need help baaaaadddddd

[pastorstearns]

my neigbor who's husband died several months ago runs a small buisness which she ran with her husband. He was the computer part while she ran the errands for the buisness so she has never learned the mac. She has a power mac 9600/300 and everytime she turns it on she gets a pop up saying that this disk is unreadable by this computer and if she wants to initilize the disk. it shows a picture of a floppy with a micro chip in the middle of it and it will not allow her to go any further. all the information for her biz is on this computer and after greiving her husbands death she is now ready to go on with life can someone please help me with this because I am not familiar with mac's only pc's thank you. You can email me at pastorstearns@hotmail.com

[DropBear]

First of all ... does the dialog you mention that shows at start-up, also include an eject button? If so try pressing it. If not then check the floppy drive and ensure that it is empty. If not, watch it as you try to restart and see if the computer tries to eject it or if it appears to be trying to read from it. If there is a floppy apparently stuck in the drive, then you may use either a pair of tweezers if the floppy is loose and remove it.. If tight, then you will need to insert the back end of a needle into the small hole you will observe just under the floppy slot This should assist in removal.

If the drive is empty of floppies?

Well you will need a boot disc.. There should be some CD's with the original Computer Box or amongst his CD's.
One of these will be called: Macintosh Restore CD
Insert this CD and start the computer up again but hold the "C" key down from the instant you press the restart button until a small computer icon shows instead of that floppy.. Then the computer should start to boot from the CD. If so then you can release the "C" key and allow the computer to boot.
This process should now show you the normal desktop and the first item on the list should be the restore CD, following that should be the Mac OS icon. Inside this is the System folder, open this with a double click. Please observe that there will be two files called System and Finder, amongst all the others. These are the all important files.

What I want you to do now is use the get info command just to check that both the restore CD that you have found and the System files that are installed are indeed the same system and version. Read all of what I say here carefully look at the picture below and then (one at a time), highlight and use the file menu to scroll to "get Info" on each of the System files to be found(one in the restore CD hard disk files folder and one in the MAC OS System Folder). It is only two files that you need to do this to and they are both called System They should have identical info .. There is another image below which shows you at least the text you should be seeing, sorry I am on a later system, so images won't look exactly the same. But the created on dates should be the same and the MAC OS version numbers should be the same .. If so you can proceed to the rest below .. If not then well maybe you should look to see if he has another, more current system restore disc in his CD's.
If all is well, proceed..


Then... there are two ways you can do this. you can use the restore system software option but this may replace some files which may well be required.
SO..., I first suggest the harder way, often called a dirty install.
What you will need to do is open the Restore CD by double click, then open a folder called Hard Disc files, then within this: open the folder called System Folder. You will now notice that there are files called System and Finder in here also.

Now.., go back to the Mac OS system folder and drag the files System and Finder to the Trash(bottom right of screen). Please make sure that these are from the Mac OS System Folder.

Now Drag both the System and Finder from the Hard Disk Files folder to the MAC OS System Folder. Note you are replacing the ones you dragged out. You should observe progress bars indicating that copying of files is taking place. When these two files have been replaced.. rexamine my image compare them to make sure that you have copies of System and Finder in both folders ...and note that there may well also be a file called System Enabler it may also have a number in the name. If there is one of these present in your Mac OS sytem folder(not all Mac Systems have them) and.. I repeat.., if there is one there, it also may need replacing but this is not always necessary..
If you are satisfied that you have made sense of this, followed the process and performed it.
Then you can move to the next step which is Restart Normally .. NO need to hold the "C" key down this time.
Your system should restart and return to normal operation.

If not then try the system enabler if there is one ..
or indeed ...
go back to the first option, Restore all System Software .. You should find that on the same Macintosh Restore CD.

[Mikef]

As I guess you're both novices, I suggest you switch the Mac off and go out and buy Diskwarrior software (you could buy Techtools sotfware but I recommend DW for a novice).
When you'e bought it, switch on the Mac whilst holding down the mouse button - this will force the CD tray to open. Place the DW CD in the drive and then close the drive. Remove power from the Mac, then reboot but this time hold down the C key - this will force the Mac to boot from the CD.
If you're lucky when the Mac has booted you'll be presented with a window suggesting you rebuild a disk. If you do thewn accept and allow DW to do its thing. Accept all suggestions.
There are other things you could try such as resetting the PRAM, but I don't think they'll work in your case and I don't recommend them for novice use.
If DW doesn't work then your best bet is to find your local Mac technician.

Macs are unlike PCs dabbling with what if... and you'll most certainly make matters worse.

Get your neighbour to hunt around and see if she can find any likely backups, inspect the Mac - if it only has a CDR then maybe the backup are on CD if it has a tape drive.....This is a case for Sherlock Holmes.

Mike

[DropBear]

I have often had times where Disk Warrior was useless.
novice indeed
but otherwise your information is correct.
Dirty installs are not recommended but is a good thing to be able to do. They can save your ass.

[Mikef]

a. The novices I was referring to were the original poster + his neighbour, however if you wish to include yourself....

b.I agree with DW not always doing the job BUT where some-ones livelihood (as in a business use of a Mac) depends on the advice I am very reluctant to give advice which may compound the problem.

Your advice is OK for a mellowed Mac user who's never been under the hood but suitable for a Windows user having his first hack at a broken Mac?

If she (the one with a broken Mac) wants to keep her business afloat, the best advice is surely to take it to the nearest Mac technician where the best probability of recovering the data intact is.

[DropBear]

His neighbour is dead his neighbour's wife wife knows nothing(does not even qualify as a novice). The one asking the question admits being a novice, with Macintosh.
I am not attempting to argue.
Yes, a technician is the correct person to take the computer to.
The advice to get DW was good advice. The advice to avoid compounding the problem is good advice. I certainly would not want any of my neighbours fiddling inside my computers.

But at the same time, she has to learn how to become a competent user if she intends to start running the business with the Mac. At least my instructions may show her that she should have a Restore CD amongst the effects and also that it can be used to repair the computer. Of course none of us know what the husband initially did to the computer to make it be displaying the "unreadable disc" dialog. The manual, which also should be in the effects, does actually tell her when to use the restore CD.

You will need to use your Macintosh Restore CD to reinstall the system software if;
•your computer will not start up.
•a file or application is missing or damaged.

the manual also suggests that

This chapter describes three ways to use your restore CD's.
•you can reinstall(restore) just the system software-the files needed to run your computer-using the restore system software application.
•you can reinstall all the software that came with your computer by using the restore all software application
•you can copy one or more individual files from the CD-ROM disc to your hard disk

The restore CD is the only place she is going to find a new system, if hers is corrupted. Unless of course she either takes it to a trained Mac technician. Purchasing DW will certainly be bonus but it cannot replace a damaged system, it can only rewrite the directory..

The manual also describes how to open the computer and press the reset button.

I live hundreds of miles from the nearest Mac techician and I run a business with an old Power Mac 5500. I have had to learn how to do all of this in order to survive. If I was to die, my wife would know nothing unless I left her instructions such as the above.