New Imac worries

Could I have damaged my brand new imac? I had to unplug it and I assumed that if you press the button which powers it up, it also switches it off, but apparently not. So I unplugged it 2 or 3 times while it was asleep. It seems ok but Im still a bit worried.

Also, I had one time in the 2 days Ive had it, when it turned itself off. Is this likely to be a big worry? Not sure why it did it, I think I was trying to plug my headphones in.

Also I have had one or two applications which have closed unexpectedly.

Actually, a thought just occurred to me. Our power goes off whenevr a light bulb blows, as this usually trips out the power. So I guess thats just the same as unplugging it or a power failure in the local area. This happens (with the light bulbs) a few times a year obviously.

Why are you unplugging your iMac?

Why are you turning it off? You don't really need to. You can just have it go to sleep (uses about the same miniscule amount of power as it does when it's "off"). Most of us rarely turn our Macs off.

If you DO want to turn your Mac off, you should select "shut down" from the Apple menu (top left corner of your screen), or simply press the power button VERY BRIEFLY (a second at most) and the computer will ask you if you want to shut down (and you do in this case). Those are the proper ways to shut down a Mac.

With the combination of power problems and improper shutting down of the Mac, you are probably doing great harm to the integrity of your directory and possibly the hard drive itself.

I would *strongly* recommend the purchase of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS unit). Something in in the $50-70 range should be adequate to protect your computer.

You should also purchase a copy of Disk Warrior (~$100) and use it periodically (every month or so?).

The reason I unplugged it was because the speakers I bought were making a horrible noise, and it was suggested to me to plug them in elsewhere. I ran an extension lead from the next room and it did get rid of 90% of the noise. I thought it might be worth also trying to see if it improved it by plugging the mac in this lead also, but it didnt, slightly worse if anything. So I plugged it back in the old one. Of course I thought the computer was off.

I realised later today that what I said before about all my power going off if a lightbulb goes is rubbish, as only the lights go off I think. If thats correct, do I still need a UPS, as I only ever get a power cut every few years, so have already done about 15 years worth of damage.

Well, fingers crossed its ok. Thanks for the replies.

I'd still get a UPS if your power is that flakey.

Also, as Chas_m said, there really is no reason to be shutting down your mac all the way, much less unplugging it unless you are physically moving the machine or testing for interference problems (but once you've confirmed the interference issue then you need to take appropriate action to fix the problem).

If the speakers were making a horrible noise - I assume like a loud buzz or rumble then it sounds like it may be a grounding problem.

At this point, I would probably reboot the Mac with your OS dvd in and either pressing C or pressing the alt/option key before the Mac boots up, boot from the OS disc and go into the disk utilities and do a verify on the hard drive and have it check/repair damaged permissions.

Wait, you unplugged it without shutting it off first? That's an incredibly bad idea. There are several ways to shut it off. Briefly pressing the power button, as mentioned. Or choosing "Shut Down" from the Apple menu in the top left corner of your menu bar. If worse comes to worse, you could hold down the power button for a few seconds until it shuts down.

I would also get an electrician to check the wiring in the house to see if it's up to standard.

salmar said:

I would also get an electrician to check the wiring in the house to see if it's up to standard.

Click to expand...

LoL I'd have to agree with you on that one Salmar, lights in a house shouldn't work like christmas tree lights - one goes out they all go out