"Maint Req" flashed on my car's dashboard last week.
It annoyed me because the first moment I saw it, I worried something major was wrong. Then, my own internal light went on.
"Ah! It's just a reminder to change my oil. Bah! No rush there," he said with ominous procrastination and a surprising use of the word, ‘bah.’
That’s when it dawned on me what computers might be like with dashboard warning lights we could also choose to ignore.
So, in the interest of selfless, public service, our crack team here at Mick’s Macs has come up with:
The top 12 early warning signs that maintenance is required on your Mac
12) It's just not as zippy as it used to be in spite of the fact that your Canadian Pharmaceutical spam is as robust as ever.
11) It won't turn on.
10) You're seeing colorful spinning beach balls with regularity but you're nowhere near a large body of water or anyone named “Moondoggie.”
9) You quit smoking decades ago and your Mac suddenly begins.
8) It won't turn off. Like an inebriated family member during the holidays, it just doesn't know when to quit.
7) You recently dropped it.
6) You're getting warning messages that seem awfully dire, but you ignore them because you don't know what they mean.
5) Crazy lines are appearing on the screen and only a few of them are related to your 2 year old's breathtaking, "Early Explorations with Black Sharpie."
4) It shuts down suddenly without permission.
3) You have a young child or animal that recently walked across your keyboard and now all of the menus are in Hindi.
2) Even in the cold of winter (otherwise known as ‘November’ in Santa Barbara), you don't use a heater because your Mac heats the room comfortably enough.
1) And finally, you're seriously considering sending your new MacBook Air --- through the air.
Many of our clients are savvy folk. They understand that Apple computers, like cars, need an oil change, lube job and tune-up once in awhile. Consider it similar to your annual physical… you don't really want to go, nothing seems terribly wrong, but it’s good to check that all systems are working and finally find out what that rash is all about.
Clients who take care of their computers like their cars usually call us every 6 – 9 months saying: "Hi Mick. Nothing's horribly wrong. It's just been a while and my iMac seems like it's getting slower. Maybe it just needs a tune-up." We usually have them drop it off at our shop where we'll clean it up (the physical computer as well as the data), run diagnostics on it, repair ("de-gunk") or upgrade the OS, check the hard drive, make sure there is enough RAM in there for optimal speed and basically give it a complete once over to make sure all is well. We can make sure they're backing up, practicing good data storage (i.e. everything important to them is not sitting on their desktop), and even have a chat about how they're using their Mac these days, what's working for them, and what's not.
Let us know when you’d like us to give your Mac a routine check-up or when you see any of the above "Maintenance Required" signs. Word is that sanity levels tend to improve dramatically after a visit to the MacDoctor.
Happy Holidays!
Mick
P.S. I learned how to turn off the warning light on my Toyota Highlander. I'm sure it's nothing serious…
No comments:
Post a Comment