Tag: mac consulting

Slow Mac

My Mac has not always been sluggish but now it is, unless I shut it down everyday. It is sporadic. I'm afraid it has something to do with my anti-virus updates but I know nothing about computers. Anyway, it is a PowerBook G4 version 10.3.9 with a processor 1GHz Power PC G4, Memory 564 MB DDR SDRAM.

First of all, I think it’s important to say that you really don’t need virus protection on your Mac, and if it’s what holding things up, it’ll be the first thing I ditch from a Mac.

So, here’s the deal: Your Mac is slow because you have near the bare minimum memory necessary for your computer. Bringing it up to at least 1.5Gb (gigabytes) should help performance a fair bit. I encourage all modern Mac users: Install at least 2Gb (that’s two gigabytes) of RAM, and you’ll have a modern, happy Mac. And if you can afford it, and you’re going to do anything serious with it, take that sucker to 3Gb.

I have, after much observation, found that having less than 1Gb of RAM (memory) can really slow a Mac down, unless one is doing only the most simple things with it — like, word processingwhether it’s on 10.3 or 10.4. (Surfing the web is actually a more intensive task for a computer than one might think.)

Addendums:

#1 – If you’re still using OS X 10.2 Jaguar, you seriously need to upgrade to Tiger 10.4.

#2 – You actually shouldn't have to shut your Mac down unless you are going to be away from it for a while, or unless you have done a software installation or update that requires a restart.

#3 – There are a couple of basic troubleshooting techniques for a slow Mac, but the main one is to use the Activity Monitor, to be found in the Utilities folder inside Applications:

I'd like you to bear with me through the next couple of (brief) paragraphs. It's going to sound quite geeky, but it should help us examine your problem.

When you open Activity Monitor for the first time, you'll want to do two things: Change the "Show" drop-down menu to "All Processes", and click the "% CPU" label. This will show you which applications, or processes, are taxing your computer most.

And at the bottom of the window, you'll see a bar graph. If that graph is almost all black (and your computer is sluggish), then we're looking in the wrong place. If you have a lot of green or red in there (say, more than 20%), I'd like you to call or email me what processes are listed in the window as taking up the most of the resources.

(For kicks, here's a more complete article on using Activity Monitor.)

#4 – Now, here's another, and fairly important question: Do you use a lot of different fonts? If so, try closing them and see what happens. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then fonts are not the issue.)

#5 – Finally, there are a couple of maintenance tasks that one can perform. I can walk you through them over the phone. I'll mention that the tool I like to use is Onyx; the version of it for your Mac can be downloaded by clicking here.

How bloggeth thou?

I need to figure out create a blog to my personal web domain. I’d like to be able to upload my thoughts/pics just as easily as you do. I would name it something like: blog.mydomain.net. There are several options that I’ve seen.

  • Blogger – free – but not as customizable. I’ve tried to transfer a blog to my domain but not had much luck.
  • MarsEdit – seems like a good candidate – $24.95  http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/
  • WordPress – seems like a steep learning curve but free – http://wordpress.org/
  • iWeb?
 

There's a gazillion ways to blog now, and honestly all of the good ones (as opposed to a MySpace blog page) are going to help you create a full-fledged weblog.

So, to go through some options:

  • I would skip iWeb unless you want to keep it simple… I mean like Forrest Gump-simple.
  • Many pro bloggers love WordPress …
  • … but many also really like Six Apart's TypePad ( http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/), or their Movable Type (http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/)  if you're gonna get serious. I know a teacher who really likes TypePad for distributing information to her students.

Note that MarsEdit is blog publishing software for the Mac, intended for use with a blog service such as TypePad, Blogger, or your own server. Note, also, that MarsEdit is in transition of ownership, and I wouldn't put down money on shareware in those circumstances.

As someone who does not want to spend a lot of time maintaining a blog, I appreciate Blogger's simplicity. (It should be stated here that Blogger and Blogspot are the same service.) I really really like that I can send an email or a text message to publish to my blog.

Import a DVD

Is there any way to copy a DVD's contents to your computer. We were trying to copy some business videos to a folder on our computer so that they would be more easily accessible.

Two methods:

1) MacTheRipper is a fine app for doing exactly this: Put a DVD in. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it, perhaps, "DVD importing." Then open MacTheRipper, and go to File > Save To… to choose that folder. It will save the DVD information inside two folders called AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. You can use the wonderful, free media player VLC to open that VIDEO_TS folder.

2) AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE WAY YOU WANT TO GO … You can use HandBrake to import the DVD content (or an imported VIDEO_TS folder) straight to a QuickTime- or iPod-playable movie.

Of course, we would never ever want to use these techniques to distribute copyrighted content, would we?

Back dat s*** UP!

I use several different backup packages, depending on the job and the need. Deja Vu, SuperDuper!, Carbon Copy Cloner (though I haven’t gotten scheduled backups to work in its latest Intel-ready version) are great for bootable backups, and Deja Vu also works well if the user doesn’t want the backup to get in their way (or you don’t want them to screw it up ;-).
Recently, I’ve come to absolutely adore ChronoSync for just about every other task, esp. backing up to a networked volume. ChronoSync will email you when a backup is complete; it also organizes your backup sets in the most logical, and least screen-hogging way.

The Keychain to Success

Having problems with keychains?
If keychain permissions are giving you fits, the first thing to do is type “keychain” into Spotlight, and open Keychain Access. When it’s open, click on the Keychain Access menu next to the Apple menu, and click on “Keychain First Aid.” In the appropriate blank, click the “Repair” button, and click “Start”
If any errors show up in red, click Start again, until no more errors are found. 
Now, you also probably want to keep your default keychain unlocked. And unless you’re using a generic user account on a workstation, you’ll want to turn on “User Names and Passwords” in Safari’s AutoFill preferences.

There are other techniques for securing your information. Needless to say, once should take extra precautions when storing sensitive material on a laptop. Get ahold of to discuss the options.

Bonjour, kemosabe. Vie gates?: iChat on your private network

Everyone do this with me: Open iChat (if it ain’t in your Dock, it’s in your Applications folder). Click on the Window menu in iChat. If you see Rendezvous, click on that; if you see Bonjour, click on that. If you’re asked to login to that network, click Login.

If everyone in your organization does this, you’ll all see each other in the Rendezvous or Bonjour window. I find sending quick text messages often more civlized — and always more quet — than phone intercom. I know of one office where they change their iChat status to show when they’re in the office or out to lunch, on the phone, etc. …

… Guess most people I know are fairly out to lunch most of the time, but that’s another story.

By the way, you can text to my AIM account s1r4real. If I’m not online, your message will be forwarded to my phone — which is easily set up, by the way, in your AIM preferences.

Also, for folks using a server, Apple is including secure private iChat in the next version of OS X Server.

“If you invite them, they will come”: iCal invitations & notifications

This is a natural question, and I hope Apple makes this procedure more obvious in the next iCal:
In a calendar that you administer, click on an event.
Look to the right of the main iCal window; if you don’t see a separate information panel, like a drawer, sticking out to the right, click on the button with “i” in the circle at the bottom right of the main iCal window. There’s rarely any need ever to close this Info.
Now, in the info panel, click the grey word “None” next to the black “attendees.” Start typing the name of someone in your address book. When their name is filled in automatically, hit the key. Now, add your own address in there (just this time, for practice). Finally, at the bottom of the info panel, cilck the Send button.
Et voilà! You have just emailed an invitation to someone, and you (and Apple Mail and iCal) stand awaiting their reply. Look in your email, and also in the Notifications panel of iCal (there’s a button bottom left of iCal, and “Show Notifications” is in the View menu.

Moving items from subscribed-to calendars

Turns out that you can copy events from one calendar to another, even if the first calendar is one you're subscribed to. (Given: You can't copy into a calendar you're not able to edit.)
This could be useful, for example, if you wanted to send invitations to people who weren't included in the first round.

Ejectile dysfunction: CD is stuck in the drive!

My CD/DVD burner drive won’t let me insert a disk. I think it thinks there’s a disk already in there but there isn’t. Is there a way to get it “unlocked?”

So, is this a “slot-loading” or do you put the disc in a tray that pops out?

Reminds me of the time at Kinko’s when the older lady put the CD into the 5 1/4″ floppy disc drive. A Windows computer, natch, and I wish I had a picture of the look on my face. I seem to recall that those damn PCs were bolted down. I giggled a lot.

Either way, try opening iTunes and pushing the eject button at bottom right. If that doesn’t work, follow these instructions:

From macosxhints.com: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031210193237190)

I had a CD get stuck in my slot-loading superdrive Aluminum Powerbook, running 10.3. The CD became unresponsive and not recognized by my computer at all! Here is the fix:

Hold Control-Command-Option-Eject Button; this will shut down your computer. Turn the power on with the power button and hold Command-Option-O-F — this will boot you into open firmware. Now type
eject cd and hit the Return key and wait until the CD pops out. Type

mac-boot
and you are ready to rock!
[robg adds:
As mentioned elsewhere on the site, you can also try holding the mouse button down during boot to force the system to eject any inserted CDs.]

When do I unplug my laptop?

What is the right way to treat my notebook regarding recharging. It mostly lives on my desk and acts as a desktop; I take it elsewhere in the house or yard once every day or two, for maybe an hour. For the rest, it’s at my desk. So the question is: can I leave it plugged in and sleeping?

So, here’s the protocol:

If the laptop is fully charged — it has a green light on the Apple adapter, or it says “100% Charged” in the battery menu — AND you’re done using it, close the lid and unplug it.

If it’s not completely charged when you’re done working, close it to put it to sleep and let it charge all the way up to green, and THEN unplug it.

The longer the laptop is plugged in while the battery is fully charged, the more stale the battery will get, and the shorter its life.

Lastly, every couple of months, one will want to run the battery down to absolute zero — the screen goes black and won’t wake up, but the light on the front still glows — then plug it in and charge it all the way up in one go. This conditions the battery, sort of reminding it how much capacity it should have. One should do this to a brand new battery also, AFTER charging it all the way up the first time.

By way of example, my current PowerBook battery, now 2.5 years old, has a fine 2-to-3-hour lifespan, because I have it unplugged so much of the time.