Fourth in a series of articles on how to have a successful relationship with your Mac.
I think his pulse and respiration appear to be normal. Colour looks good. And I'm pretty sure he's breathing ...
Oh, Oh! ... another Bad Mac Day! Gee, yesterday he was just fine. I wonder if that new extension I gave him has caused system indigestion?
It's not unusual to begin having problems after installing new control panels and extensions on your system. The reasons are many: firstly, there are so many software developers that their is no way that they can guarantee their product to be compatible with everything (they tend to work very well with the big software applications though), secondly, perhaps the software you have installed is out of date for your system, thirdly, maybe its been written for a PowerPC vs. a Macintosh or visa versa, and doesn't match your system descriptions.
Sometimes little neat control panels and extensions are worth the inconvenience of some unexpected quits (if not too frequent), however, if you are crashing and bombing a lot, either part with the new stuff, update to a current version or check into a rehab centre.
You may want to consider installing an Extension Manager (comes with System 7.5). In this way you can create sets of extensions for particular needs and reduce the chances of conflict.
If you don't have Conflict Catcher (by Cassidy & Greene), you will have to move all your extensions from your extension folder in the system and start adding them one at a time until you catch the culprit that is giving you all the trouble.
A convenient little method of hiding control panels and extensions from the system on startup is to create a folder called DISABLED Control Panels and DISABLED Extensions. You can store items here that you don't want to use for now, but will find they are easy to find and move to the regular Control Panel and Extension folders when you need them.
One of the most important things you can do for your Mac is to provide regular maintenance. Like your car needs a tune-up, the Mac needs optimizing. I highly recommend Norton Utilities. This is an easy to use program and if you use your Mac daily, run Norton once a week.
This program will check your internal, external and any remote media connected to your computer. It looks for little problems before they become big problems and can fix most things right on the spot - automatically! After all, why wait til the darn thing crashes and you have to call a recovery expert because you didn't backup your files!
The next step is optimization - you will really notice an improvement in performance when you are not reading fragmented files all the time.
Sorry folks, space all used up. Stay tuned for SCSI devices and daisy chaining.
So stay tuned to this column to learn more about your relationship with a Mac. Watch for these insightful articles: How to nurse a sick Mac back to health ... Care and Feeding of the Mac ... and more!
The Mac Lady is an independent web designer located in Vancouver, BC. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEXT ARTICLE...
