Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Oh No... A Very Sick Computer...

Blogging may be a little slow going this next week. I am afraid that my computer, while less than two years old, is on it's last little legs. For those of you who have any computer skills, here are the symptoms:

Quite suddenly (one moment my computer was fine, the next it was about as useful as a paperweight...) my computer started "thinking" with the little mouse arrow turning into a colorful circle that moved at first and then just froze. None of the commands worked (it's a Mac Powerbook) and I finally just ended up pressing the button until it turned off manually. This happened every time I turned it on.

And it turns on very slowly. None of the "Apple" programs work (even the dashboard with the calculator). However Microsoft Word does seem to work (very, very slowly).

I can't find the startup disks at the moment (two moves since we got the computer) because I was trying to find the hardware test disk...

Thankfully it's under warranty until fall so it looks like it will be going back to Best Buy. Unfortunately the last time we went into Best Buy when it was making a funny sound they said they would have it back to me in a minimum of two weeks. Ugh.

Is this God's way of telling me I need to give up my computer for Lent?

This is going to make my year of dresses a little more difficult too. Guess I'll keep snapping pictures and post them later (or upload some onto Paul's computer...).

Now to straighten up the house... The girls and I were away with Nani and Grumpa (while Daddy worked on his thesis in a quiet house) and there's a lot that needs to be done...

6 comments:

  1. Cam, my husband (a Mac aficianado) said that it sounds more like a software than hardware problem. He thinks that, if you can locate the "install" disks and reinstall the systems software, it might take care of the problem.

    Also - do you have Apple Care? If so, you could ship it to Apple, and they would have it back very quickly. Also - your husband could take it to the "Genius Bar" at an Apple Store (plenty of them in the SF Bay area) and they may be able to help. You can go online and make an appointment for the Genius Bar. If there is a recall of which you are unaware, they would know.

    Good luck; I know what a pain it is to have your Mac sick. :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Dixie Eagle-
    I'm going to have to go digging to see if I can find the disks today, because it would be great it that were it! Our big problem with taking it to an Apple Store is distance. Paul isn't going back to USF for a month because he's working on his thesis right now and isn't taking classes any longer, so the closest Apple store is four hours away at the moment. I'll try to find the disks today though and keep my fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cam, could you e-mail me? jrwahlund at gmail dot com

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My IT guys (teenage sons) concur with dixieeagle. Do a backup first if possible, wipe OS clean & reinstall. It's odd to hear of these things happening to a Mac, even though we've encountered the evil spinning ball of doom, it usually goes away soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll say a quick prayer that the disks turn up; maybe St. Anthony is a Mac fan ;) - and that's the solution. I am incapacitated if my MacBook is down. My husband insists on the Apple Care protection, so we can ship it to them and they are really fast.

    (I've always wondered how Paul commuted between USF and your home without losing his mind... LONG drive, it appears!) Best wishes for a quick solution!

    Marie (aka dixieagle)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yay! I found the disks today at my mom's house. Will be attempting to fix it tonight!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!