Goodbye, my Dear... I will miss you terribly.
My beloved iMac G5 became seriously ill on May 8. As this happened after downloading a dmg file, I thought she had caught one of the few known viruses that will attack the Mac OS. She began pixellating then spinning the beachball of death at every turn. I know something was wrong, I just didn't realize how serious it was. I knew I had to back up my photographs and do it quickly. So I began. I could copy a few files, then Boom! Spinning beach ball & lockup. Each restart proved more detrimental. She would start in safe mode, God love her, so I could begin the process of backing up vital files (including the last year's photos which I had neglected to back up). It seems she knew when my back up was complete, because immediately after, the real trouble began. After much prodding, fervent backups, erase and installs of the system, and other revival attempts with no good end in sight, even Safe mode would no longer work. Just a pixellated screen then blackness. Nothing. I finally took her to the professionals at the Mac hospital where she was pronounced dead. In the end, they found that some of the diodes on the Mother Board were bloated from high current electricity.
It seems the terrible storms that ravaged our area during the beginning of March and specifically May 8, found a way to fry her mother board. She held on, though. While I was trying to save her life, she was helping me save mine. I would have been devastated to lose all the files I hadn't backed up.
I hated to say goodbye to my precious Snow White. She was too young to die.
I learned some very important lessons through my loss of a dear friend.
First, BACK UP your files regularly. Once a month at least. Once a week if you upload photos. Seriously. I already knew this, but I wasn't faithful about it. You never think it will happen to you. Especially if you have a Mac. They don't just die. I just never considered the possibility that they could be killed.
Second, replace your surge protector often. Yearly would probably be best. Every other year would still be practical. I'd had the same one since I bought my iMac 5 years ago. Apparently, they fail after being in use for so long. I didn't know that could happen. It had never been tripped. It didn't trip this time. Perhaps it was faulty from the beginning? Who knows?
Third, it is probably worth the extra cost to buy a rider on house insurance to cover electronics. It would have been over $1000 to replace her brain. Then there was no guarantee that she wouldn't need more repair. Insurance would have paid much of the cost to replace her.
So, alas, I bid farewell to my faithful companion and put her to rest. She will be recycled by the good folks at Apple for free. Sleep well, my sweet. Sleep well.
So began the search for a new Mac. I considered purchasing a used one. However, with the great deals at
Apple.com I decided to buy a brand spanking new 20" iMac in Aluminum.
Hello, my love!!!!
His name is iMaxx and I love him!
Seriously, even if he wasn't so SWEET, how could I resist when I got a brand spanking new
iPod Touch absolutely free with purchase of a computer. Oh, yeah!
You just can't walk away from a deal like that. (Especially if you are in mourning and need some good retail therapy). Although I still want to cry over the death of my wonderful Snow White iMac, I am sure she would want me to be happy. Don't you think so?
I do.
