Troubleshoot mac crashes & errors

This may be a blog about Windows, but sometimes, I think it is OK to post a Mac tip or two.

Scenario: One day, you find that your Mac computer has mysteriously got stuck at startup screen, or is showing some odd error message.

You call in a technician, and he says that you need to reformat the hard drive and reinstall the entire Mac OS. And he suggests that you buy a new Mac from him to save yourself the trouble (preferably the latest model with all the bells and whistles).


Is there another option? Yes; this option is cryptically called fsck.

1. Switch on your Mac.
2. Immediately press and hold the Command (⌘) and "S" keys.

You'll see a bunch of text begin scrolling on your screen. In a few more seconds, you'll see the Unix command line prompt (#).

3. Type: "fsck -y" (without the quotes).
4. Press the Return key.

You will see some technical text. If your disk is damaged, you'll see this message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

5. If so, repeat steps 3 and 4 again until that message no longer appears.
6. When the message no longer appears, type "exit".
7. Press the Return key.

Your Mac should proceed to start up normally. Hopefully that technician won't get your business.