Switched over to Mac and having MAJOR problems with Powerbook G4

Question

Hello,
I'n the interest of not having to post many threads and to save bandwidth I will post my problems on one single thread so that you can address each issue.
1) The adapter cord that plugs in to my Powerbook usually has a bright "yellow" light on the endge of the cord when plugged in. Recently the color changed to bright "orange" should I be concerned and is this a sign of something bad to come?
2) When I press the power button "sometimes" the screen goes grey. I press the button, hear the chime, screen goes grey with a world logo that keeps flashing at limbo preventing me from getting in to the computer system. Why is this happening and how do I correct it?
3) Select the Apple Icon on the top and go to Mac OSx software, IE Explorer loads and then FREEZES evertything on the system. It's as though it's crashing from the onset.
4) At any given time while I'm searching through files or surfing the net a ridiculous littl ball appears in the shape of a rainbow that essentially locks my ENTIRE SYSTEM. I cannot click on any Icon or do much of anything. Forced to sit and helplessly look at this stupid object with no directive as to what to do. I can't even shut down my system in safe mode because it won't let me access the Apple Icon on the top menu. At last resort I have to HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON for 10 seconds just to shut it down.
5) How can you retrieve files deleted by accident or do a system restore like you can in Windows? No disks came with my computer so I'm hoping that there is a button to click that can reverse actions and bring back system to an earlier time. I'm sure that Apple must have thought about this as people are going to make many mistakes and will need immediate and non complex recourse in restoring files and the system in general. I changed Admin privilidges to myself and deleted the former Admin of my system, thinking that it would only delete the "name" but instead I suspect that the system deleted 5GB of files that the former Admin installed? Not sure. I have nothing in my trash can and the deleted files under former Admin are in the form of an "image" on my hard disk. I tried to open the deleted file by clicking on the Icon and it's telling me "DISK IMAGE FAILED TO MOUNT no mountable file system. This is very frustrating as I need to see what files have been deleted and restore those that I need. I have OFFICE MAC X suite that now I can't locate and yesterday I downloaded the Opera browser and turned on the Mac this morning only to find that it to is gone.
Now granted Windows is a headache in itself but I never imagined that I would be going through all this madness with a Mac. Everyone spoke so highly of them and I'm finding out different from first hand experience. Hopefully, you can help me resolve the above issues as I'm feeling very frustrated with this computer.

Answer 1

Hi again,
You definitely need to purchase some replacement disks for your computer. Just from hard shutdowns via the powerbutton can do system file damage and you need to Repair Dick using the install disk.
From your reply I would suggest obtaining a good Mac OSX users book such a one of the David Pogue books etc. You can find any number of them online for your OS. The learning of the Mac OS can be somewhat confusing for a switcher from PC and Microsoft OS's. I was somewhat lucky in that when I first started using computers I learned on a Mac so I never had any relearning curve to deal with. I think you will find if you stick with your Mac and OSX that you will learn to love it compared to PC's.
I can assure you that Apple did not drop the ball when it came to the PowerBooks as evident by it being one of the most succesful of all Mac notebook computers.....there are many many happy users still of PowerBooks. There is a specific forum here in Discussions for Powerbook computers that may help you with certain issues.
re: "I went ahead and downloaded my favorite browser Opera for the second time, since it disappeared yesterday after I restarted my machine. Hopefully, I will find it on the Doc the next time I start my system."
Once you download an app to your Mac you will need to place it in your HD/Applications folder. From there you can simply drag it's alias to the Dock or click open the app and then when the icon appears in the Dock click on its icon in the Dock once and hold and from its pop up contextual menu select "Keep In Dock". Applications do not automatically stay in the Dock.
I am not sure I follow your description of the problem of the lost 5GB of files that were on some sort of Disk Image and how you are trying to retrieve them for me to be able to help. If you have deleted the files they are gone on your computer and you will need to use a third party software to recover them (DataRescue is one such utility but these are expensive softwares and can have varying results with file recovery). If you know the name of any of the missing files you can do a search using the finders search field (double click on your HD icon and then use its search field upper right) to make sure that the files are indeed not on your HD anymore.
I also wanted to suggest when using the command +option + escape key combination to force quit a process sometimes may take a couple or a few tries to get it to work sometimes (at least that has been my experience). Did you read through Dr. Smoke's FAQ concerning the SBBOD?
In the end you will need to learn common system maintenance for your OS to function properly such as Repairing Permissions via Disk Utility and running the cron maintenance (daily, weekly and monthly) tasks which can be done manually or by downloading a third party freeware utility such as MacJanitor to help do this easily. One of the biggest reasons to have your install disks is this is how you will need to repair the disk for system corruption among other problems. This can only be done with OS 10.3.9 by using the install disk and booting to its DiskUtility.
I hope these tips help a little more and do post back with further questions,
littleshoulders