Don’t Panic

Don’t Panic
Mac Tip #208/17-August-2005

Computers are very complex devices, carrying out millions of instructions every second. They work very hard and swiftly on our behalf doing everything we ask of them, even if it’s not always what we thought we wanted.

On rare occasions your Mac will get itself tangled up and fall into a Kernel Panic. You’ll know when this happens because you’ll see a grey or black box on screen, full of white writing in several languages.

At this time there’s only one thing you can do: follow the on-screen instructions to restart your computer.

When you restart you may see a message inviting you to send information to Apple. If you choose to do this your Mac will prepare a message containing useful information for Apple about what the computer was doing and where it got tangled up. You’re also invited to add some comments about what you were doing. It’s up to you whether you do this or not.

Apple have a web page with further information and screenshots. On that page is a link to further troubleshooting information if your computer is regularly coming up with kernel panics: docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227.