Help! Emergency! Recent Switcher wants to go back!

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I got this friend of mine to switch to Apple, so he got himself a 15inch iMac.



First week of having it, somehow the icons became purple and there were vertical lines on the desktop. Clean installation of os wouldn't help. Took it back to store, got a new one.



Now, at least once a day the screen becomes gray and a dialogue comes up saying that the computer has crashed and he needs to hold down the power button to force shutdown. (I only got this once and was wondering if it was a kernel panic in disguise)



Microsoft Word unexpectedly quits often. (I really don't know why. It never does for me. I installed it again for him but it still didn't solve problem).



He is extremely unhappy with the way the save dialogues perform. He wants to be able to manipulate the documents and view them by date or something (I'm not sure what it is but he says Windows let him do it).





So Help! He's thinking of getting rid of it! In fact, his parents might sell it as early as next week!



1. Why is there these crashes where he needs to hold down power button.

2. What is this issue with M$ office (probably helpless but...)

3. Is there a third party shareware that can give this guy more features for the open and save dialogues? What is the name?





Many thanks. It is my duty (and you may fell inclined too) to save this guy from going back to a Windows world. Please help!





Steve.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stevegongrui

    I got this friend of mine to switch to Apple, so he got himself a 15inch iMac.



    First week of having it, somehow the icons became purple and there were vertical lines on the desktop. Clean installation of os wouldn't help. Took it back to store, got a new one.



    Now, at least once a day the screen becomes gray and a dialogue comes up saying that the computer has crashed and he needs to hold down the power button to force shutdown. (I only got this once and was wondering if it was a kernel panic in disguise)



    Microsoft Word unexpectedly quits often. (I really don't know why. It never does for me. I installed it again for him but it still didn't solve problem).



    He is extremely unhappy with the way the save dialogues perform. He wants to be able to manipulate the documents and view them by date or something (I'm not sure what it is but he says Windows let him do it).





    So Help! He's thinking of getting rid of it! In fact, his parents might sell it as early as next week!



    1. Why is there these crashes where he needs to hold down power button.

    2. What is this issue with M$ office (probably helpless but...)

    3. Is there a third party shareware that can give this guy more features for the open and save dialogues? What is the name?





    Many thanks. It is my duty (and you may fell inclined too) to save this guy from going back to a Windows world. Please help!





    Steve.




    Did this guy install any of his own memory? Could be he has bad memory. also, why did he get a mac in the first place?
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    No, it aint bad memory as he didn't install any.



    He bought a mac because his pc was old and he needed a new computer and I explained to him how advantageous a mac is and he was convinced.



    Help guys!



    This guy has an iPod and loves it! (that's how he first got interested in apple stuff)
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    And, FYI, that is a kernel panic with the grey screen telling you to restart in several languages. Apple implemented this friendlier message (over the sprawling text and memory backtrace) in 10.2. Not sure about this. Like the previous poster said, check the RAM. Even if it's brand new RAM that Apple gave him, you might shold pull it anyway and try with RAM you know is good for a while. Also, are there any additional periferals he's using?



    As for Office, be sure you've applied the downloadable updates. I think there have been two.
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  • Reply 4 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    And, FYI, that is a kernel panic with the grey screen telling you to restart in several languages. Apple implemented this friendlier message (over the sprawling text and memory backtrace) in 10.2. Not sure about this. Like the previous poster said, check the RAM. Also, are there any additional periferals he's using?



    As for Office, be sure you've applied the downloadable updates. I think there have been two.






    Yes, he did install the updates. I think there are actually three but it don't solve the problem!



    I'll ask about the peripherals. I know he has a n HP printer but that's USB and I dont know why it'd be a problem



    Thanks already....
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  • Reply 5 of 13
    sebseb Posts: 676member
    Try running the silver Apple Hardware Test CD that came with the unit. Sounds like he has a hardware problem to me. Possibly bad RAM. Maybe something with the logic board/cpu.



    It would help to know how often his iMac KPs and what he is doing when it KPs.



    Also, you migh try using Console. You could even set the preferences to Automatically display crash logs.



    The info may not be decipherable, however if he were to contact Apple phone support they may be able to help determine if the unit needs to go in for a hardware repair.



    If the unit just crashes randomly and frequently, while just sitting there doing nothing and with nothing plugged in you might try booting into safe mode:



    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392



    There's a few troubleshooting steps....
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  • Reply 6 of 13
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Is the HP one of those all-in-one or OfficeJet monstrosities?



    If so, the drivers and HP Communications software are ASS.



    I'd use the H-P CD to uninstall their SW, unplug the H-P, and see if that cures the problem.



    Constant Kernal Panics are definitely NOT the norm - something is seriously wrong with his setup.
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  • Reply 7 of 13
    cyclecycle Posts: 187member
    i cant tell for now..but its could be software



    reformat and clean install...ask him if he uses kracks on his programs...there are kracks for audioapps like cubase that **** up the system...i dont use it..but a friend of mine did it in os9 and the whole mac had weird icons and everything after the krack was applied...anyway....dont mess with illegal shit...



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  • Reply 8 of 13
    ibrowseibrowse Posts: 1,749member
    I would definitely check that printer. In my experience, I have been unimpressed by almost every thing from HP that I have used. Bad RAM and problems with USB devices are very often the cause for Kernel panics. If the kernel panics happen when he's doing the same thing everytime, look into what he's doing. Does he use Norton utilities? It sounds more like a hardware problem, but it could be the case, I had Norton but in return I got a kernel panic everytime I emptied the Trash.
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  • Reply 9 of 13
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    USB has been killing X lately, bad drivers have been kp'ing left and right. Here's a suggestion, head over to http://www.linuxprinting.org and search for his printer. Hopefully they'll have it, it did wonders for my Samsung ML-1210. Too bad he had to be introduced to Apple on an iMac 15. I'd recommend an eMac, or iBook over an iMac 15...
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  • Reply 10 of 13
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    is it overheating? does the fan come on a lot?

    the thermal paste could be messed up...
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  • Reply 11 of 13
    Thanks guys, I'll suggest it to him.



    You're all very kind.





    Sorry about one thing. I just realised he's got a canon printer, not hp.



    Does anyone know any third part programmes that fimprove the dialogue?



    Thanks
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  • Reply 12 of 13
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    Not offhand...but if you take out the RAM and this still happens w/no devices attached, and after an archive install, I'd definitely go to the dealer.
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  • Reply 13 of 13
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:

    Does anyone know any third part programmes that fimprove the dialogue?



    Maybe this can help ? Default folder X
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