"You Shut Down Your Computer Because of a Problem" Warning

Question

Level 2

170 points

"You Shut Down Your Computer Because of a Problem" Warning

Some time ago I DID have to restart my computer because of some problem. But, ever since that I get a "You Shut Down Your Computer Because of a Problem" warning every time I restart my computer which I only do occasionally, usually just to clear the memory.

How can I reset that warning? I've tried various utilities (Disk Utility, Cocktail, Tinkertool System, TechTool Pro), have run Disk Utility from Recovery, and have rebuilt the PRAM—all to no avail. I still get this error message every time I restart my computer.

The warning doesn't seem to affect anything, at least nothing I've noted; it's just an annoyance.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 6:05 AM

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Answer 1

Will Mardis Author

Level 2

170 points

Feb 2, 2021 7:45 AM in response to judysings

Thank you for your assistance. I just updated to Big Sur 11.2 today and my issue seems to have gone away. Nevertheless, I did reset the SMC per your recommendations.

Following the update and SMC reset I noted that my Applications and Utility folders were reset. That is, for these 2 folders I prefer filenames to be on the right but for these 2 folders the label position was changed to Bottom. No big deal. Just an observation.

But a comment. I do wish Finder windows operated like they did "way back when" Mac OS 9.X. Then, window sizes and icon placements remained as the user set them, and double-clicking on a folder window would open folder in a new window. I take time to arrange my windows to suit me. But when folders open in the same window as they're located in, and the icons therein rearrange to suit the size of the window, my arrangements are fruitless.

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Answer 2

judysings

Community Specialist

Feb 1, 2021 5:01 PM in response to Will Mardis

Hi Will,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you're having an issue with seeing the "You Shut Down Your Computer Because of a Problem" anytime you restart your iMac. We're happy to help.

You've completed some great steps thus far. We'd recommend completing an SMC reset for your iMac. You can find the steps in the section "Desktop computers" here: How to reset the SMC of your Mac

If the issue continues, test the issue in a new user account and when booted to safe mode. You can find the guides below:

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

Start up your Mac in safe mode

If you have any third party anti-virus software installed, we recommend testing with it disabled as well.

Best!

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Answer 3

Will Mardis Author

Level 2

170 points

Feb 2, 2021 7:15 AM in response to judysings

Thank you for your assistance. I just updated to Big Sur 11.2 today and my issue seems to have gone away. Nevertheless, I did reset the SMC per your recommendations.

Following the update and SMC reset I noted that my Applications and Utility folders were reset. That is, for these 2 folders I prefer filenames to be on the right but for these 2 folders the label position was changed to Bottom. No big deal. Just an observation.

But a comment. I do wish Finder windows operated like they did "way back when" Mac OS 9.X. Then, window sizes and icon placements remained as the user set them, and double-clicking on a folder window would open folder in a new window. I take time to arrange my windows to suit me. But when folders open in the same window as they're located in, and the icons therein rearrange to suit the size of the window, my arrangements are fruitless.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,032 points

Feb 1, 2021 7:31 PM in response to Will Mardis

Look in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ for a file whose name starts with "Kernel"

If there is one, open it, copy the text, and paste it into the Additional Text area in a reply, here (document icon).

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Answer 5

Will Mardis Author

Level 2

170 points

Feb 2, 2021 7:44 AM in response to judysings

I searched for a file whose name begins with "Kernel" in both my user account and system libraries but did not find one. Maybe it was erased by Cocktail or with the 11.2 update. Anyway, the warning window appears to have gone away. Thank you for your assistance.

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"You Shut Down Your Computer Because of a Problem" Warning

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