I think I killed my Mac...

Hey Guys,

So I recently took a great leap and switched to MBP 13. Amazing looks, great system, slightly retarded office ( I really miss office 2007 from a PC - and yes I tried parallels but it's too slugish). Anyways, I was always assured that the system is fool proof.... I believed it till yesterday...

I was deleting one of the application that I no longer use ( I think it was called Together - a note organizer etc). I also had CleanApp installed to kick in and clean after the app is gone.

And it did. It deleted around 18MB of UNUSED STUFF - all automatic. Result - After restart all my programs have while crossed circle around them and nothing wants to start. It affected mail, safari, word, excel, even dropbox, utorent and istatpro...

I do have a backup on time machine from last week. Also I did try to reinstall the system, only to find that it fixed safari and mail, but the rest is still crossed out.

Anybody have an idea on what to do, or should I just get a PC/WHS combination that works like a charm )))))

Feedback as usually is highly appreciated...

 

CleanApp must have done something unexpected.

If you only got the MBP recently, I would recommend just doing a clean install, and to be certain you can wipe the partition and start totally clean.

You don't typically need to use those special app uninstallers. While some apps can leave bits and pieces behind, it's usually nothing to be concerned about.

 

it appears you dont know lots of computer stuff. i would suggest you brin it to an apple store. a quick reformat might do the trick.

 

Luke, with all due respect, I don't know what "computer stuff" you're referring to. I might not be an expert on Mac - since I got it in September, but has been in IT for the last 6 years.

I'm just slightly surprised that mac architecture could pull such an error basically disabling most of my programs. I'm running a 50+ XP/7/2003 network at work, and I have never heard about deleting one program and effectively disabling the rest.

Mac is fool-proof, but I guess too much. Once something goes wrong it just takes the everything with it. I did time machine backup, still I guess I have a PC mentality trying to fix before formating...

Quick format is not an answer. It's an easy way out,but I invested a lot of time into customizing, adjusting and placing all my stuff around.

 

Not to offend you, however, if you removed all the preferences for programs on osx's prefs folder, then you could be in for trouble (red cross) as to osx these programs would never have been started before.

I like osx's ability to install/remove programs, its much streamlined, takes less time than Windows. Windows doesn't work like this so therefore that explains why you haven't seen it.

 

A Mac is idiot resistant and buoys the egos of the incompetent to a much greater degree than other OS's by empowering them. It's far from foolproof though.

Nevertheless, this seems to be either a case of an app going seriously AWOL, or 'I'm a sysadmin for x years and noone can tell me anything' yet curiously incompetent (and very common on teh internets I find) user not fessing up to the whole story.

While I'm a careful user, I've never seen an incident of anything like the former on OS X. Which doesn't mean it's impossible, especially as I've never used Cleanapp and even shy away from AppZapper.

First, fix permissions by booting off the OS install disc. Check to see if the issue is resolved. I doubt it, but see anyway.

Second, access your Time Machine Backup not by going into the interface but directly into the TM disc, and drag back all the apps from last week. That should resolve the app issue. Any new apps you installed since then, reinstall.

And I'd suggest uninstalling CleanApp. Unless you're mowing your way through hundreds of apps on a regular basis, most leave very little behind when they're trashed - and it could prevent a recurrence of issues like this, especially if you're not actually sure what you're throwing away.

 

Strange that you blame OS X for an issue caused by a third party app. All the Mac bashing also takes away from your credibility and makes the post seem like flame bait. Your signature kind of seals the deal and by the way the link is broken to your sale. Sounds like Vogelbung has given some solid advice that should fix your problem. Otherwise a fresh install should do the trick.

 

Thanks for your reply,

Yeah it's really unusual. I didn't tinker with the system. My motto is don't fix it if it aint broken. I'm positive that CleanApp caused the problem. I'm fessing up the whole thing, there was nothing else I did ( imagine my surprise after the restart)

So I guess all application settings are stored withing the the container, huh? Do you think all my MAIL messages, settings and stuff are also there?

I'm definitely throwing out all those cleaning apps.

I'll try to recover from TM after I get home, but so far that sounds like a plan.

Thanks for your feedback... I'm not giving up on mac just yet...

 

What's with all the flame Jervis???

I wasn't blaming the system. I was just surprised that apps are all packed together.

I have no idea while are you invoking my OLD signature sale link? Trying to prove that I'm incompetent and not able to post link or trying to say that I'm already giving up and selling my mac? This mac sale was from the summer and it was completely unrelated.

And yes, Vogelbung give me a great solution, for which I'm greatful for...

I'm really not trying to start another PC vs MAC war... I was just surprised by the situation...

 

Doubt it's anything to do with OS X, It must of been something CleanApp did.

 

One thing I've learned is no amount of IT knowledge will prevent people from making mistakes. I've made my own share of noob mistakes. The longer you work IT, the longer the list of mistakes you make.

What separates the contenders from the pretenders is how fast you can recover before someone notices.

:laugh:

 

I have never trusted cleaner in PC or MAC. They seam to do more harm than good.

 

Yep, Lesson learned. I don't know why I thought and auto-cleaner with do the job...

 

Wow, a lot of hate for what seems like a simple question.

Essentially you either don't have permissions, don't have settings/preferences, or don't have something the programs need to run.
(I assume the executables are fine)

I think its pretty obvious that both you and everyone else here know it was indeed an unexpected result of the 3rd-party program that did this.

It's pretty much the same if you ran an uninstaller program on a PC which borked your registry.

Surprising is the amount of people completely upset that you could have any trouble at all with a mac.

The whole marketing campaign for macs is centered around being easy and trouble-free.

You had trouble... granted, this is most likely more a 3rd-party program issue than a OS problem, but let's face it, this is usually the problem with PCs as well.

Mac and PC are pretty much the same now with a focus on different thought processes... no worries, you will get the hang of it.

Watch out for the mac fanatics though. They seem particularly feral today.
"oh noes, someone had trouble with a mac! KILL THEM!"

 

I don't think anyone had an issue with arvean have a problem with his Mac. I think the problem was with the presentation of the problem. It was worded in a way that gives the impression that it is flame bait. The signature didn't help since it gave the impression that he was selling the system already based on the problem. Since there are so many trolls on this forum you tend to be suspicious of such posts. If I'm wrong I apologize.

 

I was at the apple store the other day to get an OSX issue resolved. I had time to kill so I ended up talking to the other customer to my right, he gave me some very true advice:

"When an average person screws something up on a computer, it is easy for an IT guy to fix it. When an IT guy screws something up, you are FUBAR"

It had to be the cleanapp.

OSX is less idiot proof then xp sp3 tbh.

 

I swear anytime anyone posts a question to this forum this answer appears sooner than later.

o_0 mac folk baffle my mind....

 

Actually if you used Linux before you know that there are dependencies in software(Windows abstract the whole idea from you).
Software load shared libraries for particular function, if the shared library are removed certain Apps may not work but I never heard of removing one App and the system crashes(Except in Win9X etc).
That is why Windows have a built in uninstaller and Linux uses a Package Manager to manage installation package.
Deleting Apps when you want to uninstall seems like primitive handling, doesn't remove the Application Cleanly.

Oh suggesting to bring it to Apple store seems ironic, as the user post because he/she wants it solved ASAP not bring to the App Store.

 

that is an amazing quote. im gonna hafta steal it!

 

the problem has nothing to do with deleting the app, it has to do with a 3rd party removal tool that tries to replicate uninstall in Windows messing up the system.

There are a few apps that leave tons of data around... but most apps leave such little things, that you'd have to go through like 5000 apps to even notice the space.

If you really want a good program for helping remove, there is a freeware one called AppTrap that works pretty good. Technically I think it should be built into the OS by default. It runs a process in the background, and every time you delete a .app, it finds any associated files that it had installed, shows you what they are, and asks if you want those moved to the trash as well.

 

The point being that apparently ANYTHING that implies the mac experience isn't flawless is now flame bait.

Even if selling it, he simply could have found out that the mac experience wasn't for him. It doesn't make him a troll to have tried both and prefer one over the other.

Oddly enough you seem to be advocating protecting a forum from trolls by acting like one.

 

flame bait isn't always what you say, but how you say it...

two people can say the same exact thing with the same point, and one can be flame bait, and the other not.

 

Just for the record I wasn't trying to flame bait. I just experienced an unusual situation having unfortunate signature that triggered the whole non-sense. I'm sure Jervis knows that by now, right Jervis?

Anyways, just to give you guys a quick update:

I've resolved the situation, unfortunately having to reformat the drive ( dragging apps for backup helped partially but the system was unstable - i guess that cleaner really cleaned a lot...

After the reinstall, and restore thru migration assistant I was up and running within 2 hours. Overall, it was a positive experience, I've learned a lot and saw how mac reacts in crysis situation.

All's good that doesn't end in a flame,

NOT-Mac-Troll..

 

omg... im going to steal it too

 

What's wrong with that? It's simply taking advantage of a great Mac resource (provided of course that you're covered under some type of warranty ). I've been to Apple stores twice with problems on my old MBP, and they really do have awesome support services.

 

If the original post was simply to ask for some help and explained the problem it would not have been seen as flame bait. Seems like you want to accuse people of overreacting by doing it yourself.

Arvean I'm glad you've gotten the problem fixed.