i need help very urgently ... please... thanks

I'm using a 13" macbook pro - 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 - backing up all my data on a time capsule.

I switched in Aug - since then did'nt have any problems.
The original OS was Leopard - i purchased an upgrade DVD to install Snow Leopard.

1. Since last 20 minutes, the display is giving me trouble - all letters seem bold and unclear. When i just move the mouse, the entire screen moves... internet has slowed down ...

2. I backed up - ran verify disk permissions .. and then repair disk permissions.. - there were 2 errors - 1 was repaired - the other was not.
It says "System/library/core services/management/ardagent.app/contents/macos/ardagent has been modified and will not be repaired" - i have no idea what it means..

3. I ran verify disk and it says the disk is corrupted and needs to be repaired.

- - i inserted the install dvd - turned on the computer keeping C pressed but i cannot find where to go to get the utilities - repair disk.

i'm really scared because i have to travel tomorrow ..
moreover the install disk is that of leopard ..whereas my current system is S.L

can someone please guide me :-
a. Is it risky if i run repair disk on my own.
b. Do i run a chance of losing all data and need to restore? I'm new to macs and have never tried it before..

I do have Apple Care Protection Plan but the support centre is closed for the day ......

Please if can help, i'd really be v.v.grateful ... many thanks..

2. If that messages is in this list, you can ignore it.

3. Go to Utilities in the menu bar - Disk Utility should be there.

Running the repair from the OS X install dvd is totally fine. You will not lose any data from your hard drive.

To access it you boot your mac up with the C key down as you have done. And then after a while a screen somes up. Pich the language you want to read and press ok. Then on the next screen forget about the main part of it. You are not re-installing OS X. In the menus there on the top of the screen, well on one of the menus is a thing called "Disk Utility". Select that and it will open the "Disk Utility" app and from there you can repair and varify your Hard drive. You can also erase it and so other things too so just becareful on what you click so you don't erase anything. But honestly it's really easy to use and almost no one makes mistakes here.

And after you repair your hard drive it will tell you if the drive is ok or not.

Mind you I do not know if using a Install disc (with a system on it) different to the OS on the computer will do anything bad? Though I'm sure the earlier install discs would have a disk utility attuned to it's system and not the system you are using now. I would seruiously look into getting a SL dvd. They are cheap and really help with these kind of issues.

If you're still worried ring up apple care when they are opened. And they might be able to help also.

thank u so much for your replies...
i have the S.L UPGRADE disk... would that also have the disk utility on it..?
if this sounds like a stupid question, i sincerely apologise.
thank u again for taking so much time to write in detail - v.v.v.grateful.

Yes the SL dvd has the disk utility on it. Every OS X install disc has had it or something similar on it. So you're ok there.
And never apologise. Every question no matter how silly it might sound is good to us. Then we can make another satisified Macintosh user

...thank u ... sincerely...
i just did that.. the disk was successfully repaired..
but the internet page is still behaving very funny ... scrolls up and down..
and all fonts still appear dark..
screen resolution still not clear...

do i have to repair :-
320.07 GB HITACHI HTS..........A02 Media
OR
Macintosh HD?

I was not sure so i clicked repair for Macintosh HD...

many thanks again for your kind help ....

now i've repaired both the disks...
still the same issue...
dont know what to do..

hari.p said:

1. Since last 20 minutes, the display is giving me trouble - all letters seem bold and unclear. When i just move the mouse, the entire screen moves... internet has slowed down ...

Click to expand...

Hold down the control key and scroll the mouse scroll wheel until you're zoomed all the way out. I think you can turn this off in prefs if you want to.

Either one whould be ok. But I woild try the 320.07 GB HITACHI HTS..........A02 Media first. That is your Hard Drive. And the Macintosh HD is just a partition of your hard drive. The one and only partion. That becomes important when you want to check one partition and not others. But for the time being just repair the entire HD with "320.07 GB HITACHI HTS"

But what you did would be ok too. And glad you got it mostly sorted out.

And for your screen resolution issue you might need to adjust it. Because I would assume it is set at a factory floor setting good for those lights but not so good for the local home or office. In the finder click on the Apple in the top left of the menu bar and select system prefrences from that menu. The click on the displays image that appears and there click on the display and color buttons. Just make sure they are set right for your mac. As in if you have a 13" MBP make sure is it set to 13" MBP or something similar. I'm sorry if I'm dumbing down things too much but better be safe than sorry. And yeah it is important to check. When I got my imac it was set to sRGB-something. And I had to change it to imac. And it was ok.

Also on my imac, should be the same on your MPB of the F1 and F2 keys are 2 little suns. The F1 key lessens the screen brightness and the F2 inscreases it. And as you press these buttons a little onscreen popup will aprear for a second or so. Use those buttons if the screen is a little too bright or dark for your liking.

And by deafult I think the F-keys are set to these functions and fress the fn key + whatever F-key you want and that gets the respective F-key you press to act like and ordaniry F-key like on windows. You can swap this around so it's the reverse if you want to also in the system prefrences too.

Thanks a million for your very valued help - very deeply grateful.

1. I love my mac but cant say the same for apple support. I called up Apple Support and the person on the line asked me to reinstall the operating system. I had to decline.

2. i called up the local apple support and they said they would send their technician and charge USD 100.- per hour although i was within warranty (this was their onsite service charge).

But then i read all the above posts once again ... very slowly.....
Repaired my disk and finally control + scroll brought the screen back to normal.....

I did feel very stupid ...but really it is HUGE RELIEF because i can leave now without any hassle...

Thank you very much for all the help - i'm completely humbled...

Glad you got it fixed!!