[muglo] Re: Problems, have I got problems

Comment #1: spring for the $120 (as an educational user which you seem to 
be) and upgrade to OS X 10.3!!! This will probably alleviate some suffering 
in future.

>Upon my arrival in Nanaimo, I bought a snazzy new G4 Powerbook, which
>worked marvelously,  but then began doing weird stuff in late October,
>two months after I bought it - and just after I downloaded software
>updates sent to me via e-mail by Apple.

Which one? Titanium or Aluminum; 17", 15" or 12"; 256, 512 or 1024 MB; speed 
MHz?

>3.  The computer seized up when I was proofreading. I had endless
>problems working in MSWord; I couldn't select items; the spell-check
>wasn't working properly; files were converted into read-only; I
>couldn't save documents in particular fonts, or the fonts disappeared
>from the list of those available; when I saved something, sometimes
>there would be a "bling" noise, sometimes not.  Since I work 99% of the
>time in MSWord, this is terribly frustrating.

How do you mean "seized up". Did the computer stop working and the mouse 
stopped moving? Kernel panic? Did MS Word stop working? Did MS Word crash? 
Also, have you upgraded MS Word to the latest version? 10.1.5 IIRC?

Bling noise has been random for me even back as far as 98!

>7. I took it into the shop again and they gave me some new memory to
>see if it was a memory problem.  It still kept doing weird stuff. When
>I shut it down from MSWord the screen went all strange and was filled
>with all kinds of junk - it looked like when you are de-fragmenting
>your hard drive.

This sounds like a hardware problem (which is why I asked which version of 
the TiBook you have).

>8.  Then I took it in and the techie replaced the logic board and the
>battery.  It now runs faster but is still doing weird stuff in MSWord.
>I now make sure not to shut it down from MSWord.

What do you mean "not to shut it down from MSWord"? Also, what do you mean 
with "weird stuff".

>9.  In the midst of all this, something else has happened.  During one
>of the re-installs the techie misspelled my Admin name and then had to
>go back in and change it to the correct spelling.  I also  had to
>re-input my password.  Now the system does  not recognize my password
>whenever I want to install upgrades or programs.

<shudder> The only way around this is to start with a new account!!! (I'm 
sure there's an easier way but my solution was to reformat and reinstall 
(fortunately I learned this very early in my OS X experiments a few years 
ago so reformat and reinstall was not painful)).

>10.  I thought maybe that I might have mistyped my password when I
>re-inputted it again, and so went into Mac Support to see if I could
>retrieve it or change it.  However, to do that, Mac has to recognize
>your Apple ID, which is your current e-mail address.  It refused to
>recognize my current ID  - although I am still getting sent upgrades
>sent to my e-mail address.  How can it do that if it doesn't recognize
>my e-mail? My understanding is that administrator passwords allow the
>installation of software, and they are supposed to be the same as the
>administration user's login password - which my system now refuses to
>recognize.

Whatever password belongs to a particular account belongs to a particular 
account, regardless of whether it's admin or not. An admin user can unlock 
any user's account (e.g. in the screen saver) PROVIDED they enter their 
account name and password in the appropriate entry boxes.

Yes, the password needed is the very same password as is used to login to an 
admin user's account. Of course, if your account is not an admin user then 
the password will not work.

To reset a password, start up your computer with you OS X install disk and 
"reset" the password for the offending account!

>11.  I also now have to type in my password to access my e-mail every
>time I boot up my computer.  However, I understand from reading on the
>Apple support site that this sometimes happens with OS 10.2.8, and I
>can live with that.  I would like to be able to upgrade software,
>though.

Why turn off your computer? It's a laptop and chews up only a few Watts of 
electricity whilst asleep. Also, upgrade to OS X 10.3 and your computer will 
automagically defragment itself and optimise the disk for read-only files.

One way around this is to delete the key chain preferences file and start 
over.

>11.   The techie at the shop now says we need to go through the
>re-install process again: first, re-install everything from disks; then
>re-install Microsoft Office X (at the university); then re-import my
>mail, addresses and bookmarks.  I asked him if he thought the MS Office
>X could be the problem; he said if you are attached to the  network and
>you have more than one machine on the network with the same serial
>number on Office, it will act funny.  I work from home, but I am
>attached to the university network, and use Entourage to connect to my
>university e-mail.  Could that be the problem?

No, Entourage'll tell you right away if you're running the same serial 
number (I found this out the hard way when I had my laptop and my former 
desktop on the same network for a week ;-).

Re: re-install. This probably isn't necessary. One thing you could do is 
create a new account with admin priviledges! Set-up your e-mail and stuff in 
there and move your files from your old account into the new account. Then 
use this new account as your primary account and delete the old one once 
you've verified that you've got everything you need from the old one.

That's the beauty of OS X! Usually the OS is fine but something has gone 
awry in a particular account and only requires the creation of a new account 
and not a complete re-install.

Alternately, you could try to fix the account you have now but I'd rather 
take the lazy way out ;)

>I have to say I don't really understand this.  All I know is that the
>program I work in all the time is not functioning properly, and I can't
>seem to get any straightforward answers as to what is wrong. Both the
>university techie and the shop techie are skilled and knowledgeable, so
>it's not that they are doing anything wrong - I don't think!

Make sure Office is updated to the latest version (check 
<http://www.microsoft.com/mactopia>)! Earlier versions of Office had quite 
irritating problems that may be exacerbated in later releases of OS X 10.2!

>I have always found Macs to be reliable, but this one sure ain't and
>it's creating enormous difficulties for me.

Update to 10.3.2! You'll have to update to 10.3 sooner or later so you may 
as well do it sooner than later (& it's definitely worth the update since 
things are faster and more refined). Since you're affiliated with a 
university somehow or other you are eligible for the academic price for OS X 
($120)

Eric.

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