Mac Bombs

[Malbase]

My nephew's IMAC "bombed" under OS 10.x
What has to be done to get the machine to work.
I myself use OS Tiger 10.4.1 and had not had a bomb since OS 10.
I recall several reasons:
1. I backed up Quicken on the desktop rather than Documents.
Ala bomb.
2. Some popup ad bombed my Quicken data by changing all the dates to 2010.

I noticed Apple, or the Mac internet sites do not talk about Bombs.
That message in 4 languages and crazy sound like a crashing dive bomber.
My nephew is new to Macs and does not understand the lingo.
He is a former Windows user.
I myself have been using 7 or eight Macs since 1988.
Please indicate a step by step recommendation.
Thank You.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The information you provide doesn't make your problem clear, but I think you are experiencing a kernal panic, not a "bomb" (which went away with OS 9.2).

If they happen frequently, it's almost always a sign of a hardware problem, and more often than not, bad RAM.

 

[Daveway]

Well, bombing was back in the OS9 day. We now call it a "kernel panic". Usually this is solved by restarting. Now if the computer doesn't turn on then thats a whole different problem.

 

[mkrishnan]

That message in 4 languages and crazy sound like a crashing dive bomber.

Do other people get sound effects with a kernel panic? I certainly do not. And although I would be glad to say I have never seen one, so I don't know, I have seen three or four in about 1.5 years....

 

[swheeler]

I've never gotten sound with a kernel panic, and I've had a few. My roommate dropping a large phone into my open G4 tower may have contributed to that...

 

[link92]

If the computer is sending a sound when the kernal panic crashes happens, it'll just repeat it until you restart the computer.