Mac doesn't shut down properly

crosswire · Jan 14, 2007

I have 2 user accounts on my imac 20"(Tiger OS),ones the admin(me)
and ones std..At the end of the day ,since we switch both accounts etc, when i shut down from the admin account, I get this blue screen wit the mouse showing -and thats about it..I have to physically press the power button at the back to shut it down.It doesnt happen when i just use my account and shut down.

But when my sis use the std account and i switch over to my account and shut down, i get the slow lag in shutting down.Can't i make my sis an admin account user too .
I don't get it often though but just wondering..Im new to a mac so just freaking out at such things.

Also, the mac was very fast when i got in in booting time.It has 250gb.Now it has 200gb and its getting a bit slow booting up.I have imported many photos and music files. Do i need more ram for the bump in speed?i have 1gb now.
Or can i get a software to speed the boootup process etc..

thanks all

Stretch · Jan 14, 2007

It sounds like your shut-down problem may be caused from one account not getting logged out. Since you said it shuts-down fine if your account is the only one used. Do you use fast user switching? Before you shut-down your computer, make sure that both accounts are logged out.

HD space shouldn't be a problem with bootup. What's probably causing the slow bootup is the Improper shutdowns. When a mac isn't shutdown properly, it runs a system check while it boots, which will cause a noticable lag in start up.

crosswire · Jan 14, 2007

Ahhhh.....ok,,, yes im using fast user switiching.When im in my sis acount, i dont log out, i just switch back to my admin acount and shut down.I notice it ask me for my username password at that point.

But i thought fast user switiching does log you out once you switch between accounts..anyways let me try it.

thanks

Stretch · Jan 14, 2007

Nope, switching between users with fast user switching doesn't log a user out, you have to go to the Apple menu, and log out that way to log out the user.

crosswire · Jan 14, 2007

Ok i get you. It worked now.
Also, regarding the boot up, it was ok this time. However, im thinking that the more software and files you put on the mac, the slower the boot up time...is that true?
As i said, when i first got it was blazing fast...its a c2d 2.16 speed system..
would 1.5gb ram upgrade make a difference .. etc..in noticing speed etc in software etc.

cvx5832 · Jan 14, 2007

Get Onyx - with all the changes that you may have experimented with (given that it is new) you can use that program to clean up, repair permissions and optimize. You'll see that sucker open up much quicker.

You can also use Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities to repair the permissions.

In both cases, it will take a restart or two to get the caches loaded up. And as i've experienced, it always goes back to 'brand new' speed.

crosswire · Jan 14, 2007

thanks im giving onyx a try.However, what does repair permissions mean?

MacHeadCase · Jan 14, 2007

Permissions is a Unix thing. Each file has three types of permissions. One for the owner of the file, one for a group accessing the file and one for all the others. Each of these sets of permissions have this type of security: Read only (you cannot save to this file), Write only (drop box type of document i.e. you wrote the file, you saved you drop it on a shared folder or hard drive but you cannot view it after it has been dropped), No Access (you cannot open this file nor save to it) or Read & Write (makes this a fully open file).

Sometimes installing software messes up the default settings (like when you do a fresh install of the OS, those are all the default settings for files and folders) or when you want to open something and you get a message saying you cannot save (open) to this file/folder because you don't have the proper permissions, we all know we can change that setting in the Get Info window. This makes it easier for you but the permissions have been changed.

So to summerize, permissions are a security feature in UNix, on which Mac OS X is based and sometimes doing certain things on your Mac will change the permissions. Messed up permissions can make your Mac behave strangely. With Tiger it isn't as acute as it was in Panther or Jaguar though.

Phillip · Jun 18, 2009

MacHeadCase said:
Permissions is a Unix thing. Each file has three types of permissions. One for the owner of the file, one for a group accessing the file and one for all the others. Each of these sets of permissions have this type of security: Read only (you cannot save to this file), Write only (drop box type of document i.e. you wrote the file, you saved you drop it on a shared folder or hard drive but you cannot view it after it has been dropped), No Access (you cannot open this file nor save to it) or Read & Write (makes this a fully open file).

Sometimes installing software messes up the default settings (like when you do a fresh install of the OS, those are all the default settings for files and folders) or when you want to open something and you get a message saying you cannot save (open) to this file/folder because you don't have the proper permissions, we all know we can change that setting in the Get Info window. This makes it easier for you but the permissions have been changed.

So to summerize, permissions are a security feature in UNix, on which Mac OS X is based and sometimes doing certain things on your Mac will change the permissions. Messed up permissions can make your Mac behave strangely. With Tiger it isn't as acute as it was in Panther or Jaguar though.

I found this thread via google--my mac didn't shut down last night. The dial kept spinning and it never shut down. I've also had problems lately with very slow boot times. I have repaired my permissions several times using the Disk Utility. What I've found is that those repairs aren't sticking. The permission problems show up again after a restart. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Mac doesn't shut down properly

crosswire

Stretch

crosswire

Stretch

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cvx5832

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MacHeadCase

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Phillip

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