Doc_Babad's Macintosh Tips - A Macintosh Tip or Three… November 2006 Edition By Harry {doc} Babad
Product and company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their respective companies. The software related tips were tested on a 1 GHz dual processor PowerPC G4 Macintosh with 2 GB DDR SDRAM; running under Macintosh OS X OS X 10.4.8.

This month I continue sharing my occasional tip related finds with you. Most, but not all of the Tips I share come from — Paul Taylor's Hints&Tips column

http://www.mac-hints-tips.com and are used with his permission. Where I use any one else’s tips for this column, I acknowledge both their source and their contributors.

Oh, I almost forgot! Unless otherwise noted, all the tips and tidbits I share, where appropriate, work on my computer. If I don't own the software but if the tip sounds interesting, I'll so note at the end of that specific write-up.

Tips I’ve provided this month, as always in a random order, include:

• Simple Questions to Help Troubleshoot Your Computer
• File Compression Done Within the Mac OS X
• Sending Large eMAIL Attachments
• The Bouncing Dock — Freeze that Dock!
• Windows Users Can't Open the Files You Send Them
• An Application Transforms To Document, It Won't Launch
• Using Old Disk Repair Utilities –Don’t
• Mac OS X’s Auto-Defragmenter- No Need
• Personalize Your Google Start Page
• How Can I Change the Icons on My Computer?

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Simple Questions to Help Troubleshoot Your Computer

Speaking with customers every day brings issues to light very quickly. Usually, once in every Mac OS series an update causes issues. In Mac OS 10.2, for example, there were issues with date and time on G4 logic boards that required another update to fix. For Mac OS X 10.4.4, I have taken calls from several people who have lost the ability to print.

Sometimes being on the cutting edge of technology makes you bleed is my belief, so I tend to hang back a bit. When people do run into problems, there are some general questions I ask to see if we can figure out what went wrong and when it happened. Write those questions down. The next time you get into a pinch, you might save yourself a tech call and find that there is a simple solution to your problem. {Doc asks, you do own a pencil and paper, don't you?}

• When did the problem start?
• Can you reproduce the problem now?
• What is the last thing you changed or added to your system?
• Does the issue disappear if you start up the computer with all third-party internal hardware removed?
• Does the issue disappear if you start the computer from a known- good system disk or external device?
• Is the problem isolated to one specific application?
• Is the problem isolated to one specific document or file?
• Is your computer producing any noise or odors?
• Has it ever worked?

The answers to these questions should help you isolate the issue. Once you get the issue isolated, you can start planning how to fix it.

Software issues can frequently be solved by a safe reboot, running disk first aid, or reinstalling the OS from your CDs.

Hardware issues unfortunately still need to be addressed by an Apple service provider. Finding one that will work with you to minimize your downtime is key to maintaining your sanity. ~ Troy

Small Dog Electronics      Hints & Tips June 2006

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File Compression Done Within Mac OS X

Many long-time Mac users grew up using third-party programs, such as StuffIt Deluxe*, to compress files before sending them out on the Internet or storing them on an external media (such as floppies or CDs). These compression utilities would save files that had an extension such as .sit and .sea (self-extracting application).

When Apple created Mac OS X 10.3, aka Panther, they added a compression feature that would save files in the .zip standard that has long been used by the rest of the computer world.

Compressing files can be done by selecting your file or folder (single-click) and then going to the File menu and scrolling down to "Create File Archive of 'filename' (filename = the name of the selected file or folder)". Your new Zipped file will be saved in the same location as the original selected file or folder.

For those of you who use keyboard shortcuts: Hold down the Control key and the click on the file/folder. A pull-down menu will then appear and you can mouse down and select Create File Archive of "filename". For those of you who use a two-button mouse: Click the right mouse button to select the file/folder.

You now have a compressed file that can be safely sent to both Mac OS X and Windows computers.

* NOTE: I still use StuffIt Deluxe in addition to the built-in .zip file compression. StuffIt Deluxe has many additional features that make it a worthwhile addition to your software collection. I do too doc_Babad

Allen Kalka, Mt. Dora MUG FL Electronics            Hints & Tips June 2006

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Sending Large eMAIL Attachments

So you have a 1 MB file to pass on to your colleague of best friend. When encoded for the Internet, whether in Apple Mail or Eudora, such files often grow 30% to at least 1.3 MB. Most IPs limit the sizes of messages so such emails with large attachments bounce. They can be refused by your IP or bounce on the other end.

As a first, but often-ineffective step, you can compress your attachments to .zip files. Compressing 1 MB graphics, large complex word processing or PDF files, compressing the file sometimes does not gain you enough "space". This is true when using either Apples "create an archive function [Finder > File Menu > Create Archive] or the DropStuff application from Allume Systems, Inc.

But there is another way and it's even free. Go to dropload.com and follow instructions. http://www.dropload.com.

Here's the straight scoop. "Dropload is a place for you to drop your files off and have them picked up by someone else at a later time. The recipients you specify are sent an email with instructions on how to download the file. Files are removed from Dropload system after 7 days, regardless if they have been picked up or not. You can upload any type of file, mp3, movies, PDFs, etc. up to 100MB each! Recipients can be anyone with an email address"

Harry (doc) Babad

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The Bouncing Dock — Freeze That Dock!

Problem: Keeping folders in the Dock rocks for quickly accessing files, but sucks rocks when you try to drag a file into a docked folder. The dad-gummed thing scoots out of the way to make room for you to put that file itself in the Dock.

Solution: When you want to drop a file into a docked folder icon and not the Dock itself, just hold Command while dragging, and the docked Folder will stay put.

MacAddict November 2006, Page 23

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Windows Users Can't Open the Files You Send Them

Fix the file name. Windows is essentially stupid: the only way it knows which application opens a file is to look at the three-character extension at the end of the file's name. When it sees .doc, it opens Microsoft Word; when it sees .xls, it turns to Microsoft Excel; and so on.

So when you send a file to a Windows user, you have to give the file name the right extension. For starters, set Mac OS X to display file extensions. Select Preferences in the Finder menu, select Advanced, and then select the Show All File Extensions option.

The next step is to make sure your files have Windows-legal file names. If you don't follow Windows naming conventions, the recipients might not be able to open your files; in some cases, they won't even be able to see your attachments.

In Windows file names you can't use square brackets ([ and ]), slashes (/ and \), the equal sign (=), the plus sign (+), angle brackets « and », question marks (?), semicolons (;), quotation marks ("), or commas (,). So if you put dates in your file names, use the Windows-legal hyphen (Monthly report 4-30-06.doc) instead of the forward slash (Monthly report 4/30/06.doc). Other no-nos: don't use a space at the beginning or end of a file name, and avoid having more than one dot (period) in it.

Renaming Conventions — A utility such as A Better Finder Rename makes it easier to rename groups of Mac files using Windows-safe syntax.

If you have a lot of files that you want to rename to conform to these conventions, simplify the job with Sig Software's NameCleaner ($35; http://www.sigsoftware) and Public Space's A Better Finder Rename ($20; http://www.publicspace.net). These utilities can rename and remove illegal characters from batches of files.

LIVING in a WINDOWS WORLD             Macworld, August 200, Page 5.

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An Application Transforms To Document, It Won't Launch

Problem - Several readers have reported an issue where application icons suddenly appear as document icons, also assuming document creators and types. This results in an inability to launch the application.

Solution — If you are experiencing this issue, you might want to try adding ".app" (without quotation marks) to the end of the file name of the Word application. If that doesn't work, click on the Word icon in the Finder, then press the Command and I keys simultaneously (or go to "Get Info" in the File" menu). Once the "Get Info" screen is up, go to the "Name and Extension" section, and make sure the file is named "Word.app" or similar – the important thing is that the end of the file contains only the .app extension.

Failing this, you may want to try rebuilding the launch services database with a tool like Cocktail. [Doc notes: I have used Cocktail to trash impossible-to-remove other documents. Although we've not yet reviewed it for macC, it's a great tool. http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.html]

MacFixit Late-Breakers Thursday, June 01 2006

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Using Old Disk Repair Utilities - DONT

Apple changed details of the Mac OS filing system with the introduction of Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) and warned that versions of TechTool Pro earlier than 4.0.4 should not be used with it. Currently, no version of the AppleCare CD has this latest version of TechTool Pro on it — most have v3.0.3 — which means that no AppleCare CD should be used to run TechTool Pro on a Mac with Tiger installed.

In general, the same kind of warning applies to other ‘pre-Tiger’ disk utilities. You should not use any version of Disk Warrior earlier than v3.0.3, or any version of Norton Disk Doctor whatever, this utility not having been updated for Tiger.

AUSOM News, Melbourne, Australia via Apple Barrel, Ridgecrest, CA
Hints & Tips October 2006

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Mac OS X’s Auto-Defragmenter

Unlike in Mac OS 9, most people don’t need a disk defragmenting utility because Mac OS X defragments your hard drive as you work. When a file is accessed, it checks to see if the file is fragmented (split into several different areas of the hard drive). If so, the file is copied to an area of the hard drive that can hold the entire file. It works on files only up to 20 MB in size because smaller fragmented files slow your system the most.

Design Tools Monthly      Hints & Tips October 2006

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Personalize Your Google Start Page

You can personalize Google for your start page. Open Google and in the upper right corner is a link, Personalized Home. Click on it. On the page that appears, sign in on the upper left corner of the page (unless you already have a Google account).

Fill in your email and a password of six characters or more. An email will arrive. Click on the link in it to authenticate your password. Sign in and go to Google again. Click on the “Personalize Home” link. Click “Personalize Your Google Home Page” at the left side.

A list of topics appears on the left side. Add content until you are satisfied. You can click and drag items on the right side to reposition them to your liking. Each item has an Edit and an X link to edit or remove items.

When you are done, you can make this page your start page by going into your browser preferences and choosing the page as your start page. If you like a blank page as your start page, as I prefer, you can quickly go to your personalized Google page by simply typing “google” in the URL text block and hitting “Return.”

Mouse Droppings, Corvallis, OR   Hints & Tips October 2006

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How can I Change the icons on my computer?

First, copy the image you want to use as your icon onto the clipboard.

Second, open the 'Get Info' window of the icon you wish to replace. Highlight the icon and go to File/Get Info, or highlight it and type ? -I.

Third, click once on the icon image in the 'Get Info' window.

Fourth, go to Edit/Paste or type Command-V to paste the new icon and replace the old one. Finally, close the 'Get Info' window and you're done.

Note: You can copy any icon you wish by opening the 'Get Info' window as explained above, selecting the icon and using Edit/Copy or typing Command-C. Also, any image or icon on the net can be copied by clicking and holding on the image or by holding the option key down and clicking. A pop-up menu will appear, which has several functions, one of them being "Copy this Image".

Warning, when you convert a busy image to an Icon, it remains that — busy!

For more customizable results you can also download Icon Brander 2.0.2 http://www.yellowmug.com/folderbrander/ and Icon Compo 3.5 http://www.loos.li/trollin/, both of which I’ve reviewed for macCompanion.

Harry {doc} Babad

That’s all folks…

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