Many weird things with my iMac....

[MacDeeds]

Hi,

This is something rather unusual of my iMac:
As I do everynight, I put my iMac to SLEEP. I rarely shut it off for the sole reason that it's a habit that I kept from Hybernating my PC.

So I sit down in front of it this morning and I "wake it up". There is that spinning multicolor wheel that is spinning for a good 2-3 minutes. I get impatient and I manually shut down my Mac.


Comes time to restart and there is a long delay before 1-the screen turns on 2- the sound 3-Apple logo then with that circular look "scanning for something". After a good 5 minutes I decided to call Apple support and get my iMac box on which is the Serial Number for my iMac.

In the mean time, I start up my PC, in case I need further info. My PC is connected to the router(non-wirelessly).



As I get back (2-3 minutes later) I see my desktop. WEIRD THING: Bluetooth was searching for my mouse or trackpad... THING IS: My MOUSE HAS NEW BATTERIES AND I NEVER SHUT IT OFF.


At this point, I am now connected with apple and we try to see what is happening. I get a hold of Brenda and she is kind enough to assist me, even though my 90 days of tech support are expired. Nothing that can get her in trouble, (seeing how I knew most of what "tip" she gave me.. but I appreciated her gesture). Turns out that those 90 days are from PURCHASE DATE. I always thought that it was from initial support call. Anyways.

As I am talking to her, my iTunes randomly opens up and starts to play my list.

WHAT THE FAWK???


At the same time, I notice that I do not have internet, but my PC DOES?!?!??!

I proceded to unplug cable modem and router for a good 5 minutes. I shut off the PC and Mac. I plug back the cable modem FIRST and then, wait 2 minutes, plug back the router and restart my MAc and turn my PC back on.
Internet company go through their usual speel, renew IP address yadi yada....

All in all, he tells me that I need to bring in my computer to a store..

I am stuborn and I restart my iMac again and it's back to normal.

Anyone had this happen before?

To RESUME:
-No internet
-Itunes opens itself... TWICE(and I was not even near the dock when this happen) Even if I press F8, the song would not autoplay
-Bluetooth searching for mouse/trackpad

Am I the only one?

What about spyware/hack?

Thanks for taking the time to review this.
On a final note, I am off to buy a back up drive, LIVE!!!!

 

[GGJstudios]

So I sit down in front of it this morning and I "wake it up". There is that spinning multicolor wheel that is spinning

That's usually referred to as the "beachball" and when it spins like that, your Mac is "beachballing"... equivalent to the hourglass in Windows.

... spinning for a good 2-3 minutes. I get impatient and I manually shut down my Mac.

It shouldn't take that long, but what happens if you're patient and let it finish?

Turns out that those 90 days are from PURCHASE DATE.

That's true. If you have AppleCare, it extends that to 3 years.

All in all, he tells me that I need to bring in my computer to a store..

Not a bad idea, since it's under warranty.

I am stuborn and I restart my iMac again and it's back to normal.

Restarting is a first step in solving many problems. If the problem doesn't happen again, I wouldn't worry about it. If it happens even after rebooting, then more troubleshooting steps are required.

What about spyware/hack?

Your chances of getting hacked are ridiculously remote. There has never been a virus in the wild that runs on Mac OS X. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some education and common sense and care in what software you install:

Mac Virus/Malware Info​

I am off to buy a back up drive

Wise move.

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Do the usual first aid for Macs

I suggest that you do the usual first aid for misbehaving macs.

1) Verify your main hard disk using Disk Utility if errors reported - go to 2)

2) Repair if required by re-starting from your installation DVD/CD or Snow Leopard disc. If you have made an external boot disk on an SD card, you can boot from this. Then run disk utility again but this time repair your main hard disk

3) Restart after repair and then run "Repair file permissions" from Disk Utility. When you are re-starting - reset the PRAM cmd-alt-P-R.

4) If still having issues, download the Freeware Onyx for Mac and use it to clear all your caches.

5) If still having issues, download a copy of Tech Tools and run a hardware scan. Your problem has some of the characteristics of a RAM issue. I had something like this on our PowerMac server soon after I had increased the memory. I found I had an faulty SODiMM. After the vendor replaced it, all was well.

Wilson

 

[akmk]

Yes, new iMacs with Snow Leopard take some getting used to.

I have found that double-clicking the space bar opens the same folder on my desktop consistently. However, I don't recall every telling my iMac to open this folder with a double-click.

Is there a default setting that I can turn off? I get tired of closing a file a never asked to be pulled up.

 

[MacDeeds]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

GGJstudios, I do not know how malaware works, but is it TECHNICALLY possible that it can also affect the mac? Note: I did not have time to read the articles yet, I am doing 3 things at once. I will read them. If this article answers that question, ignore my previous question.

Wilsonlaidlaw,

I will definatively print out what you said and take proper precautions. I'm looking at external Hard drives as we speak.

akmk,

When ever i double click on the spacebar, it opens up a picture of me?!?! Odd and pretty damn egoistic on the behalf of my iMac. I will look into this matter and report back with any findings.

What boggles my mind is why was it "beachballing" ?? I did not install any malicious software of go on really sketchy sites!

I'll back my stuff up and run the hard disk utility.

Thanks again for your input guys, I appreciate it a lot.

-Deeds

 

[akmk]

I routinely run the disc utility to "repair" HD.

It generally smooths out odd quirks that appear from time to time.

The beach ball appeared for me when first trying to use "help" files. This is because it's taking a long time to try to find something that originates on the internet.

I finally had to have Apple Support E-mail me the "help" files. I still can't access the video tutorials. I live in rural Alaska and pay $50/month for 256 K DSL. To up my bandwidth to 4 MGs would cost me $100/month.

The trend toward manditory internet access for "help" files and video tutorials is leaving a lot of folks in the dust.