Help! My Mac Crashed!

The first question to ask is always the same:

Is there power to the computer?
If there is no power - the cord has pulled out of the wall, the battery went dead, the hamster is exhausted - NO amount of panic and arm-waving will solve anything. Check this first, even before calling tech support. Please don't take offense, but I've been called out on customer support tickets in the past, and arrived only to find out that someone kicked the switch on the surge suppressor under the desk.

Ok. We've determined there is power to the computer (right?) and it's time to move on.
Did you add anything new?
Was everything running fine before you installed that new modem or card? If so, take out the new stuff and try to restart the computer before going on.

Was this new stuff hardware?
If so, and if it was not a new motherboard, take it out and try to restart the computer. If the computer restarts, odds are high that either the new part was installed wrong or is defective.

Was this new stuff software?
Restart the computer and disable the new software. Restart AGAIN with the new software disabled. If things are running fine, look into the installation instructions and make sure that what you installed is actually compatible with your computer and operating system. Mac Users: the Installer that comes with many software packages will do this checking for you and not let you go further if the software is not compatible?

What's the difference between hardware and software?
Ouch. That goes into some basics that are better covered in a beginner's manual. I'll see if I can dig up a few titles and post their links here.

You can restart your Mac in one of several modes, depending on what you need to do.

To restart with a CD, insert the CD and restart with the C key held down. This will make the Mac use the system on the CD to start up.

To restart with a different system, hold down the OPTION key while restarting. This will make the Mac give you a choice of OS systems installed on your computer.

If you hold down the MOUSE button or the TRACKPAD button, this will force the computer to eject any CD you may have in the CD drive.

One of the niftiest things about Macs with OS X installed is that they rarely crash. I have had OS X installed on my systems since a few weeks after its first release, and have had only two crashes... and both of them were my own fault for not reading the installation instructions on software packages.

However, since OS X does some strange magic with memory, I have had situations where it has acted like something has crashed but nothing has. Instead, things like semi-perpetual spinning beach balls appear. This is the sign of an application not responding and, while rare, it is easily treated.

Head for the Apple menu (far left at the top) and open up Force Quit... (there is a key combination you can use but I find it easier to reach for the menu). Look at the list of applications in the window that appears. One may say (... not responding) after its name. Select that and confirm to force quit. It will ask you to confirm then return you to the Force Quit window, which you can close if you're done.

If the stuck application won't let you get to menus, click on the Finder (desktop) and try again. You can even use Force Quit to restart the Finder.

In the olden days (back in the Mac Classic, System 4 era), a crashed Mac displayed a sad Mac icon and an error code. We would then scramble for one of several manuals to find out what this error code meant and take whatever measures were recommended.

In the much earlier models, the broken Mac would also chime a tune, and the tune itself gave clues about the problem's source.

At that time, there were very few Mac gurus around in our particular area, and someone who had those error codes and solutions memorized (or someone who knew where to look) was treated like they could walk on water.

During those years, my briefcase always contained a set of diagnostics floppies and a trio of manuals, an always up to date version of Norton Utilities, and a checklist of error codes and first-step solutions. Even then, though, nine times out of ten, the problems were really caused by applications software, shareware packages, aftermarket utilities and add-ons... and very rarely with the Mac itself.

Ok ok. I admit it. I am running Windows XP on my Mac (via Parallels). It was the only way to get a particular coding environment that would hold my hands through some C work that had to be done.

Rating:

I also need to admit that I've had very few problems with this arrangement, but a friend of mine has, running OS X on a MacBook, with Windows in Parallels. The biggest difference is he can balance his computer on his lap, and I can't.

I don't know what the problem is, either, but more and more often these days, he's interrupted our conversation with "BRB. Windows acting up" and vanishes from sight, only to come back a few minutes later, muttering under his breath.

He's an experienced coder, and he's having periodic difficulties with it. Perhaps he's asking it to try PC-like maneuvers and getting into difficulty as a result. I've had no problems, but I don't ask it to do much more than sit there, look pretty, and consume vast amounts of my RAM.

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