Updating software on Macbook Air (2008)

I am attempting to update the software on my mac. I can download it, and get to the point where it says the computer needs to be restarted to finish the update. However, it then starts to shut down, but gets stuck - I have even left it for 8 hours to try and get it to restart and it won't! Any ideas?

what happens if you turn the machine off manually and then restart it? any error messages? does it reboot cleanly?

I can shut it down and then restate it normally with no problems, however this does not finish the update. Everything else is fine - reboots cleanly, runs fine.
When i restart it via the update, it begins the shut down and then says initialising with a status bar, when it gets to about 1cm in and it does not move anymore.

OK, I'm not a Mac specialist. Hopefully some other members of the team, who are, will come along later. But in the meantime here are some thoughts

1) I've found a few reports on the web of this happening with specific updates. In some cases the problems were overcome by manually downloading the files and installing them. To do that we need to identify the exact files required. What is the name of the update that keeps failing? And which version of OSX are you running. Some of the threads I've read seem to indicate its probably a firmware update causing the problem

2) a couple of threads recommend using a free clean-up utility (such as this on the machine before rebooting and trying again


try that and check back later - I'm sure Richard and Wim will know more

If its an OSX update that is failing then try downloading the combined update from Apples website and installing it manually.