How To Switch To Using A New Email Account

Posted on May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics, Email, Services

Are you trying to start using a new email address and stop using an older one? For example, are you moving homes and thus will no longer be able to keep your old comcast.net email account? Or did you change jobs and thus need to stop using your old employer’s email account? If so, here’s an overview of what this process commonly involves. This transition can take a surprising amount of time and effort. Typically, there are two primary tasks to be accomplished:

Notify family and friends
Update all of your online accounts that use your old email address.

Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail. Read More from “How To Switch To Using A New Email Account”

Is It Okay To Use A MacBook Pro’s Power Adapter With A MacBook Air?

Posted on April 24, 2016April 23, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, Macintosh

Have you ever wondered if you could use the power adapter that came with another model of Mac laptop with your Mac laptop? In most cases, the answer is yes, but there are a few details to be aware of. Apple’s Support article on the subject states the following. “You can use a compatible higher wattage adapter without issue, but it won’t make your computer charge faster or operate differently. Lower wattage adapters will not provide enough power.” Let me elaborate on what Apple states in their support article. Read More from “Is It Okay To Use A MacBook Pro’s Power Adapter With A MacBook Air?”

Use Safari’s Reader View For Distraction-Free Reading

Posted on April 17, 2016April 18, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Software, Web Browsing

Do you find it tough to read news articles on web sites because of all of the distracting ads? Do you ever want to print web pages without the clutter of ads around the perimeter? If so, use Safari’s Reader view. It’s easy. Read More from “Use Safari’s Reader View For Distraction-Free Reading”

How To Simultaneously Select Multiple Files On Your Mac

Posted on April 10, 2016March 16, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

An incredibly handy skill is knowing how to simultaneously select multiple files on your Mac. I’ll explain two of the most common ways to do this. Once you master these two fundamental skills you’ll be able to use them over and over again. For example, you’ll be able to select many email messages and move them to a folder. You’ll be able to select many photos and add them to an Album. You’ll be able to select many files and drag them to the Trash.

Use Calendar’s Quick Event Feature

Posted on April 3, 2016March 16, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Calendar Syncing and Sharing, Services

Do you use Apple’s Calendar application? If so, one of the easiest ways to add an event to your calendar is the often overlooked Quick Event feature. Here are instructions to add an event to your calendar using Quick Event.

In the upper left corner of the Calendar window click the plus sign (+) button.
Type in an event name, such as Haircut,
Type in a date, such as Mar 18 or Nov 1
Type in a time or time range such as 8 am or 2:15 to 3:15 pm
Press the Return key

Your event will be added to your calendar. You can now add more details such as an alarm or note.

If you only entered a start time, like 8 AM, the event’s default duration will be 1 hour.

The event will be added to your default calendar. To change your default calendar click on the Calendar menu, select Preferences, click on General and pick your preferred calendar to be your default.

If you like to use keyboard shortcuts you can press Command-N to activate the Quick Entry window. Type in the event details and press the Return key.

Convert Your Contacts To A Excel File

Posted on March 27, 2016February 6, 2020 by Tim Hannon in Miscellaneous

Have you ever wanted to build a Word or Excel file of some or all of the people in your Mac address book? A free tool let’s you do this easily. The original tool I found stopped working around the middle of 2019, but I found a very similar replacement. I provide instructions below.

[Update February 2020 I found some other apps that claim to give you ways to convert your AddressBook data to a .csv file. I haven’t tested them yet, but here are links to these products:

AB2CSV and an article from Lifewire about how to use AB2CSV.

Cisdem’s ContactMate (free or $40) and Cisdem’s article about how to use their own product.

An apparently free online converter, Aconvert.]

Rackspace Email Set Up Assistant

Posted on March 20, 2016April 2, 2017 by Tim Hannon in Email, Services

Do you use Rackspace as your email provider? If so, Rackspace has a great email set up web page. This page provides illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to set up your Rackspace email account on computers, smartphones or tablets. You select which operating system is running on your device and it provides you instructions specific to your email account. You only need to know your email address and password. One of my favorite features of this email set up assistant is that it offers an automatic way of setting up smartphones.

Visit The Wire Cutter For Great Product Reviews

Posted on March 13, 2016May 1, 2020 by Tim Hannon in Miscellaneous

Do you ever need to buy a printer, speakers, iPhone case or some other gadget for your computer or home? If so, check out the detailed product reviews and recommendations offered by The Wire Cutter. I’ve used this web site for a few years to do product research for myself and my customers. I cannot list all of the types of products that they review, but I have used the web site to select bluetooth keyboards, portable hard drives, USB flash drives, 27″ computer monitors, printers, bluetooth speakers, projectors, wireless routers, TVs, and online backup systems. Read More from “Visit The Wire Cutter For Great Product Reviews”

The First Ransomware That Attacks Macs Has Been Discovered

Posted on March 8, 2016July 12, 2024 by Tim Hannon in Security/Privacy, Virus/Malware

The days of Mac users blithely using their computers and not worrying about security issues are gone. Over the past few years the amount of malware that targets Mac users has proliferated. (Malware is a portmanteau of malicious software.) Your best protection against malware is to have a good backup system in place and to be cautious about what files you download and install onto your Mac. Another reminder of the need to be vigilant occurred this past weekend when the first ransomware targeting Macs was discovered. Ransomware tries to encrypt all of the files on your Mac and then literally requires you to pay a ransom to regain access to your own computer and data. However, if you have a backup then you could erase your Mac and restore from your backup, rather than pay the ransom. Read More from “The First Ransomware That Attacks Macs Has Been Discovered”

Use Hermes To Listen To Pandora On Your Mac

Posted on February 21, 2016August 30, 2019 by Tim Hannon in Miscellaneous, Software

Do you use Pandora, the music streaming service? To listen to Pandora do you open a web browser and visit the Pandora website? If so, consider using Hermes instead. Hermes is a free application which you would install on your Mac. Hermes works with both free and paid Pandora accounts. While Pandora offers their own Mac app, it only works if you have a paid Pandora account, called a Pandora One account. Additionally, the Pandora app relies on Adobe Air. This isn’t bad, but it makes it a bit tougher to get installed and working. Hermes currently requires OS X Mavericks (aka OS X 10.9). Hermes is not perfect, but it works very well in my experience. Download Hermes, login with your Pandora username and password and you are ready to use it. All of your Pandora stations will appear. Hermes has a small window that is easy to slide out of the way when you aren’t using it.

What is Xfinity Wifi And Why Does My Mac Always Connect To It?

Posted on February 7, 2016January 28, 2016 by Tim Hannon in Networks, Seattle

Have you noticed wireless networks named XFINITY, xfinitywifi or CableWiFi? Does your Mac keep connecting to these networks? Here’s an explanation about what these wireless networks are as well as some information about when you might want your Mac to connect to these networks. Read More from “What is Xfinity Wifi And Why Does My Mac Always Connect To It?”

Apple Will Service Macs, iPhones and iPads For 5 Years

Posted on January 31, 2016October 21, 2022 by Tim Hannon in Apple, Companies, Hardware, iPhone and iPad, Macintosh, Seattle

Did you know that Apple only services Macs, iPhones, iPad and iPod for 5 years? Apple uses the term vintage to describe products that have been discontinued for more than 5 years. An Apple support article states that “Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured for more than five years and less than seven years ago.” Once they hit the 7-year mark Apple refers to the product as obsolete. Read More from “Apple Will Service Macs, iPhones and iPads For 5 Years”

How To Hard Reset An iPhone Or iPad

Posted on January 24, 2016February 17, 2019 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iPhone and iPad

Did your iPhone or iPad freeze and stop responding? If so, perform a hard reset. This procedure will fix many small issues. If your device continues to freeze then you may need to take more extensive measures, like performing a factory reset or taking it to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store.

Here are instructions on how to perform a hard reset if your device has a Home button. If your device doesn’t have a Home button then follow the instructions below.

Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button on your device until your iPhone or iPad turns off and then displays the Apple logo as it starts up.

The Home button is the big round button on the front of your iPhone or iPad at the bottom of the display.

The Sleep/Wake button is located on the top edge of the most iPhones and iPads. However, starting with the iPhone 6, the button moved to the right edge of the iPhone.

Your iPhone or iPad should start up. Hopefully, it will work properly.

[Update early 2018: Apple introduced a new way to perform a hard reset, in 2017, with the introduction of the iPhone X since it was the first iPhone to not include a Home button.

Instead of holding down two buttons until the iPhone restarts, you now need to press two buttons quickly and then press and hold a third button. This takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it you’re good to go.

Quickly press and release the Volume Up button
Quickly press and release the Volume Down button
Press and hold the side button (aka the Sleep/Wake button) until the Apple logo appears.

You must press the volume up then volume down pretty quickly, but not at the same time. The side button is what Apple calls the Sleep/Wake button. After a few seconds of holding the side button, the iPhone should restart.]

Use Your iPhone 6 With One Hand Using Reachability

Posted on January 10, 2016June 2, 2023 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iOS and iPhone/iPad Apps, iPhone and iPad, Software

Do you own an iPhone 6, 6S, 6 Plus or a 6S Plus? If so, use Reachability to make it easier to use the phone with only one hand. The iPhone 6 (or 6S) and iPhone 6 Plus (or 6S Plus) come with 4.7″ and 5.5″ screens, respectively. Apple added a feature named Reachability to make it easier to use these larger phones with only one hand. This feature is enabled by default, but it can be disabled. To invoke this feature double tap the Home button. Make sure you only use a gentle tap, don’t actually depress the Home button. When you invoke Reachability the entire screen shifts downward. The lower half disappears off-screen and the upper half is now within reach. How handy! Read More from “Use Your iPhone 6 With One Hand Using Reachability”

iPhone’s Control Center Let’s You Access The Flashlight, Calculator And More

Posted on January 3, 2016February 17, 2019 by Tim Hannon in iOS and iPhone/iPad Apps, Software

Do you know you can access your iPhone or iPad’s Flashlight, Clock, Calculator, Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb feature and more with only two taps? All of these features are available via the iOS Control Center. In iOS 7 through iOS 11, you can to quickly access the Control Center, tap on the Home button on the face of the device, then slide your finger up from the very bottom of the glass. You’ll lift a curtain to reveal the Control Center. Use the image below as a guide.

If you have an iPhone without a there is a new Home button, such as the iPhone X, or if you’ve upgraded to iOS 12 then you need to know about the new way to access the Control Center. The new way is to swipe down from the upper right corner of your device. This works if the screen is locked or not.

iPad Magician

Posted on December 27, 2015December 7, 2015 by Tim Hannon in Miscellaneous

I know you subscribe to my Tech Tips to get pearls of wisdom and nuggets of knowledge. Not this week. This Tech Tip is just for fun. Hope you enjoy it. Check out this iPad magician.

Quickly Access Your iPhone Camera

Posted on December 20, 2015December 21, 2015 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iPhone and iPad, Photo

Will you be taking photos with your iPhone or iPad this holiday season? If so, here is the fastest way to access your device’s camera. Press the Home button on the face of the iPhone. Do you see the camera icon in the lower right corner? Press on this icon and simultaneously slide your finger towards the top of the screen. You will see a visual effect which makes it appear as though you are lifting a curtain to reveal the camera. Use the image below as a guide. Voilà, you’re able to use the camera. It’s that easy.

Enable Find My iPhone

Posted on December 13, 2015October 1, 2020 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iOS and iPhone/iPad Apps, iPhone and iPad, Software

If you own an iPhone make sure your Find My iPhone feature is enabled. Find My iPhone is one of the services offered by Apple’s iCloud service. The Find My iPhone feature helps you locate your iPhone, lock it and potentially erase it. Best of all, Find My iPhone is a theft deterrent since this feature makes your phone essentially useless to anybody else. Specifically, it enables a feature that Apple calls Activation Lock. However, all of these benefits require that you enable this feature before the iPhone gets misplaced or stolen. Read More from “Enable Find My iPhone”

How To Restore A Time Machine Backup On To A New Hard Drive

Posted on November 29, 2015December 1, 2015 by Tim Hannon in Backup, Local Backup, Time Machine

At some point, everyone will experience a hard drive failure. When this happens, a Time Machine backup can save your data. Here are instructions on how to restore all applications and personal files from a Time Machine backup onto a new hard drive. Time Machine is a backup application made by Apple. It comes bundled with every Mac that shipped with OS X 10.5 or higher. It can be used to backup the contents of your Mac’s internal hard drive to an external hard drive or to an Airport Time Capsule. I’ve written previously about the importance of backups and how to set up and monitor Time Machine. The restore process requires you to first install OS X onto the new hard drive and then restore everything from your most recent Time Machine backup.

(If you’re looking for instructions on how to restore an entire Time Machine backup on to a new Mac read this.)

How To Identify Your iPhone or iPad Model

Posted on November 23, 2015February 14, 2018 by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iPhone and iPad

Have you ever wondered how to identify which iPhone or iPad model you have? While there are some physical characteristics that might help you generally differentiate one model from another, these differences are often subtle and aren’t always sufficient. Here are a two ways to definitively identify your iOS device. Read More from “How To Identify Your iPhone or iPad Model”