New to Mac, got unexpected error 1 minute after fresh install please help.

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Hello everyone,

Very new to the forums, I recently bought a used Mac to see what they were all about.

Here are the specs:

Mac Mini
1.66 GHZ Intel Core Duo
2 GB 667 Mhz DDR SDRAM
Snow Leopard 10.6.3

Got the system in the mail and it appeared to be running fine. Since I got it used I wiped (zeroed out) it and reinstalled Snow Leopard. Installation went off without a hitch.
After getting to the desktop after the install. I went to Safari, and then downloaded the .dmg for firefox 5. No problems. After the download I began installing firefox 5. While it was installing I went to the apple menu and selected "software update." Keep in mind this was at the same time firefox was installing. Shortly thereafter I got an error stating "Software update has quit unexpectedly." The firefox installation proceeded without a hitch.
What could have caused this? I am new to Macs but not PCs by a long shot. I have attempted to reproduce the problem, (including a complete reinstall and setting up the same circumstances) but am unable to. I would almost take more comfort in being able to reproduce the problem. I am unable to. Other than this small wrinkle I am very happy with my Mac and was considering buying a new one. Please help. Thank you.
Also another detail, my install disc has some very minor scratches on it. I seriously doubt this could be a contributing factor.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
2018 15" MBP, 2019 11" iPad Pro, iPhone 11 Pro
It really sounds like a rare one-time glitch. Maybe something FF was doing during install was not to Software Update's liking. ?? But it is a used Mac, so you never really know what you're getting with that unless it is refurbished directly from Apple. Otherwise, you just never know what lurks inside a used computer.
Keep using it as normal and see if any other odd things happen. In the mean time you can run Disk Utility to verify permissions and to verify disk. See if anything comes up and repair the issues if necessary.
 
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do one time glitches happen on Macs? Could you elaborate? How do I access disk utlity?
 
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It really sounds like a rare one-time glitch. Maybe something FF was doing during install was not to Software Update's liking. ?? But it is a used Mac, so you never really know what you're getting with that unless it is refurbished directly from Apple. Otherwise, you just never know what lurks inside a used computer.
Keep using it as normal and see if any other odd things happen. In the mean time you can run Disk Utility to verify permissions and to verify disk. See if anything comes up and repair the issues if necessary.

Thank you for responding. Are random glitches common on macs? I have always heard that Macs just "work." I love the idea of never having to reformat the hard drive after years of use and having computer run at the same speed it's entire lifetime. Thats why I'm interested in Macs. No windows REGISTRY to worry about!
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 13, 2.4, 8GB, 120GB SSD OCZ
If I understand the problem right. Go to System Preference>software update>installed update

There should be a list of what update was already installed. Then you can 'check now' under Scheduled Check tab and try to reinstalled the software update that was cut short.

I often tried not to do multiple installations at the same time. Certain installation requires certain apps to be closed before installation can proceed. You should have let FF do its installation and then do the software update afterward.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
You have very limited processing power and memory, and the recommendation is for Software Updates run nothing else. All computers have glitches as they are FREDs at the end of the day and like motor cars, most times it is the nut behind the wheel.

Go to the Apple web site and download OS X.6.8 Combo updater, over 440MB download so trust you are on broadband.


http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1400
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Late 2013 MBP 15" I7 2.3 Ghz 16 GB Ram 500 GB SSD Retina
Having recently migrated from Windows that is one thing that I learned the hard way. Several times I was in a hurry and started multiple upgrades or installations at the same time. What a mistake. I have blown up several perfectly good working windows machines by doing that. You especially don't want to do that with a windows update. That is a real mess. I load or updated one thing at a time now. ALWAYS. Even on a machine with lots of ram and processor power. Just not worth the headache.

Sounds like an easy fix though. Just reinstall the application that did not install properly and I would think you are good to go.

Regards,

Pat
 

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