# Mac problem?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-problem/470583>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 1, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-problem/470583 "2008-11-01T16:19:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-problem/470583/1 "2008-11-01T16:19:39Z")

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OK, this is strange.

A friend in another state send an email from his iPhone asking if I remember how to connect a Mac (he just got a used G5) to the Internet for the first time. I didn’t, so I started clicking icons. I opened System Preferences and clicked Network. It said ‘loading network’ and then I got a pop-up window that says ‘Your network settings have been changed by another application’. I clicked OK and the window popped up again. When I clicked OK again, it popped up again. And so on. The only way to proceed is to Force quit.

I did try restarting the computer, with the same results. So what’s going on?

EDIT: Oh, my AirPort and a couple of other icons are missing from the toolbar now. I’ll restart to see if they come back.

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**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-problem/470583/2 "2008-11-01T18:06:39Z")

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I haven’t had this problem myself, but I’ve seen [discussions](http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/security/topic4307.html) about it (see the Oct. 29 posts). One pointed at [this post](http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/166/) as a good summary and link to solutions.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-problem/470583/3 "2008-11-01T18:19:09Z")

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**Topologist** : The post following your second link seems to have worked.

One thing: If I unlock the lock and then choose Don’t apply changes, I get the beachball and have to Force quit. But I’m not locked up simply by clicking on Network.

Thanks.