start up problems. Installed Norton Utilities and everything went to hell! Can u help
Hey everyone,
i was having problems with my external HD (still am, but im ignoring them for now). So i installed Norton Utilities. A friend had told me that using this app i would be able to extract files from seemingly deceased ext. HD.
After installing, i was told to resart the computer, so i did. Instead of starting up normally, with the little Apple logo, then then 'Loading OSX" window and then the login window (which usually all takes under 30seconds) i got these other funny flashing logos/symbols.
This is what happens. The screen fills with a slightly differnt grey colour than usual, then this BLUE GLOBE appears. And it flashes. It's sitting inside a square icon and just flashes for two mins.... then the next thing is a tiny icon of a folder with the old OS face on it. When this flashes it shoes an icon of a folder with a question mark in it.
It looks like it cant find the OS System Folder.....
a full 5 minutes later the Apple Logo comes up, and then it all loads normally. The only difference is that the first time i restarted it came up saying to 'extension' (i think that's the name it used) in the 'StartUpItems' (one word) folder didn't have the correct security settings. It said that if i trusted them i should "fix" the settings, or i could "ignore" (which simpy caused the message to come up again next time i booted up) or i could "disable" them. I have disabled them.
They're called 'NUMCompatibilityCheck" and "VolumeAssist". Their path is: Library/StartUpItems. There is also i folder in there called 'NortonMissedTasks'.....
does anyone know what these do? And what do the icons flashing at Bootup mean?
thanks for your help
PS. i cant find an Uninstaller for Norton!
i was having problems with my external HD (still am, but im ignoring them for now). So i installed Norton Utilities. A friend had told me that using this app i would be able to extract files from seemingly deceased ext. HD.
After installing, i was told to resart the computer, so i did. Instead of starting up normally, with the little Apple logo, then then 'Loading OSX" window and then the login window (which usually all takes under 30seconds) i got these other funny flashing logos/symbols.
This is what happens. The screen fills with a slightly differnt grey colour than usual, then this BLUE GLOBE appears. And it flashes. It's sitting inside a square icon and just flashes for two mins.... then the next thing is a tiny icon of a folder with the old OS face on it. When this flashes it shoes an icon of a folder with a question mark in it.
It looks like it cant find the OS System Folder.....
a full 5 minutes later the Apple Logo comes up, and then it all loads normally. The only difference is that the first time i restarted it came up saying to 'extension' (i think that's the name it used) in the 'StartUpItems' (one word) folder didn't have the correct security settings. It said that if i trusted them i should "fix" the settings, or i could "ignore" (which simpy caused the message to come up again next time i booted up) or i could "disable" them. I have disabled them.
They're called 'NUMCompatibilityCheck" and "VolumeAssist". Their path is: Library/StartUpItems. There is also i folder in there called 'NortonMissedTasks'.....
does anyone know what these do? And what do the icons flashing at Bootup mean?
thanks for your help
PS. i cant find an Uninstaller for Norton!
Comments
I never saw an installation of Norton that ever worked. All that junk does is cause more problems.
You're correct to think about un-installing it. If you run the installer again does it have an option to uninstall? Maybe hold down the option key?
PS... With Norton AntiVirus 10 I am finally, grudgingly, endorsing the line. If you need anti-virus (ie... you run Microsoft Office), then I would get it. They are finally starting to do things more-or less correctly.
Here's what you do:
Move your Norton Utilities folders and aliases in the Applications folder to the Trash.
In the Finder, do a Find (cmd-F) on Norton (if using Panther, be sure to select option to find all visible and invisible files. Tiger's invisibility option doesn't work yet). Move all these files to the Trash. Then run it again on Symantec, and move all these files to the Trash. Then go into the /Library/StartupItems folder and move the NUM, Volume Assist, Sym... files that Norton starts up at boot time, and move all these file to the Trash.
Restart your Mac and empty your Trash.
(The NUMCompatibility check runs every time you startup to see if the System has changed, to alert you that there may be a problem if you actually use the tools. This is your clue to run the Live Update utility in Norton to check online for updates.)
That should do it.
I now use Disk Warrior 3.0.3, Tech Tool Pro 4.0.4, and iDefrag 1.1b1 to perform routine maintenance on my systems to keep everything pristine. Oh, and don't forget to run Disk Utility's Repair Permissions every time you perform a Software Update that affects System files (Security Updates, OS updates, and the like).
Concerning installing an antivirus utility, I'd only recommend that if you routinely receive Microsoft email attachments from people and expect to forward them on to other Windows users. Windows virus-infected attachments won't run on your Mac, but you could pass them on to a Windows user if you don't use an antivirus utility to clean them out. There are still NO viruses for MacOS X. If you do install an antivirus checker, I'd be very selective in telling it when to run, since it's useless to have it scanning your hard drive and consuming CPU clock cycles in the background. I'd either have it set to a fully manual option, or to only check email attachments. These checkers can really bog your system down.
Originally posted by Dave Marsh
Then go into the /Library/StartupItems folder and move the NUM, Volume Assist, Sym... files that Norton starts up at boot time, and move all these file to the Trash.
Restart your Mac and empty your Trash.
when i searched for Symnatec i didn't find anything. Ive moved those files you mentioned to the trash. Now i have two folders within Startupitems.... one is called "AdobeVersionCue" and the other is "TrackDelete". im guess in the Adobe one is to do with photoshop, so im happy to leave it, but where's the other from?
i'll leave it for now and restart my computer... **fingers crossed**
Yes, Adobe does its own version check at startup.
i restarted after trashing all those apps, files and folders and it still comes up with the stupid flashing globe etc.... does anyone know what this means?!
i haven't deleted the files/folder etc, they're all just sitting in the trash, but that wouldnt make a difference would it?
If that doesn't get rid of the flashing question mark, boot up from the Installer disk that came with your Mac, and select Disk Utility from the menu bar (don't rerun the installer). Then, highlight your startup drive and click Repair Disk.
Originally posted by Dave Marsh
Try going into your System Preferences/Startup Disk and selecting your Mac's startup drive icon and rebooting. The flashing question mark means it didn't find the startup system identified, so it's searching the Mac's bus and attached network for an appropriate startup folder.
Dave, thank you so much! that was it! i can't believe how stupid i am...
as soon as i opened the Startup Disk Preferences i remembered... it was last night.. .about 1 in the morning and for some STUPID reason i was looking at Preferences... i must have clicked the Network Startup Disk by accident. That's what the blue globe was all about!
the computer was searching the network (we dont have one) for a StartUp Disk, then once it had given up it would load as per normal.
Ive got a mate coming over soon with a (*fingers-crossed*) better copy of Norton... but im gonna look into the apps you all suggested while i wait.
Thank you everyone!
Originally posted by spiers69
Ive got a mate coming over soon with a (*fingers-crossed*) better copy of Norton... but im gonna look into the apps you all suggested while i wait.
Thank you everyone!
I hate to break it to you, but there is no such thing as a "better copy" of Norton - they ALL suck!
On a more serious note, I wouldn't let a Norton CD in the same room with any of my Macs.
Seek help for your self-loathing!!!
Norton is bad, mkay?
it had better...
Norton Utilities was discontinued for a reason.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...05032314263511
ive backed up all the important files now it's time for me to erase disk and reformat it.
But which format? Also are there any suggestions to keeping my ext. HD running smoother in the future? Such as verify it every so often, or doing some magical thing in Disk Utility?
Here's the options for Formatting:
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended
Mas OS Extended (case-sensitive, journaled)
Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive)
MS-DOS File System
UNIX File System
what's the difference? Im guess i dont want either of the last two... but the rest all look pretty similar to me. And are there any down sides to having it "Install a Mac OS 9 Disk Driver"?
im on a different time zone to most of you, so i probably wont get a reply till tomorrow. that's cool. Im just so happy that ive got my mp3s back!
That said, if you must reformat, use the MacOS Extended (Journaled). That's the default now. It's supposed to speed up forced restarts since it records system activity up to the moment of the crash. Thus, it knows what worked and what didn't.
If you want to be able to boot up your Mac into MacOS 9 vice MacOS X, you'll need to install the MacOS 9 drivers onto the volume. Whether this is meaningful depends on how old your Mac is. It's OK to select it, in any case.
Originally posted by Dave Marsh
I'm not sure why you are reformatting just because your System tanked. You can install a brand new system by selecting Archive & Install in the Installer and it will save your user accounts, all your user data, and applications. It moves your damaged system into a Previous Systems folder for you to extract stuff from after the system rebuild, if there's anything in there you need later. After assuring all your apps works OK, it's a good idea to delete the old system to recover the disk space.
ive already got all the files i want on my computer's HD (remember it's my External HD that died) and everything that's left on it is just junk anyway... all kinds of crap from OS 8 that i no longer use.
The reason im reformatting is because when i turn my HD on it no longer recognises it! It comes up with three options; "Initialize...", "ignore" and "eject"
So this is my plan for tomorrow:
-i'll start up the computer
-start up ext. HD
-select 'initialize...'
-Reformat it to MacOS Extended (journal) with the OS 9 options
-Store all the files i salvaged from it back on it
-Look into price of DVD-RWs
in a few days i plan to back up my entire mp3 library
If that's all correct, you should be fine. I'd still suggest that you NOT install Norton Utilities on your internal HD, if you ever plan to upgrade to Tiger (MacOS X 10.4). The utilities I recommended you use are those compatible with MacOS X 10.4, and I use them regularly maintaining ~60 Macs at work.
Good luck.
As for Norton, if i notice any funny business then it's gone. And i'll look into the software mentioned before. Also, im already running 10.4
Off to bed, good night all.
thanks for your help
Computer is now a Norton-free zone, but thanks for the warning