SweetMacTips: Archive

SweetMacTips

January 2011

85 posts

toivoa said: What’s the difference between USB and FireWire? For something like an external hard drive, does it make that big of a difference? (You might have already talked about this, I don’t know, this was just off the top of my head) That’s a good one. FireWire actually pre-dates USB and is strictly an Apple invention. In my opinion, to this day it is better than USB in every way...

jonconley replied to your post: Sorry guys As someone who supports macs as his day job, I’m not sure if it is possible, but could you add people (including myself obviously) to the point where we could perhaps field questions and submitted response for approval? Would love to help any way. I’d love help. Unfortunately, it’s a case of “would if I could.” I created...

Change of gears

Last week I asked what kinds of things you guys wanted to know, in broad terms. I’m gonna start answering some of those today :)

I had to cull my backlog of questions (100+). There was no way I was going through them all. I haven’t got the time. So, if you’ve seen your question answered today, consider yourself lucky I guess. Forgive me :)

imblind asked: Hi! im having a really upseting problem with mi mac.. its an OS X 10.5, and it has been a while since it started telling me that the applications folder is not writable anymore, i cant install any new stuff to my mac.. HELP!! please.... thank you!

jxshuv asked: okay so i just my first mac like a week ago. i am having trouble uploading pictures to websites like tumblr and facebook. i like to edit to my photos in photoshop and when they are edited they dont save in iphoto.

megamariela7-deactivated2011072 asked: Is it true that the MacBook Pro is updating soon?

megamariela7-deactivated2011072 asked: What's the difference between Snow Leopard and Lion? (not sure if I'm getting the names correct). And which one is better?

jesserogerstourblog-deactivated asked: I'm getting the iPhone for Verizon soon. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything different about it besides the inability to use 3G and talk on the phone simultaneously, which I don't really care about.

Thanks.

foreverachuckfan asked: Hey was hoping for some guidance with my Macbook. It seems the volume has become locked and won't change. I've tried getting rid of the com.apple.soundpref.plist file and doesn't work, I've tried resetting my PRAM and still nothing, and I've done several reboots and still nothing. It all started when I plugged in earphones into the mac and when I took them out, they got...

Error 112 on your new AppleTV with Netflix?

Unplug and re-plug the AppleTV from power (essentially, reboot it) Just had this and it fixed it.

casualty asked: I have a nearly four-year-old white MacBook. A lot of the time when it's plugged in, it'll say the battery is fully charged when the percentage is at 97%. I did calibrate the battery about a month ago and for a couple weeks after that it was fine, but then things started going downhill again. How often is it reasonable to need to calibrate the battery? Or might it be something else...

heyemoking replied to your post: heyemoking answered your question:I’m in a rut…. Sorry! I should have searched your blog first, I try my best to keep up to your posts but life takes over haha! Thanks for the link! This is actually a bit of a problem for me. People can go to the main site and search, but Tumblr (on a couple of occasions) has acknowledged in support emails that search is...

heyemoking answered your question:I’m in a rut. What sort of things do you guys want to know? Got a list of sweet apps that will freshen up my Mac?! You’re not paying attention to my SweetAppSunday then! Give it a look!

restlesss answered your question:I’m in a rut. What sort of things do you guys want to know? what is growl? and is it bad? Aw that’s a good one. In short, Growl’s the bees knees. I’ll do a post up on it. Maybe as SweetAppSunday next week!

I'm in a rut. What sort of things do you guys want...

I’m talking broad topics here. Not “how do I” stuff, I answer those already. Do you want to know just what the heck things like DNS, DHCP, what an IP address is? That sort of stuff? Or, “How does a hard drive work?” or “What’s a Firewall?” How about, “Where did the Mac ever come from?” I’m looking to get off the beaten path here....

whatyougotacrushonme asked: Hi,
I just got a seagate goflex external hard-drive and I'm still not quite sure how to use it. I want to clear our some space on my MacBook so it runs faster. Is it possible to move entire applications that i do not use often (like final cut, and garage band) on to my external hard-drive and then delete them from my laptop? Would this delete the applications forever?

therealkevint asked: Hey! :)

I'm currently having a problem with my MacBook (which is on 10.6) right now. My Spotlight has been in "Estimating indexing time" mode for several weeks now, and it won't stop doing it. What should I do? Thanks.

dragonfuck-deactivated20110201- asked: hey! i have a question about my mac and using bootcamp :p

okay, so say i want to get windows on my mac (for game purposes). after i partition my drive, set that all up, blahblahblah, do i need to get an antivirus program for the windows side?

Why you should always encrypt your smartphone |... →

vb: A great article from ArsTechnica as to the legal issues surrounding mobile phones which are often a trove of information that can incriminate you. Not that I’m a criminal, far from it, but I do like to know what my rights are given a situation as I do believe that from time to time the police do abuse their power. Of particular note about simply having a passcode lock on your phone...

Regarding this, signonpdx said: I’d wager phanetha is referring to the mounted disc images in the upper right of her desktop. She needs to complete the installation of Skype and Chrome by dragging the .apps to /Applications… Ah ha! I bet that’s it. You guys are great. Ok, so you need to drag the Skype and Chrome apps into your Applications folder. If there are any Chrome or Skype icons...

katoxo asked: Hello sweetmac tips ! my question is My macbook will be 5 years old in may and only recently has it decided to die. First off it wont charge, the green light to indicate its charging doesnt come on and also a couple of weeks before her death she kept over heating, now would this be the battery blowing it all, or is the charger and the over heating 2 different things ? and are they expensive to...

phanetha asked: Just bought my mac and I am getting the programs I want on it such as skype and google chrome. they both have icons on they upper right hand side and I cant seem to get rid of them. please help.

phanetha asked: Just bought my mac and I am getting the programs I want on it such as skype and google chrome. they both have icons on they upper right hand side and I cant seem to get rid of them. please help.

databoy asked: I was just wondering if you play any games on your Macs - just outta curiosity more than anything. And also is there such thing as a keyboard shortcut almanac? Not the size of a bible but more you know, on hand in case you need to boot up your OS from something else and can't remember the shortcuts?

databoy asked: I was just wondering if you play any games on your Macs - just outta curiosity more than anything. And also is there such thing as a keyboard shortcut almanac? Not the size of a bible but more you know, on hand in case you need to boot up your OS from something else and can't remember the shortcuts?

katoxo asked: Hello sweetmac tips ! my question is My macbook will be 5 years old in may and only recently has it decided to die. First off it wont charge, the green light to indicate its charging doesnt come on and also a couple of weeks before her death she kept over heating, now would this be the battery blowing it all, or is the charger and the over heating 2 different things ? and are they expensive to...

bostonian-invasion-deactivated2 asked: how do you play WMV files in quicktime?

bostonian-invasion-deactivated2 asked: how do you play WMV files in quicktime?

aquaticgiraffeproductions asked: Okay, so this happened to me yesterday and I have corrected it but because I am in love with Mac and it may help in a future question, I will report on it.
I dropped my 2008 Black Macbook the other day and it worked fine for 5 days then out of no where...it wouldn't awake from sleep, so I held down the power button till everything stopped. Excited to get back on my computer and check...

zephyrlicious asked: To begin with I've had problems with my Macbook pro's keyboard for months. The caps lock light will start flashing and the mouse will freeze up. The only way to unfreeze it is to press a bunch of random keys, or completely restart it. I took it into the Apple store to have it fixed for this problem many months ago, and it has continued to happen despite them saying that they fixed it....

lawzenge asked: HI, I love your tips that you give! I've been using Macs for only half a year so I'm kind of new...My question is when I maximize the Safari window it doesn't go full screen! For Firefox, maximize actually does work. How can I make my browser go full?

lawzenge asked: HI, I love your tips that you give! I've been using Macs for only half a year so I'm kind of new...My question is when I maximize the Safari window it doesn't go full screen! For Firefox, maximize actually does work. How can I make my browser go full?

voicesof: Kleijinx gave Voices of Tumblr a call...

musingsbymattheous asked: Can you recommend a good Laptop lock? I've read that people have had problem with Kengsintongs warping the outer shell of the MacBook...Also, do you have any experience with Backlash? I heard it's the best for off site backup.

blogzombie replied to your post:Help :( I recently acquired a stunning 17” iMac G4. I know it does not have a wireless card, so therefore I would have to use my ethernet line, but, of course, I cut that line a while ago ‘cause I didn’t think I’d use it. D: My dad went to go see if there were any USB wireless adapters that I could use (since the computer is just sitting there collecting dust) and...

wrinkled asked: Help :(
I recently acquired a stunning 17" iMac G4. I know it does not have a wireless card, so therefore I would have to use my ethernet line, but, of course, I cut that line a while ago 'cause I didn't think I'd use it. D:
My dad went to go see if there were any USB wireless adapters that I could use (since the computer is just sitting there collecting dust) and...

musingsbymattheous asked: Can you recommend a good Laptop lock? I've read that people have had problem with Kengsintongs warping the outer shell of the MacBook...Also, do you have any experience with Backlash? I heard it's the best for off site backup.

wrinkled asked: Help :(
I recently acquired a stunning 17" iMac G4. I know it does not have a wireless card, so therefore I would have to use my ethernet line, but, of course, I cut that line a while ago 'cause I didn't think I'd use it. D:
My dad went to go see if there were any USB wireless adapters that I could use (since the computer is just sitting there collecting dust) and...

thelifegame asked: Hey! For Christmas I got a 27 inch Quad-core iMac and installed a new copy of Windows 7 (build 7000), worked fine for a few days. Then yesterday I get on it and it gives me the blue screen of death, I went on a bunch of forums to get more information but couldnt find much of anything some people had a similar problem on their Macbook Pro's. So I uninstall Windows 7 and removed all history of...

thelifegame asked: Hey! For Christmas I got a 27 inch Quad-core iMac and installed a new copy of Windows 7 (build 7000), worked fine for a few days. Then yesterday I get on it and it gives me the blue screen of death, I went on a bunch of forums to get more information but couldnt find much of anything some people had a similar problem on their Macbook Pro's. So I uninstall Windows 7 and removed all history of...

musingsbymattheous asked: I have a 2010 MacBook. I used to use a Moshi Keyboard/palm guard combo, but it seemed like my MacBook would get warm from the keyboard guard blocking the fan under the keyboard. I bought the guard so dust wouldn't get under the keys--is this a legitimate concern? Will not having a guard affect my Mac's performance and/or lifespan? Also, are screen protectors are good idea with Macs? If...

succeed-or-dietrying asked: Recently I got a SanDisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC for my DSLR but every time I plug it into my mac using my sdhc card reader, my computer just starts to stop working. I try to open my pictures with Photoshop but then I have the loading rainbow circle for forever. So I end up force quitting photoshop. Then I try to eject my sd card but then it says programs are using it (but there are no programs...

succeed-or-dietrying asked: Recently I got a SanDisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC for my DSLR but every time I plug it into my mac using my sdhc card reader, my computer just starts to stop working. I try to open my pictures with Photoshop but then I have the loading rainbow circle for forever. So I end up force quitting photoshop. Then I try to eject my sd card but then it says programs are using it (but there are no programs...

musingsbymattheous asked: I have a 2010 MacBook. I used to use a Moshi Keyboard/palm guard combo, but it seemed like my MacBook would get warm from the keyboard guard blocking the fan under the keyboard. I bought the guard so dust wouldn't get under the keys--is this a legitimate concern? Will not having a guard affect my Mac's performance and/or lifespan? Also, are screen protectors are good idea with Macs? If...

flamesof-fire asked: I have an old Powerbook G4 that my brother gave me. It works fine. However, the charger sucks. I have to constantly keep moving it around for it to work. Is this fixable? All 3 chargers that have been used with this Mac have been the same way.

flamesof-fire asked: I have an old Powerbook G4 that my brother gave me. It works fine. However, the charger sucks. I have to constantly keep moving it around for it to work. Is this fixable? All 3 chargers that have been used with this Mac have been the same way.