Troubleshooting Security Update 2003-08-14: What to do if installer crashes on optimization

A number of users are experiencing crashes during the "optimization" phase of Security Update 2003-08-14's installation.

MacFixIt reader Ed Kosower writes "I did the security update using 2003-8-14 and all went well until it reached 37% optimization. After a few minutes I worried that the hard disk was hung up since it sounded like it was grinding away ( remembering a time when I had to reinstall an apparently corrupted system) so I restarted. On reinstalling it said that no more space was needed for the installation and it optimized quite fast, reaching 37%. Again it made noises (the hard disk) but I waited and suddenly it finished and all seems well now. This is the first time that optimization behaved in this manner."

As previously noted, optimization for this update can take unusually long (up to 30 minutes dependent on how many files are on your startup volume) because it modifies a key system file to which several system components link. However, if you are sure the installation process has stalled permanently, you should restart your system and immediately attempt re-installation of the security update using the standalone version released by Apple.

If installation still fails, you may have permissions problems. Use Apple's Disk Utility to repair permissions, or a third-party disk utility like DiskWarrior 3.0 to check for and eliminate directory issues.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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