Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does my clock show 8/27/56?

2. Why does my Mac have a flashing question mark or a broken folder when I turn it on?

3. Do I need to backup my files and if so how often and to what?

4. Is it better to upgrade my Mac or buy a new one?

5. Should I load all those Operating System updates to my computer?



Why does my clock show 8/27/56?

There is a battery inside your Mac known as a clock battery. Though this battery maintains more than the clock, it is commonly referred to as the clock battery. A good way to tell if your battery is dead is to check your system date in the Date & Time System Preference (OS X ) or the Date & Time Control Panel under the Apple Menu (OS 9). Most Macs use a 3.7 volt lithium battery and is easily replaced by a technician. This is a procedure best left to a qualified technician on most Macs. This is due to the sensitive nature of the components inside your computer. Many precautions must be taken even by qualified technicians. Some models are very easy to replace the battery and when following the proper procedure the end user can take it on.

Why does my Mac have a flashing question mark or a broken folder when I turn it on?

For your Macintosh to boot it requires a System Folder (OS 9 and earlier) or OS X system resources. When you turn on your system you will hear a startup chime and then under normal circumstances it will boot to a usable state. When booting your system if you see a flashing question mark or a broken folder this usually means you have software corruption on your hard drive. This can usually be repaired. Some repairs preserve your data, others require that all information be removed from the hard drive and reloaded. Other reasons you may see this symptom. Hardware damage, this can be a failing hard drive, failing controller card or logic board. See the next FAQ on backing up data.

Do I need to backup my files and if so how often and to what?

YES! Without question! The question you need to ask yourself is this. Is the time it takes to backup your data less than what it would take to recreate your data? The next question is how often should you backup your files? Well the same applies. If it takes you 5 minutes per week to backup your files, and it would take you days to recreate the last weeks worth of data then backup weekly if not more often. Its cheap insurance! Do it often.

The next question is what do you backup to. Most of the new Macs have CD writers built in. If not then they can be added as external devices. You can also add Iomega Zip drives, hard drives and DVD writers. Listed below are storage capacities for these devices.

What is best for you? Whatever one will hold your data with a little space to spare. This brings up another point. Always save your documents in a documents folder. Under OS 9 there is usually a Documents folder on the hard drive and possibly on the desktop. In OS X it is in your home directory. The reason you want to save your documents to a documents folder are...

1. It is easier for you to backup one folder rather than searching your hard drive for all your documents.

2. If your system fails and a technician needs to attempt recovery or backup your files it is easier for the tech to locate the one folder. This in turn costs you, the customer, less.

It depends on what you want to do with your Mac, what you want to upgrade and costs involved. Some common upgrades are memory and hard drives. A memory upgrade in most cases will add a little speed to the system but mostly it will allow you to run more applications or applications that are graphic intensive. An example of a memory upgrade would be if you had a slot loading iMac with 64mb (it only has two memory sockets) of memory and wanted to run OS X. It may run with 64mb but you would not be happy with the performance. The solution would be to install a 128mb chip to give a total of 192mb (64mb +128mb) or install a 256mb chip for a total of 320mb (64mb + 256mb). When upgrading memory you should find the balance between cost of the upgrade and the added benefit to the system.

Hard drive upgrades are another option. Upgrading your hard drive can also add some speed to your system but usually this is not the reason. Usually you upgrade your hard drive because you have run out of space on your old one. Here again you want to find the balance between the cost of the upgrade and the intended benefit.

Other upgrades like processors and internal optical drives are not always a good choice. Usually with these items there is a high cost involved with little result. The other issue is when computer hardware is developed it is made to run at a certain speed. When you have a computer for example a PowerMac 6100/66. This is a PowerPC 601processor at 66 MHz. You install a PowerPC G3 processor upgrade that runs at 233mhz in this system. Yes you get a boost in speed but it is making the system do something it was never designed to. Its like installing a car engine in a bicycle. The other thing to look at is a comparison between your system with the upgraded chip and a new system of the same speed. When you upgrade the whole system, yes there is more cost involved, but you get more than a old system with a upgraded processor. You are also able to take advantage of new technologies like USB, FireWire and also all the new software and operating systems.

External optical drives and storage media are a good choice depending on the intended function. In most cases internal upgrades are not a good choice. The one exception would be upgrades offered by Apple Computer Inc. This is very rare though. The reason you want to avoid these upgrades are because the upgrade was not made for the function. For example, if you have a PowerMac G3 400 Blue and White tower and you want an internal CD-RW drive. Internal CD drives in Macintosh systems designed to work with the Mac and the firmware/ROMS in the Mac need to work with the drive. If these do not communicate then you may experience boot issues or the inability to boot from a CD. This could keep you or a technician from running diagnostics on your system costing valuable time and you money.

In most situations, yes, it is best to load the updates from Apple for the operating systems. OS X workstation and server have a Software Update System Preference Panel. If you have a high speed connection you can load the updates. If you have a dialup (modem) connection I do not recommend using the Software Update System Preference Panel. Since these updates can be quite large, it would tie up your phone line for the better part of a day. As a courtesy, up load all necessary Operating System updates either from CD or our high speed internet connection at the service facility.

If you have an OS X Server be careful when loading updates. You must evaluate the services running on the server and identify if the loading of the update will cause an error or turn off services.

As always, backup your crucial data before loading any applications or updates.