troubleshooting your mac

Stopping a Bomb at Startup

Dan Knight - March 1998

I just installed a new program or upgraded an old program. Now my Mac bombs on startup.

First, boot with extensions off. You do that by holding down the shift key until the happy Mac goes away. If your computer boots without extensions, you have a conflict somewhere in your System Folder.

The most likely culprit is something left behind by the software installer. Open the System Folder and view by name. At or near the top you may see an extension and a folder with names like "Installer Temp." If so, drag them to the Trash and restart. (Don't empty the Trash until you know the system boots properly.)

The problem is that the installer left behind an extension that was supposed to clean up after itself, but instead that extension is somehow incompatible with your system. So, instead of quietly deleting old files, it crashes your computer.

For other possibilities, read What Works, What Doesn't.

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