few seconds and still be working in a Mac environment. And the performance of running Windows inside VMWare is even better than on my dedicated top-spec Windows laptop! I have a selection of virtual machines to choose from and, because these virtual machines are just files, I can back them up, revert to saved copies, etc. I've tried Bootcamp but it's much less convenient and performance inside the virtual machines is never an issue (although I don't do any gaming). So, you could keep virtual machines on your NAS box or local Mac hard drive.
With regard to graphics drives, etc. I've never had any problems whatever in this respect. For example, when I installed Windows XP on VMWare it automatically recognised all my hardware (including some obscure audio interfaces, USB-based MIDI interfaces, etc.) and made it available. I must admit that when I was new to the Mac I expected to have driver issues, but never have had... So, my guess is that you'll be able to run all your Windows and Linux distros on the Mac without too many problems.
You mention Apple's hardware as being "locked-in". I don't think that's the case. Certainly the consumer Mac models like the iMac can't be upgraded (by you or me) internally, expect for memory. The Mac Pro though is very easy to upgrade - though there may be some limitations with regard graphics cards.
Re your questions about graphics card drivers. Yes, these come with OS X in just the same as as with Windows. Because I've also used the card that comes "with the box" this has not been an issue for me. However, unless you get a Mac Pro you can't swap-in your existing graphics card. And even then I think you may find restrictions. However, other, more knowledgeable Mac users on this forum may have other thoughts.
Overall though, the experience of using the Mac in terms of software is very much the reverse of Windows - the OS is very open and well documented. It really is an IT person's dream machine - so much to fiddle around with (particularly if you know anything about Unix!). Unlike Microsoft who charge a FORTUNE for their development tools, Apple give them to you for free. And very good they are too!
Finally, one bit of advice. If you are considering buying a new Mac, join the Apple Developer Connection scheme as a Select member. It'll cost you around $400 to join but they give you a hardware discount for Apple-store purchased items that will save you a ton of $$$'s - absolutely definitely worth doing.
Hope this helps (and good luck)!
Russ

I am thinking of using a Mac pro for share trading. Can anyone share their experience and suggest specs for 30 -40 monitors etc

Hi
I am thinking of using a Mac Pro for share trading.
I am proposing to start small but want to be able to expand up to 30+ monitors.
It must be super quick.
Any help with hardware would be appreciated.
Software is secondary at this point , but open to advice.
I have an iphone and ipad so feel it will better intergrate usung Apple
regards
David

There is no desktop machine that I know of that will support 30+ monitors as is.
Fill the 3 or 4 PCIe slots of any logic board with three port graphics cards and you have the physical cap without additional hardware.
Software is secondary at this point
No, without software, how can you control more than the monitor limit of the OS?
How can you set up the monitors to display the various programs that you will wish to use simultaneously?
Software is a major consideration.
Matrox (and others) have solutions for additional monitors beyond the physical capabilities of generally offered graphics cards.
The caveat here, however, is support software is typically reserved for Windows and Linux systems.
Matrox has a single 8 display card:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/graphics_cards/m_series/m9188pciex16/
Matrox has solutions specifically targeting the finance market:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/solutions/trading_analyst/
Though the Mac Pro has more than adequate processing power, I think that you will find (through research) that building a solid machine capable of using several multi monitor cards is going to be what you will need to support more than 8-10 monitors with conventionally offered hardware.
Fun stuff:
http://www.digitaltigers.com/zenview.asp

I urgently need to know how I can connect 8 thunderbolt display, I was thinking with the new mac pro will come out, but I wonder if it is possible to connect an iMac to 4GB of graphics card, but suffers from the imac. thanks

I urgently need to know how I can connect 8 thunderbolt display, I was thinking with the new mac pro will come out, but I wonder if it is possible to connect an iMac to 4GB of graphics card, but suffers from the imac. thanks

I tightened all HD screws and it didn't help. With the machine running and side of the case off, I physically stopped both the video card fan and the front case fan with my finger for a couple seconds and the noise continued. I also took all hard drives out one by one and rebooted each time. Again, the noise continued until I took out the Mac HD in Bay 1, rebooted, and I had a very quiet, silent machine. The issue is the hard drive in bay 1 that shipped with the computer, it's without a doubt causing the hum/woosh sound. I still need to know if I can safely swap the Mac HD from bay 1 to bay 4 without any issues to the operating system. I would like to try that to see if it dampens the noise but I also want to make sure this swap won't screw up my machine at all.

Help I think I have Macvx on my computer and I can't get rid of it.

Help,
I think I have Macvx on my iMac late 2012 21.5 running the latest OS.
I am getting heaps of ads in my web browser.
I have seen similar question from other people and responses explaining to find and search for it in your applications menu but I can't find anything that relates to it or that was installed recently.
I have even looking in the library and through spotlight search searching the specific words Macvx and Vidx.
Please help,
Thank you very much.

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems
If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and The Safe Mac » AdMedic.
Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.
An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.
Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.
See these Apple articles:
Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection
OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware
OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware
OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware
About file quarantine in OS X
If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)
From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:
The facts are:
1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.
2. There is no anti-malware that can detect everything targeting the Mac.
3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that
     the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering
     techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.
4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on
    your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a
    protection against malware.
5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware
    from which they purport to protect you.
6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.
7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.
8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something
    you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.
9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.

Thinking about switch to mac

I am in need of a new computer. I am a long time user of pc's. But the company i have been using the customer service has went downhill. And of course everyone knows windows has it's many problems. So I was thinking about giving the mac a try this time. So I thought who better to ask than the people who have had some trouble with their mac. And see if they still recommend it. Little info about me I have a small constuction company. So it will mainly be used for accounting type things. Tracking money, bid, estimates etc. I seen the imac comes with Quicken installed. How does this program work on the mac? I use it now on my pc. And it does pretty much everything i need. I guess my main thing is how is this computer for running a small company? Or is there a different mac that would work better for this? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, you can run a business on a Mac. Quicken is available on Mac as is QuickBooks. Are you running a business using Quicken? In any case, the features are not the same for the Mac versions. It seems many people complain about the lack of abilities in the Mac version of QuickBooks Pro quite often. There is another program called MYOB. Not my cup of tea but some like it. Point is there are small business financial software packages for the Mac. The other programs like Keynote, Pages, Outliner, Mail, Safari, iPhoto all help in running your business as do many dashboard widgets.
Next, the new iMacs have moved onto Intel processors and Universal Binary. Some applications are Universal already and some require Rosetta to run in the Mac OS. Unless you are a professional or at least use the Adobe products on a regular basis you don't really see a slowdown. Separate from this is a downloadable beta program called Boot Camp. This allows you to boot into Windows XP (which you have to purchase and install). Once in XP you can run your Windows apps just like you did on that old PC. So, you could just bring over your PC files (oh wait, do PCs have the ability to migrate like a Mac does?) Anyway...
Then, you need to find which printer it is and determine if it is just a Dell shell over another manufacturers product in which case the driver may very well already be in the Mac OS. Again, if you are running XP then you should be able to use it anyway. If you really want to buy a new printer then look around the online retailers. They often bundle a printer and/or RAM with the purchase of a new iMac.
iMacs: 20" MacTel; 500 & 400 MHz PowerPC G3s Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I am a OS10.7.4 user. yesterday i bought a Lacie external hard disk but error message appear said " You cant open the applicant LaCie setup assistant because PowerPC applicants are no longer support". please help me how to connect my mac with Lacie??

i am a OS10.7.4 user. yesterday i bought a Lacie external hard disk but error message appear said " You cant open the applicant LaCie setup assistant because PowerPC applicants are no longer support". please help me how to connect my mac with Lacie??

You do not need the Setup Assistant; in fact, you do not need any software on an external hard drive. I have two LaCie's; I erased the drive as soon as I plugged it in. You will need to format it anyway because most hard drives come Windows formatted. So, if you only want to use it with the Mac, highlight it in Disk Utility and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format and the GUID Partition scheme under Options. While doing that, it will erase the drive (and get rid of the LaCie software) - once finished, your drive is ready to use for Time Machine or any other backup plans you have for it.

10.4.6 is killing my Mac Mini

Please help. I am new to Mac.
I have a Mac Mini G4. I installed through Software Update 10.4.6. Partway through through the installation process, the system said there was an error, that the package was moved to the trash and that I should try re-installing. So, I did. And the same thing happened again. I tried re-booting the computer. In "About This Mac" it says that I have 10.4.6. But now, everything is messed up. I can't mount any disk images on the desktop (I checked, and .dmg files are associated with the right application). I can't even install any software. Someone had posted an ftp that had 10.4.6 as a .sit file rather than a .dmg. However, when I downloaded it and tried to run the installation package, partway through, it stopped saying, "There were errors during installation. Please try installing again later." I tried to "Archive and Install" from the Tiger DVD (10.4.0), and, early on in the installation, it gave me the same "error" message. I tried to repair disk permission (I hadn't done than before downloading the update), but it just hangs there (how long is it supposed to take anyway). Moreover, Mail won't launch and while Safari launches, it crashes. Firefox works. Please, please help me. I don't understand what's going on.
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Thank God, everything is OK, again.
I posted my question on two forums, “Using Mac OS X Tiger” and “Installation & Setup” because I wasn’t sure which one to go to, and received useful information from everyone involved.
I want to profusely thank everyone who helped, not least Dr. Smoke and his extremely useful Web site: www.thexlab.com
Here’s what I did:
First, I tried to Repair Disk from the Tiger install DVD. The repair failed, gave me the following error:
“Invalid volume free block count
should be 15966423 instead of 15966422
Error: underlying task reported failure on exist
1HFS Volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on Volume 1
Could not be repaired”
In looking through Dr. Smoke’s site, I saw that it said that third party applications like Disk Warrior might be able to help. It reminded me that my friend made me get that program when he sold me his Mini (sorry I didn’t mention it earlier). I booted from the Disk Warrior CD and told it to repair the disk. And guess what: it actually worked!
While I still had the same problems: could not mount disk images, etc. I was at least able to do an Archive Install of 10.4 (I followed all the specific instructions as outlined). And that worked, too. Now, everything is working again!
I updated to 10.4.5 (I figured that was the last one working OK, so go with what works. I am sure 10.4.6 is fine, but as the xlab Web site notes, “Before installing software updates, you should decide if "now" is the right time.” And, frankly, after what I have been through, “now” is certainly not the right time.
One last question: all the applications seem to be working just fine. How do I delete the “Previous Systems” folder? Where is it located? Is the procedure the same as the one outlined in this document, “Mac OS X 10.2: How to Delete a Previous Systems Folder” (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25461) or is it different for 10.4?
Again, thank you so very, very much for your help. I really appreciated it.
Best,
Amir
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Since my G5 died I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, but I have a ViewSonic Monitor (from 2004) and a USB keyboard and mouse - I also have the external drive tha downloaded my files on to. Do you think the monitor, keyboard and mouse will work on it?

Since my G5 died I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, but I have a ViewSonic Monitor (from 2004) and a USB keyboard and mouse - I also have the external drive that I downloaded my files on to. Do you think the monitor, keyboard and mouse will work on it? Would I have to get a hub so I could use the stuff I already have? Is that viewsonic too old to work on it?
What else would I need? Please advise...

Yes for keyboard and mouse.
The monitor will work if it has an HDMI, VGA ir DVI input. If it only has a VGA input you will need this adopter
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/cables/cable_choo ser#selected-step1=MINI-DISPLAY-PORT&selected-step2=VGA&step=3

HELP!! Since upgrading to Mac OS x 10.3.2 my Pro Tools sessions won't open!

Can anyone please help me. I was running Mac OS 9 and Pro Tools 5.1 on my Mac G4. I needed to upgrade to add a new piece of equipment. So I was told to update to Mac OSx 10.3.2 and Pro Tools 6.0. Since doing so, when I try to open my Pro Tools, it opens, but when I try to open a new session, I keep getting a small screen that says I must restart my computer. AFter restarting and repeating the above, I get the same message over and over. I tried updating to Mac OSx 10.3.8 and the problem is still occuring. Can anyone out there give me some advice on what to do next??? Thank you!!!

Hi Susan,
I dont know what the specific issue is but will try to be helpful anyway.
If this were my problem the first thing I would assess (preferably from Digidesign) is - is PT 6.x known to be compatible with Mac OSX 10.3.x ?
Once this hurdle has been cleared, and assuming that the compatibility is there,
then I would want to know if your install/upgrade to 10.3.8 is 'clear'. Meaning, you've run Disk Utility *from the Panther Retail install disk* and DU is showing no errors, either with Permissions or with "Repair Disk". The logic being an app cant be expected to work right on top of an OS that isnt even healthy.
Next, you say PT launches. You seem to imply that either:
a. File/Open/sessionX
or
b. 2x clicking a session
causes some kind of window to appear. Is that a PT related window or OSX type window ?
Does the window occur with either a. or b. above or with only one method or what ?
Can you do a "File / New ..." and not see the window appear ?
Best,
Chris

Please help! We got a used Mac Mini and we don't have the former owner's password, so we can't install anything like flash player. Does anyone know how to get around this?

Please help! We got a used Mac Mini and we don't have the former owner's password, so we can't install anything like flash player. Does anyone know how to get around this? I don't know how to wipe the hard drive, and the support online doesn't seem to work.

As posted previously:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
If installing Leopard the process is similar in some respects. If you wish to begin anew then after selecting the target disk click on the Options button and select the Erase and Install option then click on the OK button. To install over an existing system do the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Mountain lion has killed my mac book pro. After downloading and trying to install, I am stuck in a loop of "not enough room to install on this disk" and not being able to access the old disk's data to open up space.

Mountain lion has killed my mac book pro. After downloading and trying to install, I am stuck in a loop of "not enough room to install on this disk" and not being able to access the old disk's data to open up space.

Nope. It just opened the installer and stayed in the same loop.
It tells me to choose a startup disk but the only option is the HD which it will not use because it says it cannot gather enough information.
Eveything was working fine until the mountain lion failed install.

HELP! I think I killed my Mac!

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