When a good-running computer starts acting flaky, it's a corruption issue 98 percent of the time (unless we've recently done something to it and there is 98 percent of our clue).

Left unchecked, the problem will likely spread and corrupt the entire install until the hard drive literally won't mount or the computer won't boot or run without constant crashing.

Viruses may also explain a similarly flaky system, but since Mac OSX is known for not having viruses, I won't cover that here.

HOW DO I FIX A CORRUPTED INSTALL?

START WITH THE BASICS a free preventitive maintenance & troubleshooting guide: Includes Backup, New User (to rule out user preference), Disk Fragmentation, Free Space (make sure you have enough), Disk Utilities (hard drive repair), Firmware, Driver & Software Updates, Starting Over from Scratch, Frequently Asked Questions FAQ.

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Some people spend days (and months) chasing corruption — and still never nail it...I hope this information saves you some time and lost hairs.