Many, many problems; anyone else?

Question

What in the world is going on with Apple? I don’t even know which forum to put questions in, so many things aren’t working.
I think my system was corrupted months ago by a version of Virex that I could not uninstall because the links on the Apple web page were not functioning. Last week I completed a clean install of 10.4.3. I did not carry over my settings. So i’ve been awhile getting things working again. And then malfunctions started all over...
Machine won't shut down; when that happens, it will not start up automatically at my preset time the next morning. I run Applejack and Disk Warrior, and sure enough, red warning that directory was seriously damaged.
When I eject a flash card from my SanDisk reader, it works once or twice, then next time I get the spinner. No access to anything. Power off is the only possibility. So I run Applejack and Disk Warrior, and I get the red print warning from Disk Warrior. I just ran it three days ago and got red then, too! Directory messed up. In three days??
Safari won’t keep history more than yesterday. First it dropped to three days, and now it's down to one. I’ve done everything advised in the Safari forum. Nothing works.
iSync has removed information from my address book and gone back to a level that hasn’t existed for over a year in some of my entries. iSync forum reveals others have the same problem.
Backup is adding over a gigabyte every day in incremental backups. I’m only adding a few megabytes, maybe only kilobytes in new documents. My 160GB backup hard disk will soon be full, and unlike with Retrospect, there is no way I can see to have Backup start over with a full backup - which is only about 12 GB for the documents I haven’t already preserved on CD.
When I tell Appleworks to save, I get the spinner for a long time before it finally opens a save window. Photoshop takes forever to open a document or save a document. Quicken takes forever to find it’s backup location when I close it. Sometimes on initial open or save dialogs, I have to power off to get my computer back.
I’ve been with Apple since 1982, Macs since 1987. I’ve never had so many problems. Even this web site is fouled up. All my preferences disappeared. When I reply to someone’s post and hit preview, if I go back to edit, a bunch of HTML appears in my reply and info about my computer is displayed again and again unless I notice it and delete it.
So I guess my only question is, who else is experiencing these anomalies? Some of them (like Backup) aren't malfunctions, just poor software. But not shutting down? Freezing on ejecting a flash card? Directory corruption in one or two days? Freezing on open or save? One day of history? iSync destroying information? And all this after a clean install? What could be causing this? My machine only? or others?

Answer 1

Hi Daru, there are a few seperate issues that you point to.
As you are probably aware, Apple Discussions has implemeted new software. Intially there were many issues, all are being addrressed and many have been addressed already. Some of it is also getting used to the software.
Virex is not compatible with OS 10.4
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301525
Some .Mac issues may exist also.
However, the most serious issue is this:
Freezing on ejecting a flash card? Directory corruption in one or two days? Freezing on open or save? One day of history? iSync destroying information? And all this after a clean install? What could be causing this?
This sounds like it could be a problem with your drive possibly bad blocks that cannot be masked out? Did you reformat also. writing zeros? What are the errors you are getting?
Did you run "Apple Hardware Test"?
If CD's came with your computer it is on a CD labeled "Hardware Test" To test with CD, insert the CD and restart holding the "c" key until you see the spinning gear.
If DVD insert DVD then:
1. Turn on or restart the computer.
2. Immediately press and hold the Option key. After a few seconds, the Startup Manger screen appearsThe Startup Manager scans for available volumes.
3. Optional: Clicking the circular arrow rescans for other volumes, including NetBoot Server volumes. You can eject any disc in the drive or open an empty tray-loading drive by holding down the Command (Apple) and Period (.) keys. The Command-Period key combination will also close the drive. After inserting a CD capable of starting up your computer, you could rescan for volumes.
4. Click the startup volume you want to use. "Hardware Test"
If hardware test does not mount or does not run bring the computer to Authorized Apple Repair.
Also, you might try the Surface Scan feature on TTP 4.0.5
Good luck, let us know.
-mj
[email protected]