my computer is toast

[Queen of Poop]

My Mac will not turn on. After a lengthy call to apple help it was determined that I need to take it to their store as the operating system has failed. Not doing that today in the blowing snow. I have logged in here on my blackberry. Its not ideal but will have to do for now.

[Karen]

So it turns on, but does not start up? What kind do you have?

[Moesha]

Pet Talk on a Blackberry is difficult. But I've suffered through the discomforts because being without Pet Talk was worse. :)

[Catty1]

I like Westworld on Centre Street. Really nice people and very helpful.

Did Apple indicate what was wrong with it? How old is your Mac?

[rosethecopycat]

Sorry to hear about your computer Gayle. :(

I hope the Apple place can sort it out.

I have the Mac too, and I know NOTHING about how it runs or how to keep it going.

[Catlady711]

Bummer, I hope you get it fixed soon.

I didn't know Mac's could crash.

[Karen]

I have used Macs since they came into existence. They don't tend to crash like other systems, but every computer is dependent on having a functional hard drive, and an operating system to run. As well, they need to have a power supply, that takes the electricity from the plug and delivers it to the CPU (Central Processing Unit). So those are three major things that can go wrong.

If you ever have any Mac questions, you can PM me, and if I don't know, I'd bet Paul does.

[blue]

Listening to the Kim Komando show a few weeks back, Mac's are more likely to need repaired than their high end PC counterparts. Ill post the stats when I find them. It may have only been the laptops.

[rosethecopycat]

If you ever have any Mac questions, you can PM me, and if I don't know, I'd bet Paul does.


Thanks Karen, that will be a Godsend to me someday, for sure.

[Karen]

Listening to the Kim Komando show a few weeks back, Mac's are more likely to need repaired than their high end PC counterparts. Ill post the stats when I find them. It may have only been the laptops.

Macs are not vulnerable to many of the viruses that PCs are - it's surprising how many folks I know with viruses that "kill" their PCs.

[Catty1]

Even some Mac owners can be paranoid. I was visiting one of the Mac stores in Calgary - Westworld - while helping a client with her Mac, and at one point noticed Norton Antivirus for Macs on the shelves.

I asked the staff person I was speaking to about it - with a WTF? tone of voice.

He just smiled and said some people just 'feel better' sort of thing.

And Norton laughs all the way to the bank!

[Queen of Poop]

I went and got a cheap windows computer today. It's no mac but until mine is fixed it will do. Being all alone I just cannot live without the internet. My mac was purchased at the end of July this year. It was to replace the one that was stolen when our house was broken into on July 7th. It is still under warranty. The operating system will not boot up. If I had the disks in my possession all would be good, but they are in HIS house and not currently accessible to me. When the weather gets better and the roads better I need to trek to Market Mall as there is an apple store there and they understand my circumstances and will help me out.

[Karen]

Ayup, a good old reinstall of the OS will probably do the trick, but without the disks, that's not possible! Glad you've got a sub for now!

[blue]

Macs are not vulnerable to many of the viruses that PCs are - it's surprising how many folks I know with viruses that "kill" their PCs.

My above post about Mac's had nothing to do with viruses. Macs are more likely to need repair then their high end PC counter parts. It may be limited to laptops, I havent confirmed it.

There are viruses out there for Macs, but with Mac only having a 5-10% market share there arent many. Macs are also more open to attack through Safari then other browsers, but again the lower amount of Macs and even fewer PCs users using Safari makes the risk negligable.

QOP, Ild like to hear what the issue was with your Mac when you get it back, if it was a hardware or a software issue.

[Puckstop31]

Macs are not vulnerable to many of the viruses that PCs are - it's surprising how many folks I know with viruses that "kill" their PCs.

Thats not 00% true. They ARE vulnerable, but nobody exploits the vulnerabilities. I am sure there are many of the same buffer overrun flaws in MAC OS as in Windows. But, on Macs side is that the average user account is NOT an "administrator". Windows 7 fixes that, more or less, with the WAY improved user account control.

Basically, Microsoft is the big (and massively successful) target and thus attracts all the bored kids in Eastern Europe who write most of the bugs out there.


All that said... I like Macs. They are indeed stable, granted because you can only buy the Mac OS on Mac hardware. They don't have to work with EVERYthing.

[Queen of Poop]

Hard drive is wrecked. I'm going to get a new one today and fix it dude will install it for me Monday. All stuff is lost, photos, everything. Which sucks. I may be able to get some back off of my time capsule though, we shall see.

[Catty1]

Oh NO. Are they going to try and retrieve the stuff off your drive?

If they don't have specialists (I am sure they do) I have a tech friend of several decades experience who does data recovery...and it's not the $1,000 job either!

If you can swing it, get a small external backup drive - see if the repair guy can give you a deal.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/Computers%28ME%29/ComputerComponents%28ME%29/HardDrives%28ME%29/ExternalHardDrives%28ME%29/Default.aspx

Here's a sampling of what they are. Page one here is not listed in price order, so have a boo. Don't even bother with page 2! :eek:

[Queen of Poop]

I am going to memory express today and have a trusted friend and computer geek doing the work.

[Alysser]

I'm sorry to hear the entire hard drive is wrecked, do they know what caused it? I've had that happen before and I lost everything including all my pictures from Italy. I know know to back up everything to either Photobucket or CD's. It is certainly a hard lesson learned. I hope your Mac is up an running soon.

I am apparently getting one next year for college, can't wait for that. :D

[Catty1]

I love Memory Express! If you are in the NW store (likely you are in the NE one), say hi for me!

Will be there later to get an updated audio card and 1GB RAM to boost the Win 7 I am running.

[blue]

If you can swing it, get a small external backup drive

I dont store anything on my PCs, I have a small home server that I store everything on and it duplicates anything Im worried about losing over multiple hard drives.

[Queen of Poop]

I've got the Mac Time Capsule for doing all my back ups. Unfortunately it has been a bit since it ran a back up. But it should still have alot of stuff on it.

I actually went to the memory express on 58th Avenue by Chinook Centre. What a cool place. What nice people. I am hoping by Monday night to be back in a Mac world.