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Do you have Leopard?

Submitted by Charles Gousha on 2007, November 18 - 11:52am.
Already bought it, already using it.
63% (17 votes)
Bought it, but haven't installed it yet.
15% (4 votes)
Buying soon!
11% (3 votes)
Now I can buy that new Mac with Leopard on it!
7% (2 votes)
I'll stick with my current Mac OS version.
4% (1 vote)
Total votes: 27
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Greetings. Requesting

Submitted by MichaelLeigh on 2007, November 18 - 8:20pm.

Greetings. Requesting counsel from fellow MACbook Leopard users working with Microsoft Apps. I am a new registered SVMUG under MLeigh@TMF.com. I purchased a MACbook in September after 20 years of Windows. I am using Leopard. I received a legitimate 2 meg MS PowerPoint File with .PPS extension. I have generated and opened these file-types before myself. This particular file loads and fills the screen on the first frame - it is a photo of Earth from space showing 2 globes. Nothing unusual about the characteristics but it immediately freezes the MACbook. Nothing works after that, the touchpad is disabled, and I have to do a hard power-off. Repeatable (3 times). When it comes back on, it white screens for a while (longer than normal start-up) and then returns to normal. I am extremely concerned as this is the same pattern as occurred about 2 weeks ago when, after 2 or 3 times, the MACbook just repeatedly white-screened on power-up. At the Apple Store in Canoga Park CA, they tried to diagnose the problem and none of the diagnostics they loaded worked until they connected my MACbook to another MAC to look at the drive. They decided that the drive was now “unformatted” and later that it was bad and replaced it. I am not so sure that it started as a hardware (disk) failure and am concerned that the same pattern will re-occur. Has anyone ever seen a similar situation? Please advise. Much appreciated. My cell phone is 805 443 4855 if you prefer. Generally happy with my transition from the dark side. Graphics/Photo handling so much better with Apple, but Directory handling not so good. I switched after 6 months of wasting time with Vista + Office 2007 crashes/compatibility problems. I would be pleased to help anyone else going through the transition to MAC. In spite of my problems noted above, I have no regrets. Thanks. M.

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PowerPoint killed my Mac

Submitted by Charles Gousha on 2007, November 19 - 3:54pm.

While it’s possible for a software problem (like a PowerPoint file or other graphic) to cause a hardware failure if done often enough, it’s incredibly unlikely. The chance is far greater that there was an underlying hardware problem that your PPT graphic happened to trigger. If the problem was in your hard drive, then you have nothing more to worry about, since the drive has been replaced with a new one. If the problem is in your Mac’s logic board, then it may still be lurking in the sidelines, waiting to strike again.

The white screen you mention should be more of a gray screen, and it does take longer to start up after a crash or hang because it’s doing some software repair during that extra time. Let it finish, and it shouldn’t need to do it again. (unless you crash again) An all-white screen is a symptom of a pretty serious hardware failure, but the folks in the Apple Store should have made a big deal about that on your first visit if so.

Wherever the problem actually is, you most definitely have some data corruption problems in there. Some possible remedies:

  • Run Disk First Aid (part of Disk Utility on your Mac), and see if it wants to repair anything. You’ll probably have to start the MacBook from your Installer DVD disc to fix any problems it finds.
  • If you can open the PowerPoint file without crashing or hanging, Save a new copy of the file. This can work wonders for cleaning out file cruft.
  • Make sure that you have the latest updates for Mac OS X and for Microsoft Office installed. If you’re suffering a compatibility problem between your MacBook and the file’s source, this can often clear that up. It will make transferring the file back to its source more difficult, though, so keep both the original and new copies of the file.

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