Do you want to give your computer to another person, but before giving it away you want to remove all of your data? If so, here’s an easy way to accomplish this. We’ll create a user account for the person who’ll be using the Mac, then delete your user account. Read More from “How to Delete a User Account in Mac OS X”
How To Securely Erase A Mac’s Hard Drive
Here are instructions on how to use Disk Utility to securely erase a hard drive connected internally or externally to your Mac. These instructions were written for Mac OS X 10.4 to 10.6. The process is very similar on older versions of Mac OS X, but the screens will look a bit different. Read More from “How To Securely Erase A Mac’s Hard Drive”
How to Restore a File from Your Time Machine Backup
Testing your backup system is a critical, but often over-looked task. You need to monitor and test your backup system not only so you know that it’s properly copying your files, but more importantly so you learn how to use your backup system to retrieve a file. By practicing, you’ll be confident and ready when disaster strikes and you need to restore a file. Read More from “How to Restore a File from Your Time Machine Backup”
How Big is a Kilobyte?
How big is a kilobyte? How big is a gigabyte? Relative to each other, how big are any two files? Here’s some information which can help you get your head around file sizes and comparing them. Read More from “How Big is a Kilobyte?”
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 More from “Retrieve an Airport Password From Your Keychain”
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 backup is running properly. Read More from “Testing Your Carbon Copy Cloner Full Backup”
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 multiple drives provides protection against fire, floods and burglars, which could affect both your Mac and the backup drive sitting next to it. Read More from “Setting Up Time Machine To Use Multiple Hard Drives”
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 contain typos. Read More from “How to Use Mail’s Previous Recipients List”
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 More from “How to Remove and Re-Add a Printer’s Print Queue in Mac OS X 10.6”
QuickLook 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 More from “QuickLook is a Fast Way to View a File”
What 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 More from “What are the Pros and Cons of Online Backup Systems?”
How to Reindex Your Macintosh Quicken Data File
Here are instructions on how to reindex your Quicken Data File.
Read More from “How to Reindex Your Macintosh Quicken Data File”
Tech 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 More from “Tech Tips from Apple Including an Explanation of Symbols used in Keyboard Shortcuts”
How 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 more appropriate. Read More from “How to Set Up a Comprehensive Macintosh Backup System”
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 5 different clients all report this same problem. In every case the problem was caused by a message being stuck in Entourage’s “Outbox.” Read More from “How can I fix Entourage when it shows the spinning multi-colored ball?”
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 More from “When should I use the word upload and when should I use download?”
How 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 More from “How to Delete Bookmarks from Safari or Firefox”
Fujitsu 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 More from “Fujitsu ScanSnap, A Great Document Scanner For The Mac”
How 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 More from “How to configure iCal to send yourself email reminders”
How 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 to a client’s office or from one of my client’s office to another client’s office. You can try the plugin for free. If you like it then please send a donation to Brian Toth, the developer. Read More from “How to look up Address Book addresses using Google Maps”