Fixing Macbook startup/login problems
Monday 29 September 2008I’ve recently (and frustratingly) been finding it increasingly hard to log into my Macbook. It used to boot and login without issue but more recently it has been hanging or freezing after I have entered my login details but before loading Finder or the dock or …well, anything! Most of the time this could be solved by a hard restart. Occasionally two or three.
It came to a head at the weekend when no amount of restarting, prodding, shaking or hitting would allow me to login. A quick call to Apple support tracked it down to an issue with startup items (probably should have worked that out myself!). Here’s the fix:
- When starting up your computer hold down the Shift key.
- The Startup window should then display “Safe Boot” in red text (OS X 10.5). If you do not normally login the the Startup window will appear regardless. Safe Boot disables any startup or login items (i.e. something that might be causing the problem)
- Once logged in (assuming you have logged in) go to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items and remove any you think could be potential problems or remove all.
- Add items back at your leisure to see if it breaks things again. Then, remove the rogue item(s)!
This might not solve everyone’s startup problems hopefully it will be useful for someone. Although, I do find it a little bemusing that a naughty startup item can effectively lock you out of your computer.
