Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Mac OS & the spinning beachball from hell

Aug 18, 2005 12:15PM PDT

Oldster technophobe with one year old powerbook running Tiger.
Of course I'm a basic user, but updating to Tiger worsened the spinning beachball. Am I expected to use First Aid and updated Dickwarrior and Tech Tool Pro weekly without satifaction? Files corrupt quickly and only effective move was OS reinstall. Any advice for the simpleminded?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
It sounds like some housecleaning is in order!
Aug 18, 2005 11:16PM PDT

That 17'' book should run like a dream. It sounds like you've got a corrupted OS on which you've installed an upgrade over. That's like putting fresh paint on a rotting fence!
First things first. Take out the hardware disk the Apple supplied with computer and run it. If you find any problems with the processor or Memory, FIX THEM FIRST! Next, do a clean install of Tiger, writing Zeros to the HD before the reinstall.
By the way, how much memory are you running on your book? If you have the minimum 256MB, Max that book out! I believe the max is 2GHZ & that will speed up the book consderably.
Also, make sure the book is operated on stand that lets air circulate under the computer. That will keep it MUCH cooler and happier.
The spinning beach ball says low system Memory or bad hardware or software.
Macs work well, but like with any good machine , you still need to do some basic housekeeping tasks to keep it up to date.

- Collapse -
Before you go to Deep
Aug 19, 2005 12:40AM PDT

You could try the easy option first. By all means run the Apple Hardware Disk and correct any problems that it finds.
Then insert the Tiger Disk and boot from it. Once the installer starts running, Choose the option of Archive and Install. This should be the default. The option saves your documents, pictures, music and other bits in the Users folders and also saves your network settings. It places a NEW OS on your machine, renaming the old one, and then moves all the stuff it saved, back to where it should be. This is a CLEAN install of the OS.
The other option, mentioned in the previous post, is totally destructive. You will loose ALL your data unless you figure out how to save it all and then how to put it back again.
Extra memory always helps and 2GB is where this machine max's out.

Hope this helps

P

- Collapse -
reinstalled
Aug 31, 2005 1:24AM PDT

thanx or caring enough to reply. by the way am running 1gb ram.
the reinstall seemed to solve the immediate problem. i still don't understand why files degrade so fast. i run disk warrior every couple of days, with 20 bad files typical. i know i'm a technophobe, but could i have picked up a worm from all the junky e-mail?

- Collapse -
Disk Warrior
Aug 31, 2005 1:41AM PDT

This utility does NOT find "bad" files. Its sole reason for being is to rebuild directories on the disk. Floppy, ZIP or Jazz.
Directories get "out of order" when programs are installed, files are deleted or moved and during the day to day use of the machine.
The fact that the directory is out of order is NOT a symptom of a greater problem. As long as the system is able to read the directory and is able to find the files it requires, there is no problem. However, when the directory becomes so out of order or if part of it becomes corrupt, there is the possibility that the system will not even boot. Usually this just means that the Disk will not mount on the desktop and so the machine claims that the drive is not bootable. Booting from the DW CD does not rely on the directory on the HD so DW is able to boot the machine and then scavenge the HD for data to rebuild the directories.
Once a week is an average time to rebuild and while you are at it, don't forget to run the other utilities you may have. Yasu and Onyx are both good for running the built-in file utilities and have the added advantage of being Free!

Keep going

P

- Collapse -
Would you prefer the clock
Aug 31, 2005 1:43PM PDT

to a spinning beach ball from Hell?
Peter can help you out with your post issues always.
I hate the clock and OS9. OSX is superior. Spinning beach ball? Never thought to call it that.
Wht do your files corrupt so quickly?
Why do you have to run First Aid and updated Dickwarrior and Tech Tool Pro weekly without satifaction?
I have never had a problem with my Mac OSX ever.
Never had to run ****-warrior either.

Wish I had that problem! What app is that called again? Sorry, Peter, couldn't resist. :