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Dear PC Doctor,
I recently got a new iMac computer. It doesn't happen all the time but sometimes when I go to watch a video on YouTube, my computer freezes up completely. It's not just my web browser, everything becomes unresponsive. The only way I can figure to fix it is to reboot my computer by holding the power button down. Is there a way I can fix this on my own without having to bring my computer in to get it fixed?
Dave
Dear Dave,
I don't get to use Mac computers that often, so I had to do some research before trying to answer your question. Apparently, other users have had this issue as well. However, if you update to the newest version of Lion (which I assume you're using since you have a new iMac) that should alleviate any current problems. As long as you have an internet connection, all important updates should update in the background. However, not all updates mandatory, so in that case, you'll have to go and do it manually yourself.
To easily and immediately check and update to the latest version of Mac OS X, click on the little Apple icon in the top, far left of your screen. In the menu that appears, click on “Software Update”. A window will appear with all of the updates available for download. Choose the items you want to update by checking in the corresponding box. Click install. You may need to enter your user name and password. Just to be safe, restart your computer after you finish installing everything.
Hopefully this fixes your problem and you'll be able to watch YouTube complication-free!
PC Doctor
Tip for you Firefox users:
I came across a neat Add-on for Firefox called “Check4Change”. If you're waiting for a website to update (such as: waiting for a new game to come out? or waiting for that news article to be updated?) you can use this little tool to track any changes to a website and alert you when that happens. The tab will become active with little dancing letters, a popup will appear and if you have your sound turned up, a sound will be played. You do have to keep the website open (in another tab is fine) but you can keep browsing without worrying about missing something important. Check out the Add-on here! goo.gl/hJdC1
There are quite a few options and settings you can use. You can set the website to reload every 5 seconds or every hour depending on the circumstance. Just be sure to keep your browser open. If you close Firefox and then reopen it, all your settings will be lost.
Until next time... happy computing!
Posted: to Athol Library News on Mon, Aug 22, 2011
Updated: Fri, Aug 26, 2011