Hello from Anita

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I am new to Machelp and I think that I have emailed the wrong contact regarding my problem.

Can anyone help me with a problem with Safari not loading web pages. I did an
SMC update to try and solve my Macbook 5.2 suddenly shutting down on battery and it broke Safari.

I am running Snow Leopard and the Mac Store won't let me update to Mavericks which I have read could solve the problem. I dont want Yosomite because it wont run my Office software

Any ideas please
 
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Hi Anita,

Welcome to the forums. Hopefully, you can get the help you need.

Regarding the upgrade to Mavericks, the first thing to make sure of is that you are running the last update to Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.8. You can confirm that by selecting Software Update from the Apple Menu. If it tells you that you are running anything less, you should be able to upgrade. Here is a link from a google search I just did on "Can one upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mavericks?":

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5652878

(Your machine can be upgraded, by the way).

Next, not sure what you mean by "I dont want Yosomite because it wont run my Office software". I have Office 2011 on both of my machines, and have no issues at all running Word, Excel, and Outlook under Yosemite. So, please amplify what you mean by that statement.
 
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Hi honestone

Thanks for the Mavericks info - I will follow through. I am using OS 10.6.8

I downloaded Yosemite and when I installed , there was a message saying I could not run Office under Yosemite. My Word for Mac is wobbley but I do use Excel a lot and don't want to lose the data. Did this not happen to you?
 
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Anita,

I am having no issues at all running Word, Excel, and Outlook with Yosemite, on both of my machines. Again, I have the Office 2011 package, and I have also kept up with the various updates which Microsoft has released. The latest one, V14.4.6, came out last week (November 12th). Assuming you have Office 2011, here is a link to download it:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7884/microsoft-office-2011

As you can see, that update requires that you have Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 (14.1.0) or later.

Seems strange that Word is "wobbley". How long have you been having issues with Word? What about Excel? Does it work smoothly?

Again, those two programs, along with Outlook, work fine for me.
 
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Hi again

I probably have about 2009 Office and Word has been corrupt for a couple of years. I don't do much WP and Textedit surfices. Excel, the only other thing I use, is fine.
I don't want to update because I am going to install MS Office in my BootCamp MS partition. When I have done this, I suppose I could install Yosemite

At the moment I am looking for a quick fix for Safari for which I though a quick OS update would sort. There again, I am now using Chrome so I don't need Safari

It's the whole thing about having yet another app on my laptop which is corrupt that I am trying to sort out. I would really like to now why!!

I have checked my HD etc and everything is fine. I did a SMC update etc because after replacing my battery and calibrating, my machine kept shutting down around 50% charge. This is when Safari broke!! I have replaced this battery with one that seems better but the machine shut down this morning at 20%. On reboot ,it stayed on and just went to sleep as I have set it to do.

Sorry, I am rabbiting on but it is driving me mad to have these things happening.

How do you find Yosemite by the way? I have seem some bad reviews for this and also for Mavericks
 
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Anita,

I am rather confused with quite a few of your statements. Please don't take it the wrong way, but I really want to help. So, let me say some things.

First of all, have you upgraded from Snow Leopard? And, if you did, are you now using the latest version of Mavericks (OS 10.9.5)? Associated with the OS version would of course be the version of Safari that you are using.

Secondly, there never was an Office 2009 for Mac. There was Office 2008 for Mac, and during its' time, Microsoft supplied a number of updates (like they have done for Office 2011). Given that you plan on using the Windows version of Office on your Boot Camp MS partition, this is actually a "mute" point. But, if you did not keep up with the updates to Office 2008, that could have caused you so grief.

When you install MS Office on the Boot Camp partition, proceed to "import" all the Office 2008 Excel data files you have on your Mac partition, so that they will not get lost.

In relation to the first thing I asked you, is there anything on there that you need (besides the Excel data files, which (hopefully) you'll"move" to the Boot Camp partition)? If not, then it would be best to do a complete, clean install of Yosemite. This will entail 1) completely erasing everything on the Mac partition, and 2) installing Yosemite "directly". To do the erasing, it will be necessary to do it from an external "source". If you still need some things currently on your Mac partition, then you would simply do an update (I already provided a link above that explains how to do this).

I rarely use Safari, relying primarily on Firefox. But, when I have used it, it has worked fine.

Also, don't understand what is going on with your battery issues, especially given that you put a new one in. Are you sure that one is OK?

You stated "I have checked my HD etc and everything is fine.". How exactly did you do that? Did you just run Disk Utility from your Mac partition and just do a "Verify"? That might not be enough, and that is why 1) it is best to run Disk Utility from an external source, and 2) I have two more robust Disk Maintenance/Repair programs (Disk Warrior and Tech Tool Pro).

If you lived near where I am located (south of Seattle), I could provide some "hands on" assistance with your machine. But, unfortunately I suspect that is not the case. There are some other maintenance (and free) things that you can do that might help, but trying to explain them through here could be difficult.

Finally, Yosemite is fine. Two differences I have noticed are 1) a little slower on the bootup process, but 2) faster on shutting down. This is true for both of my machines, and I have SSDs in both of them. And, Mavericks was fine for me also.

One thing, though, regarding Yosemite and Mavericks (and for prior OSs that I have used): I keep my machines "lean, mean, and clean", so to speak. Every Saturday, I, go through a 4 step process for each of my machines. It is:

1. Boot Outlook into "identity cleanup" mode, so that I can permanently get rid of the EMails I have deleted from the prior 7 days.

2. Run the excellent (and free!) maintenance/cleanup program entitled Onyx. I actually depend on it, and in the past I have not upgraded to a newer OS until Oynx has been upgraded. It has had numerous stellar reviews, and performs quite a few useful functions/tasks.

3. Run the excellent (and more robust than Disk Utility) Disk maintenance/repair program Tech Tool Pro. Again, that is also one I absolutely depend upon.

4. Use SuperDuper! (in "free" mode) to make two bootable backups (to two different external devices) for each of my two machines. Another program I MUST have!

Also, between Saturdays, I am constantly getting rid of stuff I don't need (most of that are EMails I receive in Outlook, but sometimes a newer version of software I use is made available, and i get rid of an earlier version).
 
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Gosh! such a lot of info for which I thank you. I am in the UK so hands on help not likely lol. I will be in Minneapolis in June but still a long way.

Sorry to be confusing - I am very computer proficient but not that technical . I do a lot of investigating on the web to try and solve my issues

Will try to answer

1. I have been very remiss and haven't upgraded from Snow Leopard and i haven't upgraded my Mac Office. I am sure you are correct about 2008. Will ugrade to Yosemite and maybe I should look at MacOffice too then wouldn't need MS Office. However the Boot Camp partition is going to waste. It was used for an accounts package which would not run under Mac, but I don't use it any more. Need to think about this.

2.. Yes there is stuff on Mac partition which I don't want to lose so I will just Upgrade OS

3 Not sure about the battery. I think it is OK (keeping a good charge etc) I am inclined to think that the problem is with the Mac itself (hence resetting the SMC)

I am currently doing another calibration and the machines just switchhed off at 44% Grrr!

4. I used the Mac Utilities on the HD. Thanks for your info on other utilities. I will look at the options you suggest. I am always a little worried about using outside sources but I will take your suggestions on board

I think that everything answered. I am very grateful for your help

Anita

PS what does honestone mean - is that your name?
 
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Anita,

OK, Now I understand. It is necessary to take things step by step. Do not upgrade your OS yet. That will come later.

The first thing is to try and get things running smoothly with the OS you are using now. One excellent freeware program you can start with is Onyx. Here is a link for you to download the correct version:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx

Go to the part of that link that says "Related Links", and then click on the one that says "Download OnyX 2.4.0 for OS X 10.6". Click on that to start the download. It goes quick.

That program will repair permissions (you might need to run that a few times), and clean out quite a bit of unneeded garbage.

You will also need to purchaser the excellent Disk Repair program Tech Tool Pro. Here is a link for that:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/4307/techtool-pro

Tech Tool Pro creates a small, "isolated" partition on your hard disk, called an eDrive, and you can run that to do repairs on your disk, along with software "help".
 
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Anita,

A couple of other things I forgot to mention.

First, the only thing you can do with Disk Utility running it from your hard drive is Verify and Repair Permissions on the Mac partition. To do other, important (and most likely necessary) functions, you need to do that externally. Since you do not have access to another Mac, that is why I suggest Tech Tool Pro. You can install it on your machine, and it will create a small, bootable, and "isolated" partition on the Mac partition called eDrive. After booting up Tech Tool Pro, you can then launch eDrive from it, and then perform functions on your HD as if it was being done externally.

Secondly, it would be best to do a backup of your existing system, and to an external device. If you can get access to one, use the excellent program SuperDuper!. There is a "free" version you can use, an din fact, a new version came out today. Here is the link to download it:

Even though the "heading" says 2.7.3 (version number), it is actually version 2.7.5, as it states down below in the description. That program creates a bootable backup.

Third, not sure about the battery issues you are having. What is perplexing is that you put a new one in, but are still having problems. Sometimes using products like Onyx and Tech Tool Pro can help alleviate such issues. But, that is not always the case.

I guess the last thing that would be good to know is how version 10.6.8 got onto your system. If you (or someone else) did the upgrade, it is usually better to apply the Combo Updater. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that is the first thing you should do. Here is a link to download that file:

http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1399

(If the Combo updater has already been installed, then ignore this). You can safely apply that updater as the first step with all this.
 
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Hi

Firstly my MacBook 5.2 came with 10.6.8 on board

I backup to an external HD using Time Machine - It is backed up but I I will take a backup before I do anything

I understand what you are saying about The Disk Utility an will download Onyx as suggested tomorrow

I won"t update till I have done this.

I am not sure what a Combo Updater is but I will get onto support.apple and look at this

If I have got things in the correct order here, could I just go this far and get back about the rest

Thanks for taking all this trouble.

I have calibrated the 2nd new battery and will wait to see what happens. Also I will wait to see if the work on the machines makes any difference to this prob as you suggest it might
 
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Anita,

Thanks for the update. And, that's good you are doing a backup.

Now, I don't use Time Machine for my backups, preferring to use SuperDuper!. With that program, it makes a bootable backup on my external drive (actually I do it twice, for each of my machines, to two different external drives). If I did not have TechTool Pro on my machine, I could boot my machine from that backup, and run Disk Utility from there. Disk Utility can also Verify and Repair a disk/partition. In my case, I would instead use the more robust program Disk Warrior on that bootable backup to do any repairs. (I have, a couple of times, done that).

Given that I do not use Time Machine, I am not sure how easy it is (or possible?) to boot a Mac from a Time Machine backup. If you can boot from that, you could run Disk Utility from there, and this Verify and Repair the Mac partition on your internal drive.

Now, it's important to understand that Oynx and Disk Utility are two different programs, and except for Repairing Permisisons, they do different things. Onyx cannot repair a disk. It can clean off quite a bit of unnecessary stuff from your machine. That is what it is really good for. Disk Utility, on the other hand (as mentioned above), can repair a disk/partition.

So, here is what you should do:

1. If you can boot your Mac from the Time Machine backup, do so, and run Disk Utility from there. Perform the two functions it does: Verify and Repair Permissions (you might need to repair the permissions a couple of times to get it "clean"), and then Verify and Repair the Mac partition.

2. If you can't boot from the Time Machine backup, download SuperDuper!, use it to make a (bootable) backup on your external HD, then start up your Mac from that backup. You can then run Disk Utility. (I would still download SuperDuper! and make a back up with it).

3. After Disk Utility runs, re-boot your machine from your primary boot partition, and see what happens.

4. No matter how #3 goes (not sure if it will "help" your issues with Word, and/or your battery issues), you should still download the OS 10.6.8 Combo Updater, and install it. It will not hurt, and it could help. Then again, it might already be installed, but again it will not hurt to install it again, just to be sure.

5. Re-start your Mac, and see if that helps with anything.

6. Backup your Mac, with whichever program you prefer (myself, I would use SuperDuper!)

7. No matter what happens via #5, download, install, and run the correct version of Onyx from the link I provided above. I would even run its' Repair Permissions "piece", just as another measure. Who knows what it will find?

8. At this point, and without seeing the results, it's difficult to tell whether or not you can then apply the Office 2008 updates (there will be 3 of them). But, I suspect it's been a while since any maintenance was done on your machine. So, that is why the next step should be to run a more robust Disk Repair program like Disk Warrior or TechTool Pro (by the way, a new version of it just came out earlier today).

As I mentioned above, if you choose to purchase TechTool Pro (cost $99 (US Dollars) in the US), it will install s small, bootable, and isolated partition called eDrive on your internal drive. You could then run TechTool Pro from that eDrive, and use its' many useful functions.

In any event, let's see what happens after you do 1 (or 2) through 8 before proceeding any further.
 
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Hi there
Thanks for the last thread

I am just updating you as to where I am at so far - there is a lot to do here!

1 I have downloaded and installed the correct version of Onyx

2 I Have backed up again today

3 I would like, as one of your suggestions, to make a bootable backup using Superdouper as it seems the easiest at the moment. Time Machines does not make a boot, but I would like to keep it as it is set up and easy/

From what I gather, I cannot used the same HD for Time Machine and Superdouper. If would confirm this, I will order another HD

I tried to boot with my Snow Leopard disk but got the message that the version on the Mac is later, so I have done an update at some time.

Q. Should I now wait until I have a bootable backup before running Onyx and/or updating with the Combi Updater?
 
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Hi Anita,

Just to answer an original question by you, "hoenstone" is my "code" name that I use here (and other places). But, my real first name is Arthur.

Next, regarding your external HD, how much total space does it have? Also, you do not have to dedicate the entire drive to only Time Machine. You can partition it, and have one partition for your Time Machine backups, and one for SuperDuper!. And, if you want (and there is enough space), you can have as many more partitions as you want.

For example, I have two external hard drives. Both are 1 TB in size, and I have 3 partitions on each of them. One of the partitions is for my SuperDuper! backup of my Mac Mini, another one is for my SuperDuper! backup of my Mac Book Air, and the other is entitled "Miscellaneous". This setup works real well for me.

So, you could partition that external drive (assuming it is big enough). In fact, you can use Disk Utility on your boot drive to re-partition the drive. That is, you would just "add" another partition, giving a size that is somewhat bigger than the stuff you'll be backing up from your internal drive. This first link explains how to do that "from scratch":

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/partition-use-time-machine-hard-drive-store-files/

When you select the re-partition "scheme", the size of your Time Machine partition will need to decrease.

Note that it recommends your Time Machine partition to be 2 to 3 times the size of the contents from you internal drive that you are backing up.

Note also that using the drive more and more will wear it out, so to speak. So, depending on how frequently you have Time Machine running, you would be wearing out your external drive faster.

I don't know how "risky" this is without "backing up/moving" the Time Machine "stuff" somewhere else. If you have room on your internal drive, maybe make a folder entitled "Time Machine Backup", and copy the stuff from the external Time Machine backup to that internal folder. Then, you could run Disk Utility to re-partition that external drive (ie, just "add" another partition).

By the way, you can launch Disk Utility from your internal drive to "check out" that external drive, just to verify its' health.

So, if you could answer those questions first, that will help. But, if I were you, I would still plan on downloading and installing SuperDuper!, and also purchasing TechTool Pro.

One other thing: you stated "I tried to boot with my Snow Leopard disk but got the message that the version on the Mac is later, so I have done an update at some time.". What was your reason for doing that? As it is, you already stated that you are using OS 10.6.8, the last version of Snow Leopard.
 
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Hi there Arthur

My external HD is 250GB
Backups stay on until disk full then are deleted (it warns)
At the moment I have 204.6 Gb available of 249.72
Each backup takes 29.11Gb

It looks as there is enough space for the SuperDuper backup although I don't know how I would boot from it as yet - later!

Didn't make my MS partition myself (ex son-in-law 2009). Having looked into it,

I will now follow your instructions and also follow the link to make the partition.
I will download SuperDuper and try and set up
I will also make a folder on my internal disk and copy the latest backup from time machine to it - if it will let me

I have already used Disk Utility and it says my HD it good, but I do now that there are things wrong which hopefully will be sorted soon

I don't know how I came to have an updated Snow Leopard - maybe Apple offered a fix of some sort in the Updates. The CD says 10.6 and my system says 10.6.8

I will get back to you when I have made the partition etc and will look into your further suggestions. I am a bit out of my depth here so it might take me some time - I am sure I can do it - famous last words hey!

Cheers
Anita
 
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Anita,

I am again unclear regarding your setup. Where is the Boot Camp partition containing your MS "stuff"? Is that partition on your internal hard drive? If it is, fine, and thus from what I gather, your external HD has only 1 partition, and you are using that for your Time Machine backups. From what you said above, your external HD has plenty of extra space.

Assuming that is the case, the link I provided is for partitioning the drive from "scratch". That is not what you want to do. The first thing is to confirm, using Disk Utility from your internal HD, is that your external HD is fine. You should Verify and Repair permissions (via Disk Utility) on the external HD,, and Verify (and if necessary, Repair) the external HD. Once you do that, use Disk Utility to add at least one more partition to your external HD. The size of that partition, given that you will use it for SuperDuper! backups, should be "somewhat" larger than what you will be backing up from the "Mac portion" of your internal HD. If the size of that partition, for example, is 70 gig, I would make the size of the SuperDuper! partition about 110 gig or so. Leave the name of the Time Machine partition as is, and call the SuperDuper! one something like "Macbook Backup".

Once you run a SuperDuper! backup, as I have stated, it will make a backup that is bootable. If you then want to boot from that backup, there are two ways to do it:

1. If you boot up your Macbook, you can go to System Preferences,select "Startup Diks", and you should see an icon for the SuperDuper! backup (the name will be what you named that partition). Either double click on that, or click on it once, answer the question that you want to re-start from that, and then yoir "system"will start up from that backup.

2. When you start to boot up you Macbook, hold down the Option key. You will get a screen that shows your bootable drives. Again, select the SuperDuper! one.

You should run SuperDuper! "every so often". It is up to you how often you want to run it. Myself, I do it once a week, as part of my maitenance/backup processing I do every Saturday for both of mt\y machines. When you run the next (and subsequent) SuperDuper! backup process, it will "clean off" the prior one, which is what you want to do.

If the Boot Camp partition is on the external HD, then again you'll need to add a partition for the SuperDuper! backup, but you will need to adjust the sizes of the other two partitions (or size of one of them).
 
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OK got that

Oh dear! the external dish was corrupt and unrepairable. having to format. I will take a backup when finished and have a safety backup on the internal HD

Get back to you
 
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Hi Arthur

Just to clarify - the Boot Camp partition is on my internal HD.

Just to update you:

I have verified and repaired the external disk - now all seems well

I have added a partition - I input 110 GB but it gave me 124.75. I expect it can amended later if required

I verified both partitions to ensure all was well

I have downloaded SuperDuper and have made a bootable backup which works!!

Tomorrow I will use Onyx (first booting from external disk) and attempt some fixes on the mac disk

Unless you have any further suggestions at this point

Anita
 

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