Saturday 24 November 2012

Invasion


It's all much worse than I thought..... Something bad has happened inside my iMac.

Picasa (the photo thingy that I used before iPhoto) has been sitting at the back of the computer surreptitiously breeding

Thousands - thousands! - of duplicate photographs, many folders that should hold one or two images now containing 600+. Looking into the innards was like one of those scenes in sci-fi films where a door is opened and acres of sinister alien pods are revealed. 

Many of the Picasa pictures are pre-iPhoto, but everything I have ever stored in iPhoto is also there. Replicating endlessly. Much as I love Scooter, 600 copies of a photo of him peering cutely out of a window has limited appeal.

Duplicate Annihilator hasn't worked. Uninstalling Picasa after a massive clean up hasn't worked. Weeping and swearing - well, admittedly, that helps, but it doesn't actually work. My brain hurts. I worry. I have had bad dreams in the night, although perhaps it was the consolation chocolate at bedtime that caused that.

Thinks: there may have to be a trip to the Apple store some time soon for a proper service for my poor machine and perhaps a tutorial for me.

The Gardener will be pleased. The Apple store in Bristol is his spiritual home, and is just across from Carluccio's.....

19 comments:

rusty duck said...

I hope it isn't a virus. It scares me to death.

When I bought my MacBook (from the Apple store in Bristol) they said anti-virus software wasn't necessary for Macs. These days, though, I'm not so sure.

Let us know? And a menu recommendation from Carluccio's too.

Jenny Debeaux said...

I use Sophos free anti-virus for my Mac. I also use Dropbox, too, for extra security for my photos.
HTH and Good Luck

Jenny

p.s Dropbox: http://www.dropbox.com
Sophos: http://www.sophos.com

the veg artist said...

Well, at least the weather means he won't have to take a day off work!

Anonymous said...

I've read of several bloggers with picture problems recently, I wonder if this is the cause? I hope that wailing and gnashing of teeth will stop and a visit to the Apple store will sort things out for you. Good luck!

Bow Street Flowers said...

Ah yes, the The Apple Store. The Mother Ship : three glassed in floors, the third is like church where those getting tutorials are almost prone over their Macs, making the sign of the Apple and repeating the Pages prayer or the IPhoto prayer.
Fortunately parking is nearly impossible at our Flagship store in downtown Boston. The satellite shops are nice but small. No Siren Song there! (I'm really mixing up my metaphors here)!

judy in ky said...

I have been planning a trip to the Apple store myself, to unravel the mysteries of i-Photo. Good luck to you.

rachel said...

I AM NOT ALONE......

There's an entire page on Google about its Picasa programme (which has nothing to do with Apple) duplicating millions of photos. Lots of complaints, no solutions.

Maybe the overworked Apple Geniuses will know what to do.....

Anonymous said...

Smugface here steers well clear of anything to do with Google and backs her iPhoto library up to an external hard drive periodically. Never had any form of malware despite 20 years of using Macs daily, so I doubt it's anything to do with Apple.

Hope you're surviving this dire weather without too many ill effects.

Jen said...

Oh no! It sounds like a science fiction story. Hope you get it sorted out soon.

Linda Metcalf said...

Hope it's nothing too serious as I truly enjoy all your pictures and stories. Lightening struck us through the phone line about 2 months ago and fried the mother board. Luckily our computer man was able to retrieve my photos and blogs and that was my only worry. I now keep a flash drive going several times a week just in case.

Susan said...

a tres scary story indeed says this imac lover (my baby is nearly 4) and I'm a wee bit back up casual. Yikes.

I've recently found Dropbox also - how fantastic virtual server storage - Bonjour !! Do have fun at Mecca

much love (of course) xoxo Susan & les Gang

Pam said...

Oooh dear. I can only sympathise. Hope you get it sorted out soon.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Picasa !! It was ages till I discovered that every time I used it to make a collage , it piggily grabbed its chance to slurp up all my photos again .
I now clean it ruthlessly but it's biding its time ......

the veg artist said...

Please feel free to totally ignore this - husband thinks you might have activated an automatic "synchronize" function for one thing, like an ipod - which is actually duplicating everything, so the first time it happened, one photo became two, then the next time, two became four, and so on.
As I said, please ignore and have a lovely day out!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Did someone say Carluccio's? Just might join you.

Unknown said...

Enjoy Bristol. Christmas shopping sorted.

Unknown said...

Enjoy Bristol. All your Christmas shopping done! Thats for Flossie.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear - isn't it funny how all these things that are supposed to make life simpler cause major anxiety instead!!
I have resisted all sorts of photo assistance - I just use the basic Microsoft programme on my laptop and occasionally get round to archiving on my external hard drive. The most I ever do is crop my photos .... although I occasionally wish for the wherewithal to remove lampposts, rubbish bins etc from beautiful scenic photos!!

Lucille said...

I don't think it's the Mac either, and the people in the store usually bend over backwards to help. Good luck in Bristol. I hope you are keeping your feet dry.

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