Retrieve an Airport Password From Your Keychain
You can use these instructions to retrieve any saved password from your keychain, such as the password to your wireless network. The keychain is a secure place to store passwords.
Read moreAuthor: Tim Hannon
Testing Your Carbon Copy Cloner Full Backup
Monitoring and testing a backup system are two critically important steps which many people skip. If you don’t consistently monitor and periodically test your backup system, you could be in for a big surprise when disaster strikes and you try to retrieve files from your backup system. Monitoring and testing gives you confidence that your … Read more
Setting Up Time Machine To Use Multiple Hard Drives
Here are instructions on how to have Time Machine switch between two backup hard drives. My recommendations for setting up a comprehensive backup system for your Mac include swapping between two external hard drives. While one hard drive is being used to backup your Mac the other drive is kept off-site in a secure location. Using … Read more
How to Use Mail’s Previous Recipients List
Did you know that Apple’s Mail application automatically builds a list of all recipients to whom you’ve sent email? I think it’s very useful to review this list a few times each year. By reviewing this list you can easily add useful email addresses to your Contacts and delete outdated email addresses or ones that … Read more
How to Remove and Re-Add a Printer’s Print Queue in Mac OS X 10.6
Here are instructions on how to remove and re-add a print queue. I commonly do this to fix printer issues. Somehow the old queue gets “damaged” and stops working properly. As long as you don’t mind losing any of the print jobs which may be sitting in the queue, go ahead and do the following:
Read moreQuickLook is a Fast Way to View a File
Here are some examples of how I use QuickLook. I often have a Word or Excel file I need to reference. I don’t need to make a change to the document I just want to read some information from it or remind myself of some details.
Read moreWhat are the Pros and Cons of Online Backup Systems?
Are you considering an online backup system? Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of such systems.
Read moreHow to Reindex Your Macintosh Quicken Data File
Here are instructions on how to reindex your Quicken Data File.
Read moreTech Tips from Apple Including an Explanation of Symbols used in Keyboard Shortcuts
Apple produces their own technical tips for the Mac and iPhone. They are short how-to videos. Check them out. I’m sure you’ll find one or two that will teach you a new trick. [Update: February 2018 – Apple Support now has a YouTube channel.]
Read moreHow to Set Up a Comprehensive Macintosh Backup System
The focus of this article is to describe the essential components of a comprehensive backup system for your Macintosh computer. This article’s recommendations are appropriate for anybody with between one and a few Macs which they would like to backup. If you have a larger network of Macs, then other applications and approaches would be … Read more
How can I fix Entourage when it shows the spinning multi-colored ball?
When you open Entourage 2004 does it immediately display the spinning multi-color ball icon? This icon simply indicates that Entourage is thinking. However, if this icon never goes away, then Entourage is getting stuck while trying to complete a task. There are a number of possible causes, but over the past two months I’ve had … Read more
When should I use the word upload and when should I use download?
What is the difference between the words download and upload? I’m asked these questions frequently. I have 3 answers that I offer.
Read moreHow to Delete Bookmarks from Safari or Firefox
Here are step-by-step instructions for deleting bookmarks from Safari and Firefox. The instructions might vary slightly if you’re using a different version of Safari or Firefox.
Read moreFujitsu ScanSnap, A Great Document Scanner For The Mac
The Fujitsu ScanSnap is a compact, easy-to-use scanner which will scan a stack of two-sided pages and turn them into a searchable PDF with the press of just one button. I use my ScanSnap several times throughout the week to scan documents as well as receipts of various sizes. I highly recommend the ScanSnap.
Read moreHow to configure iCal to send yourself email reminders
Would you like to schedule automatic email reminders to yourself for iCal appointments? Here are instructions on getting this set up.
Read moreHow to look up Address Book addresses using Google Maps
Do you often want to get driving directions from Google Maps for somebody’s address which is stored in Address Book? If so, then you should use Brian Toth’s Google Maps Address Book Plugin. I’ve used this great little utility for several years and rely on it regularly to get driving directions either from my office … Read more
Why It’s Critically Important to Backup Entourage
If you use Entourage 2004 or 2008, I believe that it’s critically important that you backup your Entourage database daily or even more often.
Read moreHow to Hide and Switch Macintosh Applications
Is your Mac’s screen cluttered with too many windows? Do you drag windows left and right, up and down, trying to find the window that you’re looking for? There is a better way to manage window clutter on your Mac. Apple offers a number of tools and techniques including Spaces, Expose, Minimize Window and others. … Read more
Replacement Applications for PageMaker
Are you looking for a replacement for PageMaker? Did you like the easy of use that PageMaker offered? It was a basic page layout application. Adobe realized that PageMaker wasn’t capable enough for professional designers so they replaced it with InDesign. However, InDesign is overkill for many small business owners who just want to create … Read more
How To Reduce The Amount Of Spam In Your Inbox
Dealing with spam or junk email in your Inbox is a waste of time. If you run a small business, the time wasted identifying and deleting email can add up over weeks or months. This is true whether you are one person or a multi-person team. Here are a couple of ways to reduce the … Read more