rainguy41
Level 1 (4 points)
Peripherals

Q: web sites will not load without constant restarts

I have an iMac with Snow Leopard. Over the past few months, every other day, web sites will not load. The blue bar fills in about the first inch or so, then just stops and nothing more happens. I then restart the iMac and when it boots up, all web sites open up fine. Then in another day or so, I go through the same cycle. I have used Reset Safari and Clear Cache multiple times, but this has no effect. Every other day, I need to do a restart, then all is well for another day or two.

 

Is this a sign that this computer is about to crash out for good, or is it some software issue that I can address?

 

Thanks.

 

Doug

iMac (21.5-inch Late 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 13, 2015 4:22 PM

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rainguy41

Q: web sites will not load without constant restarts

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  • by ZackTheGreat,

    ZackTheGreat ZackTheGreat Jul 13, 2015 4:24 PM in response to rainguy41
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Jul 13, 2015 4:24 PM in response to rainguy41

    Its not a sign of anything, really.

     

    Visit this link!

    OS X: When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem." - Apple Supp…

  • by rainguy41,

    rainguy41 rainguy41 Jul 13, 2015 6:01 PM in response to ZackTheGreat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Peripherals
    Jul 13, 2015 6:01 PM in response to ZackTheGreat

    Thanks, Zack but I think I didn't explain my issue clearly. The computer does NOT shut down and restart on its own. Rather, when I click on any of my bookmarks, the bar at the top does not fill in, and the sites will not load and open. The blue line starts to fill in in the site address window but it just stops and the site load doesn't happen. So I then have to click on Restart, I need to manually do this myself, and when the computer has re-started, and the icons in the dock stop bouncing, I can then click on any bookmark and the page opens up fine. This lasts for a day, two at the most, then I have to repeat this process. But I am the one who has to manually do the re-start, which I assume clears up whatever software conflict is making this problem happen.

     

    Any ideas?

  • by Carolyn Samit,Helpful

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 13, 2015 7:43 PM in response to rainguy41
    Level 10 (124,577 points)
    Apple Music
    Jul 13, 2015 7:43 PM in response to rainguy41

    "every other day, web sites will not load"

     

     

    The problem is that your Mac is not only running an oudated OS X 10.6.8 but that means Safari is outdated as well. Which is why you're having problesm with Safari not loading web pages.

     

    Apple has not provided security updates for Snow Leopard for years which means your Mac could be vulnerable to adware and malware.

     

    See if your Mac can upgrade to Yosemite > How to install OS X Yosemite on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    That would update Safari to 8.0.7.



  • by rainguy41,Helpful

    rainguy41 rainguy41 Jul 13, 2015 7:59 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Peripherals
    Jul 13, 2015 7:59 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Okay, this makes sense and I'm sure that this is the cause of the problem I am having. I don't think I can upgrade Safari beyond where it is now, but I will give the link you enclosed a try. Thinking back, I am wondering if genio showing up one day on this computer has anything to do with this issue. I didn't download it, it just showed up one day.

     

    Many thanks for the reply, Carolyn. At least now I know what I am dealing with and, ultimately, a new Mac may be the only resolution.

     

    I appreciate you getting back to me.

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 13, 2015 8:14 PM in response to rainguy41
    Level 10 (124,577 points)
    Apple Music
    Jul 13, 2015 8:14 PM in response to rainguy41

    "I am wondering if genio showing up one day on this computer has anything to do with this issue."

     

    That's part and parcel. You may have put off purchasing a new Mac at least for a short time.

     

    Genieo is malware but relatively easy to remove.

     

    If you would rather not download AdwareMedic, follow the instructions here   >  Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support




    You're welcome.

  • by rainguy41,

    rainguy41 rainguy41 Jul 13, 2015 8:21 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Peripherals
    Jul 13, 2015 8:21 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Carolyn,

     

    I went to the app store and the user reviews for installing Yosemite on older iMacs are  . . . not good, lot of lost data, photos scattered all over the place, etc. I wonder if maybe upgrading to Mountain Lion might be a better idea in that (I think) I would still retain iPhoto.

     

    In the interim, I am going to make Chrome my default browser instead of Safari, see if that makes a difference. It's possible that whatever is corrupted is in Safari and perhaps not entire OS wide.  Worth a try. And Chrome is **** fast.

     

    I earlier Googled how to remove genio and it sounded complicated at best, disastrous as worst, hence I have been reluctant to try. Do you think that having genio on this computer is/could be the source of this problem?

     

    How do I download AdwareMedic? You are a Level 10 communicating here with a Level -0, so I plead for your forbearance here.

     

    Absolute worst case is that I can just keep doing a manual restart every other day for as long as this stop gap works.

     

    Even if I never get this thing resolved, I am at least learning something.

     

    Thanks.


    Doug

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 13, 2015 8:24 PM in response to rainguy41
    Level 10 (124,577 points)
    Apple Music
    Jul 13, 2015 8:24 PM in response to rainguy41

    I'm sorry. I forgot to give you the link to download AdwareMedic.

     

    Here it is >  Download and run AdwareMedic


    You need to remove the malware no matter what.

  • by itsKeef,

    itsKeef itsKeef Jul 14, 2015 3:35 AM in response to rainguy41
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Jul 14, 2015 3:35 AM in response to rainguy41

    Safari has been dying on its feet for months.

    So you are running...  Snow leopard on a iMac?? don't feel too bad...

    I am running Safari 8.0.7 on an iMac and MacBook Pro both at 10.10.4 (Yosemite) its happening to me.

    Safe boot, clear caches, reboot, reset Safari, etc etc etc tried it all..only works for a while then it grinds to a halt.

    Now today if I enter a search in the window, hit return, nothing...switch to Firefox enter same thing hit return...result.

    Now heres a thing, back to Safari, go to preferences changed the search engine to Yahoo..it works?? huh!

    Switch back to Google, same old issue...!

    Clear caches..blah blah ...restart yep all fine.

    So, sorry no answer really.

    Next step will be to perform a clean OS install on the MacBook and see what happens.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 14, 2015 5:58 AM in response to rainguy41
    Level 9 (74,160 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 14, 2015 5:58 AM in response to rainguy41

    Written by Thomas Reed, a long time poster and the ‘expert’ on malware.

     

    Malware Guide – Adware – 10.6 and under

  • by rainguy41,

    rainguy41 rainguy41 Jul 14, 2015 6:09 AM in response to itsKeef
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Peripherals
    Jul 14, 2015 6:09 AM in response to itsKeef

    Thanks, itsKeef! This is really good to know, that my issue is not unique and, morevoer, someting that plagues OS versions way higher on the food chain. As I said in my reply to Carolyn above, I just last night went into Preferences and switched my default browser to Chrome, so will see if this makes a difference. Like you, I tried both Firefox and Google and same thing: work for a day or so, then the need to manually restart to get another day of functionality. If Chrome fails, I will try Yahoo,


    Whatever, I am actually relieved that this issue is not limited to me and my Paleolithic OS.


    Thanks again!

     

    Doug