New MacPro: Why might my OSX have been corrupted?

Hardware related issues can be checked by using the Hardware Diagnostic tool on the Tiger installation CD/DVD.

The factory installation of Tiger is the first thing that goes when I get a new Mac, simply because it installs EVERYTHING.

I do a fresh install that removes all additional Printer Drivers, Languages, Trial Programs and any games or Apple software that I just do not use, as all of that takes up SO much useless disk space, and leaves my machine lean & mean. Also I do it to see for my own eyes that the installation completed successfully. Then I also do any Software Updates before installing any of my 3rd party software.

The "Archive" saves your personal documents etc, so of course things like Adobe will be hosed afterwards when it installs new system files that your Adobe no longer recognizes.

As for boot times, that is pretty slow. I am at the 15-20 second mark with my iMac.

Hi, hassiman.

While it's possible you may have received a corrupted OS install from the factory, I suspect that is exceptionally rare.

AppleCare often recommends one reinstall Mac OS X via Archive and Install when no cause or solution can be quickly found for a given problem. Sometimes this is the most expedient solution, but IMO it is the "third-to-last" resort after one has exhausted all other troubleshooting avenues. The install may not have been corrupted.

1. re: Long startup / boot times: I don't have a Mac Pro, but the long startup times you describe (it sounds like you've also enabled automatic login) could be due to an errant Startup or Login Item. My "Troubleshooting Startup and Login Items" FAQ can help you pin that down if such an item is causing the problem.

Additionally, the following items have been known to cause a delayed startup:

• Specifying a shared (network) volume to mount at startup: if the server sharing that volume, or the shared volume itself, is unavailable.

• If the Mac is configured to automatically connect to a Netinfo or LDAP server and that server is unavailable. See: “Mac OS X: How to Disable NetInfo and LDAP Connections at Startup.”

While I've not tested this, if you've set the Processor pop-up menu choice to "Reduced" in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options, this might slow the startup process as well as overall execution. Set this to Automatic or Highest. I use Highest. See "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: My Mac runs slowly."

2. You wrote:

"then my login Voice-over quit working."

Some more details about this problem would be required, e.g. exactly what you mean by "log in voice-over," etc.

3. You wrote:

"I had thought that unlike Windows, Applications installed on a MAC were far less likely to cause a problem for the Apple OS and that doing a Force Quit (which I think I only had to do once or twice) would not corrupt the operating system. Is the wrong?"

It is highly unlikely for an application to corrupt the OS. However, they can sometimes corrupt the preferences or cache, if any, of the application that crashed. If multiple apps start misbehaving, see my "Multiple applications quit unexpectedly or fail to launch" FAQ for comprehensive advice on troubleshooting this issue.

Hard (power button) restarts — which you appear to indicate that you've not performed — have been known to lead to directory corruption. Depending on the type of directory corruption, this could eventually lead to a corrupted OS. See my "Data corruption and loss: causes and avoidance" FAQ for comprehensive advice on this subject.

4. You wrote:

"Is there a utility that will tell me if this might have been hardware related?"

Yes: the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that came the affected computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the AHT in troubleshooting.

5. You wrote:

"I am new to OSX so please forgive what must seem like innane questions."

Their not inane.

Since you're new to Mac, you may find my "Learning About Mac OS X" FAQ helpful. It lists a number of resources that will help you shorten the learning curve, including books, online training, and more.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Hi, Rich.

1. You wrote:

"http://supporten.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index& req=getit&lid=409"

How did you implement this? It doesn't sound like you were using VoiceOver but some third-party app to do this. Issues with third-party apps are best addressed to the app's developer.

2. By "CleanApp" you mean this application? If so, here's my advice: I neither use nor recommend third-party uninstallers: if one isn't careful, or if the code is buggy, one can get into a good bit of trouble by removing things one should not. See my "Uninstalling applications" FAQ for important advice on uninstalling software.

3. re: Wipe and reinstall. That's probably overkill, but if you want to take that approach, I'd recommend:

(a) Backing up any personal data on the disk in question first,

(b) Reviewing:

• "Custom installs in Mac OS X 10.4."

• "Using Restore discs with computers that ship with Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later"

(c) "Zeroing" the disk in question using the Security option to Write Zeros to truly wipe the drive and map out any bad sectors that may possibly be on the drive before undertaking the reinstall. See "Disk Utility Help: Erasing a disk or volume.".

(d) Conduct your reinstall.

4. re: Moving the Home folder. I don't recommend this. See my comments on this in my "Freeing Space on your Mac OS X startup disk" FAQ.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

You wrote:

"How do you feel about maintenance apps like MacJanitor, Onyx or Tiger Cache Cleaner"

Other than Macjanitor, which is designed solely to run the maintenance scripts — which primarily clean up logs, as discussed in my "Running Mac OS X Maintenance Scripts" FAQ — such tools are really for troubleshooting. Read my "Maintaining Mac OS X" FAQ. It covers my advice on "regular maintenance" and dispels some common "maintenance myths."

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

1. You wrote:

"Rather than re-inastlling all the Apps to my OSX re-installed/Archive system do you think I mihght be better off doing a wipe\reinstall so that all of my Apps ( CS2/CS3 - Office for MAC - etc.) are done on a clean foundation? This machine is new so I have very little data floating around on it. Just some WORD and EXCEL files. Just the pain of re-setting user accounts which there are only 2. I believe my iMovie HD files and iPhoto files are all on my second internal HD and not my system drive."

Well, that's really up to you. If it will allay your concerns, it's probably best. You'll certainly know that you're starting clean, which can be helpful, and it's easier now than later. Just be sure you've backed-up everything you want to save and that your iPhoto and iMovie data are where you think they are before you zero the drive.

You may also want to take screen shots of some of the preferences that are tedious to set up, such as Network preferences and Mail's preferences, and print those out before you zero the drive.

2. You wrote:

"I was thinking of possibly waiting to do this when the new version of OSX 10.4.9 comes out so the OS is upgraded on a clean platform. What's your take? This system seems to be running well although the Photoshop and Parallels are hosed. "

No one but Apple knows when or if there will be a 10.4.9 Update. 😉

However, Before installing software updates, you may wish to consider the advice in my "Installing Software Updates" FAQ. Taking the steps therein before installing an update often helps avert problems and gives you a fallback position in case trouble arises.

As to Parallels, as FYI, I was reading my weekly VersionTracker e-mail of new software and noted that a new build of Parallels Desktop was released on 1 February.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.