gambletron

hi we suspect a virus on our g4 powerbook........when i start it there is a smiley face guy and a questionmark........thought to try and figure out if it got a virus....i heard there was one going around that was attacking macs

any info would be greatly appreciated...

--lisa

HowEver

You don't have a virus. There is not such thing on Macs.

What you likely have is a failed hard drive. Try booting up from your system disk, or an external FireWire drive, and see if that works. If it does, it is likely your hard drive is toast.

Apologies for the bad news.

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gambletron

hey there thanks for responding.....

how is it that you boot the powerbook from a system disc or and external firewire drive.....i have a g4 tower that is working fine right here as a resorce....

we tryed to connect the laptop to the g4 tower with a firewire and it wouldnt show up on the desktop---we tryed the same thing with a functional lap top and it worked fine....so what is our alternate route do you think.....

dose that also say something about the failing powerbook's hard drive?

thanks for your help

--lisa

duper

The question mark just indicates that it cannot find the system folder for the OS. I assume this is OS X?

First, try booting up holding down the X key.. probably won't work but its worth a shot.

Boot it up to a Mac OS X CD (hold down C While it starts up to boot to CD), when you get to the installation screen, click on "Installer" and choose "disk utility." Run Repair Disk on the hard drive to see if everything is alright. Then close disk utility, go to the startup manager and choose your hard drive, then restart the computer and eject the CD.

gambletron

Thanks again you guys... So now I ran the system but the Hard Drive isnt even one of the choices for the repair disk, unless I'm using the wrong disk...
is it the one called Powerbook G4 Software?...
thanks again,
--lisa

ColBalt

Oooo
It sounds like the HD failed/crashed. Your drive would have appear in the list that has "Powerbook G4 Software" was in. (BTW, that is the disc you are presently running from) I'd suggest taking it in and getting a new HD.

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CubaMark

Connect the laptop to the G4 via FireWire

Turn the laptop on, holding down the "T" key.

The laptop should mount on the G4's desktop as an external drive - you should be able to access all files, etc. This would be a good time to reinstall the OS, since it appears you toasted it somehow.

Remember to BACK UP all of the data on the drive before reinstalling.

Good luck!
M

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gambletron

thank you everyone---i think its over...need to be sure but i'm taking to the shop...or to my extreemly knowlegable friend to assess how to fix its internal workings.

i truely appreciate the help...
thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rgray

The question was:
The answer is yes. http://www.clamxav.com/

Whether or not viruses ixist that attack Mac is another issue - and a matter of time!

duper

Gambletron: You're welcome. Good luck!

First rule of troubleshooting: Determine the problem and answer that, not the question.