Judith... what's this about having to reset the time and date? Maybe that's a clue to be remembering the general rule that if you're having HD trouble as well as clock trouble, to try replacing the battery in the iMac before considering all sorts of expensive -- and/or troublesome DIY -- stuff. The battery test is so minimal in expense and hassle, so if it's not the right solution, you're only out a little, and only for a little while since you're going to need a battery sometime anyway. But it's entirely possible to find yourself with a snazzy new HD and all sorts of bills, only to find that the $15 battery was the problem.
Not that you shouldn't have a good backup drive to simplify management of your data, if it's in your budget at the moment. MJ -----Original Message----- >From: Judith Rosenbaum <[email protected]> >Sent: Dec 29, 2008 11:50 PM >To: imaclist <[email protected]> >Subject: Which Flash drive should I buy? > > >The hard drive on my iMac G3 is making ominous noises - an awful "screee" upon >start up. This occurs once or twice until I finally hear the HD start up and >all is well until the poor thing seizes up again. The only way I am able to >un-freeze it is to pull the power cord, wait a few minutes and then attempt to >re-start. I will either get "bad Mac" icon or it will start normally. At that >point I have to re-set the date and time. I haven't been able to pin down a >definitive set of circumstances under which this happens, except for: 1) >randomly when I'm actively using it and 2) when it's been asleep for a while. >Since this is happening more frequently I want to be able to preserve my files >- I have no experience with flash drives and would appreciate any guidance you >can share. > >Here are the specs for my seriously out-of-date machine: 500Mghz, 256 Mg >memory, running OS X.2.8. >I plan to update my Mac and internet service early next year. > >Thanks for your help. > >Judith Rosenbaum > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Low End Mac's iMac List, a group for those using G3, G4, G5, and Intel Core iMacs as well as Apple eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
