Shut imac down and it started up completely different

[Josh Johnson]

Alright I have an older imac that I shut down like I do a lot but this time I started it back up and everything's channged. It is the mac os x 10.6.8 model identifier 11,3. I just got a new comcast router and the wifi wasn't working (my original problem) so I shut the mac down and started it back up. The mouse was scrolling extremely slow so I had to change that in preferences, but when the screen times out the mouse scroll setting goes back to the slowest possible option, screen saver changed, and I tried to start up safari and it was trying to go to a support page not the google home page it usually goes to. Before that I read something on a forum that said to delete all plists in the library folder. So I opened the library folder then the preferences folder and deleted all plist items. Pretty sure that might be my problem. Dumb dumb, I know. Is that my problem and if it is, can it be fixed. Please help. I use this thing for work and I've had it for a while without any problems. Thank you.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-Which Library/Preferences folder did you delete the plist files from?
-Did you delete them individually or all at one time?
-Do you have a Time Machine or other backup of all your data/files?

C

 

[Josh Johnson]

So I started the computer up today and the wifi is working, go figure. Still having the problem with the mouse. When the screen returns from sleep mode the mouse setting automatically goes back to the slowest setting. I changed the screen saver and the doc apps and they stay the same after returning from the sleep screen. When I deleted the plist files I went to finder.. then opened the library folder which was full of folders.. and from there I opened the preferences folder and that's where I deleted the plist files from. I just selected the plist files in bulk and moved them to the trash. I believe it was about 150 files. I did not have my data backed up by time machine either. Honestly I didn't even know what time machine is until now. Thanks a lot for your help I really do appreciate it!

And now the wifi is out again and my phone is connected to wifi with a strong signal tight next to the computer.

 

[honestone]

Hi Josh,

Sorry about all the issues you are having. Hopefully, we can work together to help you resolve your issues.

First, I am also a Comcast customer, and I have Internet, Cable TV, and landline phone service with them. My "device" I have for the internet is also needed for my phone service, and it is a Touchstone TM722 Telephony Modem. I also have a Netgear router. Once in a while, there are issues with the internet and Comcast. One thing that works in a number of instances is to follow Comcast's procedure about shutting down the modem and router, waiting the suggested amount of time, and then turning those pieces back on (in the correct order). You might want to try that.

As for backups, I am not certain whether Time Machine backs up OS/System files, folders, etc. (I don't believe it does). I myself use SuperDuper! to make a bootable backup/clone of my system. While I do this manually (I can set it up to do "automatic"/sequential backups, similar to Time Machine), for my needs, it works fine. The important things are 1) a bootable backup is made, and thus can do an instant recovery, and 2) all OS/system files, folders, etc. are backed. I just posted a thread of some issues I had with my Mac Mini over the weekend, and in it, I described how beneficial my SuperDuper! backup was.

If you are posting here via your iMac, not sure how "stable" the OS pieces are. You might want to consider doing some kind of backup, mainly for the non-system files and folders. You would then restart your iMac from the Snow Leopard DVD (I assume you have it), use Disk Utility there to Erase, Format, and Partition the internal drive, then do a fresh, new installation of Snow Leopard. I of course do not know what version of Snow Leopard you have via the DVD, but if it's anything less than 10.6.8, you would then need to download and install the OS 10.6.8 Combo Updater. You can get that from here:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399?locale=en_US

Once that is done, and you reboot your iMac, you can use Migration Assistant to retrieve all your non-system files, folders, etc. from the backup. I have recently gone through something similar, but I am using Yosemite (OS 10.10), and just like you, I need to upgrade to OS 10.10.4 via its Combo Update (I have it already downloaded). As for using Migration Assistant, given that I use SuperDuper! for my backups, I know how to do it with such backups. But, I do not know how to do it from a Time Machine backup. I suspect, though, that it is a simple process.

By the way, what brand of mouse are you using?

 

[Josh Johnson]

Thanks a lot for all your help, especially the help on backing up settings. My problem is fixed for now. The problem might have been an issue with the magicprefs app. I deleted it and downloaded it again and everything is fine with the mouse. I messed around with the DNS server setting, deleting the 8.8.8.8 and clicking on one that started with seven, then went back and typed in 8.8.8.8 and the internet started working for some strange reason. It is running a little slow now and from what I've read the comcast new router/modem (the model number I have is TG862) doesn't let you mess with the DNS setting so I'm thinking about getting another router as well. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[honestone]

Regarding the choice of DNS servers, you might want to download and run the informative program namebench. You can get it from here:

https://code.google.com/p/namebench/downloads/list

What it does is to query numerous DNS servers close to your location, and reveal which is the fastest. It does take some time to run, but it is worth it.

Right now, on my Mac Mini, I have the DNS server set to 192.168.1.1. After running namebench, it showed that the Qwest-2 US DNS server at 205.171.2.65 was the fastest, while mine was second on the list. The one at 8.8.8.8 was 4th.

Given that you have Comcast like myself, it could be useful for you.