i-Tweak

Making Any OS X Application Full Screenable In Apple Lion OSX

2012-01-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Copy the App You probably don't want to edit the original, so copy the app to the Desktop.

Locate the compiled nib files Compiled nib files can be found in the app bundle's Contents/Resources folder. In more internationalized apps, they may appear in lproj subfolders. You need to locate the nib files you want to edit.

cd whatever.app/Contents/Resources
grep -iRl NSWindowBacking *

This returns a list of all nib files which define the NSWindowBacking key. That key more or less tells you that there's a window definition there. You can try to edit them all, or you can do what I did: just edited the three files in Colloquy's Resources folder that matched: JVChatWindow.nib, JVTabbedChatWindow.nib, and JVSidebarChatWindow.nib.

Convert to XML Use Apple's plutil or my plusutil to convert each nib file from a binary property list to proper XML.

plutil -convert xml1 filename.nib

Edit those XML files Once converted, open the now text-based XML files in TextEdit. Search for the NSWindowBacking key/value pair in each file. After that pair add

<key>NSWindowCollectionBehavior</key>
<integer>128</integer>

This tells the window that its behavior includes full size resizing. Save your changes and close the file.

Convert back to BPlist Convert your edited files back to a binary plist. Strictly speaking? This isn't a necessary step. It just pleases me aesthetically.

plutil -convert binary1 filename.nib

Run it With luck, your app now has full screen zooming support. Enjoy it. Make sure to back up the original app before replacing it with your edited version. And do not expect to upgrade this version, like, you know, ever.

Remove Spotlight "developer" and "Web searches"

2012-01-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a fix for removing the developer category from Spotlight.

Go to ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist
Open Terminal. You will need to convert the file to XML (from binary) so you can edit it in TextEdit. The command you need is plutil -convert xml1 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist

Open this file in TextEdit. Just before at the bottom, add the following:

Code:

  <dict>
      <key>enabled</key>
      <false>
      <key>name</key>
      <string>SOURCE</string>
  </dict>

Convert the file back to binary using plutil -convert binary1 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist
Log out and back in again.

Set Safari's Default Size and Location

2011-12-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

If you like to have Safari starts with a specific window size and location, put the below code in the address bar:
javascript:self.moveTo(0,0);self.resizeTo(1440,900);self.location="http://www.apple.com";

You must paste the code and hit enter, to save the window size and location, hit CTRL+T and close the old tab, this new tab must be the last one. Then close Safari (CTRL+Q) and re-open it.

My 13" MacBook Air is set to
javascript:self.moveTo(200,0);
self.resizeTo(1040,900);
self.location="http://www.apple.com";

Mac: Find & Delete Specific File Type From The Terminal

2011-12-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'd like to find and delete temporary files, backup files, or any file type. This example will show you how to find and delete the LOG file from the terminal:

sudo find / -iname *.log -print0 | xargs -0 rm -frv {}

You will be prompted for your admin password.

Recover Memory On Mac OS X Lion For Free

2011-11-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

Using the technique below I noticed significant gains, you can verify them aswell by opening the Activity Monitor.app, right clicking the icon in the Dock and setting it to show the Memory.
Keep an eye on the green part of the pie chart when the script runs.

First, select the text editor of your choice, I personally use Textmate, and create a new file:

mate ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.itweak.purge.plist

For the bash novices the tilde (~) sign indicates your home directory, usually /Users/yourname

Copy/paste this code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>org.itweak.purge</string>
  <key>Program</key>
  <string>/usr/bin/purge</string>
  <key>StartInterval</key>
  <integer>3600</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

Save the file (CMD+S will suffice) and close the editor.

What we just did is to build a plist file that instructs our system to run the value of the Program key (/usr/bin/purge) every 3600 seconds.

Open up a Terminal and write this:

launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.itweak.purge.plist

Now, this job will run every hour, you can tweak the number of seconds by changing the StartInterval integer number (in seconds) and it will free up your memory, you said it, for free.

To stop it:

launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.itweak.purge.plist

A downside of this is that the purge command will kinda freeze your mac for few seconds when it runs. It can be annoying at times.

Parallels Desktop 7 VMWare Offer

2011-11-21T07:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/vmwareoffer/

Mac OS X Lion Keyboard Shortcuts

2011-11-15T02:03:00.001-08:00

Mac OS X Lion Keyboard Shortcuts

All these Mac OS X Lion shortcuts work in the , and many work in other programs you find in Mac OS X Lion, as well. Want to know how to make these shortcuts second nature? Print out this chart and tape it to your monitor where you'll see it while using Mac OS X Lion.

Command	Keyboard Shortcut
Add Selected Item to Sidebar	Command+T
Close All Windows	Option+Command+W
Close Window	Command+W
Copy	Command+C
Cut	Command+X
Dashboard	F12 (fn+F12 on laptops)
Duplicate	Command+D
Eject Disk	Command+E
Empty Trash	Shift+Command+Delete
Find	Command+F
Get Info (on selected item or items)	Command+I
Go to All My Files	Shift+Command+F
Go to Applications Folder	Shift+Command+A
Go to Desktop	Shift+Command+D
Go to Home Folder	Shift+Command+H
Help	Shift+Command+?
Hide Current Application	Command+H
Log Out Current User	Shift+Command+Q
Make Alias	Command+L
Minimize Window	Command+M
Mission Control: All Windows	Control+Up Arrow (F3 on Apple keyboards)
Mission Control: Application Windows	Control+Down Arrow (Control+F3 on Apple keyboards)
Mission Control: Show Desktop	F11 (fn+F11 on laptops) (Command+F3 on Apple keyboards)
Move to Trash	Command+Delete
Empty Trash	Shift+Command+Delete
New Finder Window	Command+N
New Folder	Shift+Command+N
New Smart Folder	Option+Command+N
Next Window	Command+`
Open	Command+O
Open Inspector	Option+Command+I
Paste	Command+V
Quick Look (at selected item)	Command+Y or Spacebar
Select All	Command+A
Show Original (of selected alias)	Command+R
Show View Options	Command+J
Show/Hide Sidebar	Option+Command+S
Show/Hide Dock	Option+Command+D
Show/Hide Status Bar	Command+/
Turn VoiceOver On/Off	Command+F5 (fn+F5 on laptops)
Turn Zoom On/Off	Option+Command+8
Undo	Command+Z
View Window as Icons	Command+1
View Window as List	Command+2
View Window as Columns	Command+3
View Window as Cover Flow	Command+4

iOS 5 Final Version Official Direct Links

2011-11-05T17:01:00.001-07:00

iOS 5 Official Direct Download Links:

Download iOS 5 for iPhone 4S: iPhone4,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPhone 4 (GSM): iPhone3,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPhone 4 (CDMA): iPhone3,3_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPhone 3GS: iPhone2,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPad 1: iPad1,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPad 2 (WiFi): iPad2,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPad 2 (GSM): iPad2,2_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPad 2 (CDMA): iPad2,3_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPod Touch 3G: iPod3,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Download iOS 5 for iPod Touch 4G: iPod4,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw
Apple TV (2G) (iOS 4.4) : AppleTV2,1_4.4_9A334v_Restore.ipsw

MAC OSX: Remove Roboform Icon From The Menu Bar

2011-10-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

If you have Roboform running on Mac, it lunches Icon.app which resides on your menu bar. If you delete the Icon.app, every time Roboform is launched, it will recreate Icon.app.

To remove Icon.app or stop running it, open your terminal and execute the following:

cd ~/Library/Application Support/RoboForm
chmod u-x Icon.app/

MAC OSX 10.7 10.6 10.5 -Hide the Dock and Menu bar on a per-app basis

2011-10-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

To hack an app so that when it's active, the menu bar and dock are hidden, you need to find its info.plist file. Control-click on the program in question, choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu, and then navigate into the Contents folder.

Once there, add the following to the file:

<key>LSUIPresentationMode</key>
<integer>4</integer>

Be sure that it goes in alphabetical order, otherwise it won't work (i.e. LSUIPresentationMode goes after LSMinimumSystemVersion but before NSAppleScriptEnabled). Save the file and enjoy.

Uninstall the NS Agent for Apple Mac's with Intel Processors

2011-10-01T03:15:00.000-07:00

Open a terminal window
Navigate to: /Applications/Utilities/Altiris/NSAgent/.bin.
Run "sudo aex-uninstall" as an admin user.

Disable Reverse Scrolling in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

2011-10-01T03:08:00.001-07:00

Disable reverse (natural) scrolling in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with these simple steps.

Trackpad

Open the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and select “System Preferences.”
Click the “Trackpad” icon.
Clear the check from the “Scroll Direction: Natural” box.
Close the window.

Note: On some older Macs, the box that you need to clear the check from may have the label “When using gestures to scroll or navigate, move content in the direction of finger movement.”

Mouse

Open the Apple menu and select “System Preferences.”
Click the “Mouse” icon.
Clear the check from the “Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating” box.
Close the window.

Apple Mac OSX Lion : Start Google Chrome In Incognito Mode

2011-09-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

Open Apple Script
Compile the code:

do shell script "open -a Google\\ Chrome --new --args -incognito"

Save as Application
Option:

Change its icon using copy and paste from the Get Into

Get Info on the original icon of Chrome
Copy CTRL+C the top-small icon
Get Info of the compile script
Paste CTRL+V on the top-small icon

Preventing Google From Installing/Reinstalling the Update Engine (SoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate)

2011-09-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Google reinstalls the software updater when its applications are launched. To prevent this I created an empty file at ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate or empty the folder using rm -rf command, then transferred ownership to root and made it read-only for normal users:

touch ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

sudo chown root ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

sudo chmod 644 ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

Opening Applications From The Terminal

2011-09-28T01:13:00.001-07:00

The command is simply open (which can also be used for opening directories). The most basic example of launching an application:
open /path/to/some.app

More complex possibilities also exist:

open "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt"
opens the document in the default application for its type (as determined by LaunchServices).

open /Applications/
opens that directory in the Finder.

open -a /Applications/TextEdit.app "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt"
opens the document in the application specified (in this case, TextEdit).

open -e "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt"
opens the document in TextEdit (the -e option specifies TextEdit).

open http://www.apple.com/
opens the URL in the default browser (lynx, naturally *wink*)

open "file://localhost/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt"
opens the document in the default application for its type (as determined by LaunchServices).

open "file://localhost/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/"
opens that directory in the Finder.

Permanently disable Safari's favicons

2011-09-26T02:00:00.001-07:00

Quit Safari if it's running, then open Terminal (in Applications » Utilities) and enter these commands:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebIconDatabaseEnabled -bool NO

Installing Java For Mac OSX Lion

2011-09-19T05:52:00.001-07:00

Open Terminal
Type:

java -version

You should be prompted to install Java

Using Native Cisco VPN on Mac OS X

2011-09-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

The proprietary CiscoVPN Mac client is kinds buggy It is possible to use the IPSec VPN software included with Mac OS X instead. This tutorial shows you how to migrate from CiscoVPN to the native OS X IPSec VPN by decrypting passwords saved in CiscoVPN PCF files.

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1. Open Network Prefrences

Open up your System Prefrences and select "Network". Click on the little + button at the bottom of the window to create a new connection.

2. Creating a New VPN Connection

Pick "VPN" for the Interface and set its type to "Cisco IPSec". It doesn't matter what you set as the service name.

3. Set Your Server Address and Account Name

Copy the "Host" setting from CiscoVPN...

to the "Server Address" setting in your System Prefrences" and enter your username under "Account Name". You probably don't want to enter your password unless you are OK with the system saving it.

4. Find Your PCF File

On Mac OS X, PCF files are usually found in /private/etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles. Open up /Applications/Terminal and type the following:

cd /private/etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles
cat *.pcf

You should get something like this:

5. Get Your Encrypted Group Password

Find that long list of letters and numbers after enc_GroupPwd= and copy it. Also make note of the GroupName - you'll need that in a bit as well.

6. Decrypt Your Group Password

Paste that sequence of characters into the fancy schmancy decoder ring below and click "Decode". (pops up a new window)

Fancy Schmancy Decoder Ring

As an example, this should return "letmein" as the password:

Thanks to HAL-9000 at evilscientists.de and Massar's work on cisco-decrypt.c for the magic here.

7. Enter your Shared Secret and Group Name

Click "Authentication Settings" back in the Network Prefrences screen. Enter the resulting decoded password into the "Shared Secret" section of the new VPN connection and set the GroupName from above as well.

8. Create a New VPN Connection

Click "OK", make sure "Show VPN status in menu bar" is checked and click "Apply".

9. Try Starting your VPN

At the top of your screen you should have a little VPN icon. Try connecting to your new VPN.

10. Bask in the Warm Glow of a Native VPN Connection

If everything goes as planned, you should see your connection time counting up at the top of your screen.

Create a USB Stick Lion Installer

2011-09-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

Follow these quick steps to create a GUID USB stick. Firstly - open Disk Utility from Applications/Utilities.

1. Select your desired disk or USB stick
2. Select the Partition tab
3. Select 1 Partition
4. Name your disk to "Installer"
5. Click Options
6. Select GUID Partition Table
7. Click OK
8. Click Apply

Click this bar to view the original image of 740x641px.

Transferring the Installer to the designated disk:

1. Show package contents on "Install Mac OS X Lion.app"

2. Navigate to "Contents/Shared Support"

Click this bar to view the original image of 770x438px.

3. Mount InstallESD.dmg

If you run into problems mounting this image, excute from terminal:
#sudo chmod -R 770
Leave a space after 770 and drag the image InstallESD.dmg to the terminal.

4. Copy and paste the following code into terminal to mount the hidden BaseSystem.dmg file:

Code:

open "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg"

5. Restore the Mac OS X Base System volume to your designated disk using Disk Utility by dragging the volumes into the designated boxes as shown below:

Click this bar to view the original image of 740x641px.

6. Unmount the DMG mounted Mac OS X Base System volume to avoid confusion between the two:

7. Navigate to your designated partition/disk/usb stick (that should be now named Mac OS X Base System) and go into the System folder, and then the Installation folder. Find the Packages alias and delete it:

8. Copy the Packages folder from the Mac OS X Install ESD volume to the Installation folder where you just deleted the Packages alias.

9. Copy mach_kernel from Mac OS X Install ESD to your partition/disk/usb stick by pasting the following into a terminal window:

Code:

sudo cp /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/mach_kernel /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System\ 1/

IF that line gives you a does not exist error, copy/paste this one:

Code:

sudo cp /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/mach_kernel /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/

10. (optional) Rename Mac OS X Base System volume to whatever you like ie Lion Installer

Direct Download Windows 7 All Versions Official ISO

2011-09-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

You would need your serial number to use during the installation.

Windows 7 ISO Direct Download Links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate x86 ISO

Amazon.com: http://174.129.85.117/data/Windows7Ultimate32bit.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ISO

Amazon.com: http://174.129.85.117/data/Windows7Ultimate64bit.iso

32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x86 ISO

Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65732/X15-65732.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ISO

Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso

32-bit Windows 7 Professional x86 ISO

Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65804/X15-65804.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Professional x64 ISO

Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65805/X15-65805.iso

Disable Saving Application State In Apple Mac OS

2011-09-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Apple saves your application states when they were closed. I don't like this behavior! When i close things, I want them closed for good and i don't need Apple to decide for me if i want to save the state of Safari, for example, when i closed it.
Open terminal and execute this:
chflags uchg ~/Library/"Saved Application State"

Get a full Lion install disc for a new MacBook Air or Pro

2011-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

You'd need to download the image from Apple Store using the following:

Boot the hardware you need an image for from the Recovery HD by holding Command-R at power on time.

Plug in a JHFS+ formatted external disk.

Select the Re-install OS X Lion option and target the external disk.

Once the Installer finishes downloading, simply shutdown and unplug the disk.

Then, when you mount that external disk you will find a directory named Mac OS X Install Data on the root. Inside of this folder is the elusive, hardware-specific, InstallerESD.dmg image that you can feed to SIU or any other imaging tool of choice. Having this installer will now allow you to build out re-deployment images for all of your hardware until rollup installers are available

Control Apple/Mac Services, Lunch Damon's, and Startup Applications

2011-08-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

What the hell is starting up (or running) on my Mac ?

The goal of this document is to help a NERD track down a
VIRUS or something silly running on an OS-X system.

This document will NOT try to explain the,
/System/Library/CoreServices/BootX
or the
/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
or the
/etc/rc.xxxx
startup files.

Shortcuts:

Items that start on power up.
Items that start for all users on power up.
Items that start at user login time.
MANDATORY TOOLS you should have.

If you are running the SERVER version of the OS, serveradmin will be your number one tool.
i.e. sudo serveradmin fullstatus network

= > ATTENTION < =
This has bit me in the ass more then one time,
we often check the USER loginwindow.plist file and forget the SYSTEM .plist file!

more /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist

if it is a binary file, convert it to ASCII via,
/usr/bin/plutil -convert xml1 /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
then edit with your fav ascii editor,
nano /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
... and look for silly things starting up !

Do NOT forget to monitor your USER
~/Library/LaunchAgents/
folder for a plist file called, com.google.keystone.agent.plist

This application is SpyWare. And is installed by many gOOgle applications including but not limited to:
Picasa, Earth, Desktop and Voice (more too i suspect).

For more info see this guide.

- If you ever install a HP ScanJet or Retrospect (RetroRunSL), it MAY prevent you from shutting down or re-starting correctly.
- The HP ScanJet installer may install, THREE background programs which do NOT shutdown when HUP'ed. - HP Scanjet Manager.app - HP Scheduler.app Located in: /Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/HP Scanjet Scanner/ - Director Docker.app Located in: /Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Photo and Imaging Software/HP Photo and Imaging Director/

SECRET TIP:

Prevent BOTH
/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
from running at user login, by doing a safe login.
- Hold down the SHIFT key AFTER you type your password and BEFORE you click the "login" button.

Items that start on power up:

The LaunchDaemons folders contain items that will run as root, generally background processes.
The LaunchAgents folders contain jobs, called agent applications, that will run as a user or in the context of userland.
If your job needs to run even when no users are logged in, put it in /Library/LaunchDaemons.
- If it is only useful when users are logged in, put it in /Library/LaunchAgents,
or in the personal LaunchAgents directories of specific users.
Do not put your job in /System/Library, which is reserved for system-provided daemons.
Startup files are found in various locations, some are provided in the following tables.

Provided by the user:
Location	Type
~/Library/LaunchAgents/	Per-user agents.
~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist	Per-user applications.

Optionally installed by MacPorts:
/opt/local/etc/LaunchDaemons/
SoftLinked to /Library/LaunchDaemons/

Provided by the administrator:
Location	Type
/Library/LaunchAgents/	Per-user agents.
/Library/LaunchDaemons/	System wide daemons.
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/	Per-user agents.
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/	System wide daemons.
/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist	System wide applications.

Please be aware that many of the "old ways" of doing things are still supported, such as:

/Library/StartupItems/
/System/Library/StartupItems/
/etc/rc.local
/etc/mach_init.d/
/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d/
/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/

See what NON-APPLE kernel extensions are being loaded in /System/Library/Extensions/,
kextstat | grep -v apple
Some examples of what you might find are listed below:EXAMPLE:
- To STOP the kernel extension "com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring" do,
sudo kextunload -b com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring

- To prevent it from starting again on re-boot, move it OUT of StartupItems to your desktop.
sudo mv /Library/StartupItems/BRESINKx86Monitoring ~/Desktop/

and or move it OUT of /System/Library/Extensions/ to your desktop.
Diablotin and or Lingon (see below) will disable them to.

- See also: ls -asl /System/Library/LaunchAgents/org.openbsd.ssh-agent.plist ~/DownLoads
If your Mac will ONLY work in safe mode,
you may have a bad kernel extension or the permissions are set wrong.
- Make sure they are all OWNED by root and the GROUP is set to wheel.
  
  - Especially items NOT made by Apple like the BUG in the
  Lexar JumpDrive Secure II Plus USB Flash Drive installation software!!!
  
  Example fix below:
  sudo chown -R root /System/Library/Extensions/LexarFilterScheme.kext
  sudo chgrp -R wheel /System/Library/Extensions/LexarFilterScheme.kext
  See Bubba too...
- To rebuild the kernel extensions, do:
```
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
sudo kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions
sudo reboot
```
or try sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions, which Snow LEOpard likes more.
- All will be rebuilt on next boot.

See also:
kextfind .
Learn to use and understand launchctl,
to manage your Agents and Daemons in locations below (and above)!
```
~/Library/LaunchAgents         Per-user agents provided by the user.

/Library/LaunchAgents          Per-user agents provided by the administrator.
/Library/LaunchDaemons         System wide daemons provided by the administrator.
/System/Library/LaunchAgents   Mac OS X Per-user agents.
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons  Mac OS X System wide daemons.
```
sudo launchctl help
sudo launchctl list |more

So to see just a active service, we would do,
sudo launchctl bslist |grep "A "
(you will see a lot of services, not to worry)

The three states a service can be in, they are:
- active "A"
- inactive "I"
- on-demand "D"

EXAMPLE:
com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist
- Is in your ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder and used by Apple's MobileMe service to sync bookmarks between multiple computers, even if this feature is NOT used!!!

* The *NEW* version of Lingon (see below) may help you get started.
Running system_profiler will show you the info much better then
/etc/hostconfig (below).
Running /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
will give you a nice brief overview of the system.

/usr/sbin/system_profiler SPStartupItemDataType, will list some startup items.
/usr/sbin/system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType will list your OS version.
/usr/sbin/system_profiler -listDataTypes for a complete list of what you can querry.

The above is also avail via the GUI, open "/Applications/Utilities/System Profiler.app".

NOTE: Good old Panther (10.3) /usr/sbin/AppleSystemProfiler -usage does it this way.
By default, you may be starting a few demons.
PLEASE review your hostconfig file, more /etc/hostconfig .
To MANAGE a running service like AppleShare'ing (AFPSERVER=-YES-) do,
sudo /sbin/SystemStarter stop AppleShare
You should know what services have the ABILTY to be started (apache etc.), via:
sudo grep -r -e YES -e AUTOMATIC /System/Library/StartupItems
Now look for programs accessing the os via:
sudo fs_usage -f filesys | grep -v iTerm | grep -v Finder | grep -v grep
(add more to filter out known good services.)

or to see just what iTunes is doing do:
sudo fs_usage -f filesys | grep iTunes

Things common to all users:

Start by knowing what is in your:
ls -asl /Library/StartupItems/
ls -asl /System/Library/StartupItems/
ls -asl /Library/LaunchDaemons/
- Little Snitch etc are in here.
ls -asl /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/
- You will see a LOT of items here. Trust me, use Lingon to see if and when they are started.

Stuff that starts at user login:

loginwindow searches this file (if exists) each time a user logs in.
more ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist
- The below item is the SAME one located via the user accounts GUI preference pane.
This is the MOST IMPORTANT LOCATION for USER stuff !!!!!:
open ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist

if binary convert to ASCII by doing,
/usr/bin/plutil -convert xml1 ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist

This is how the ClamXav Sentry is started:
/usr/bin/grep ClamXavSentry ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
and again, if you can not read it, convert it to ASCII via,
/usr/bin/plutil -convert xml1 ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
The current "proper" way to start stuff is the:
ls -asl ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
folder.

Things you should do to help debug your system:

ALWAYS start your mac in VERBOSE MODE,
so you can see what it is doing behind the splash screen.
sudo /usr/sbin/nvram boot-args="-v"
REDUCE the amount of stuff you need to analyze by doing a SAFE BOOT.
Hold down the SHIFT key after the boot tone, or mod your nvRAM by
sudo /usr/sbin/nvram boot-args="-x"
then reboot.
Now login via the user name of >console trick.
When was the last time you investigated what was in your TMPDIR, /private/var/folders/ folders ?
Especially the "-Caches-" directory ... Many things "hide" here you know...
cd $TMPDIR/../../ to find out more.

Or better yet, use lynx for poke around a lot faster !

/opt/local/bin/lynx $TMPDIR
Is cron doing something you do not know about ?
rOOt: sudo crontab -l -u root
Yourself: sudo crontab -l -u $USER
... now do this for ALL your user accounts!

MANDATORY TOOLS:

- Ports Collection  How to install and use the Mac Ports Collection.

- Lynx    Via the Mac Ports Collection.  May be the MOST important tool of all !
- WaterRoof   http://www.hanynet.com/
- Little Snitch   http://www.obdev.at/
- Diablotin   http://s.sudre.free.fr/
- Leopard Cache Cleaner  http://www.northernsoftworks.com/ Has BOTH a Virus and rOOt Kit checker!
- Transmit   http://www.panic.com/   Best darn file transfer program out their !

All three below are from Peter Borg.     http://homepage.mac.com/pgw3/  Now avail at Source Forge.
- Lingon   http://sourceforge.net/projects/lingon/files/
- Smultron   http://sourceforge.net/projects/smultron/files/
- Hallon   http://sourceforge.net/projects/hallon/files/

RECOMENDED TOOLS:

- iTerm http://iterm.sourceforge.net/
- RCDefaultApp http://www.rubicode.com/Software/ Fix broken mime types.
- AppCleaner http://www.freemacsoft.net/ Better then AppZapper, free too.
- AppZapper http://www.appzapper.com/
- Preferential Treatment http://www.jonn8.com/
- tcpFlow Via the Mac Ports Collection.
- nMap Via the Mac Ports Collection.
- TinkerTool System http://www.bresink.de/ Kick ass NFS tools too !!!
- Geek Tool http://projects.tynsoe.org/
- Mac Pilot http://www.koingosw.com/ Nice WiFi AirRadar tool.
- Cocktail http://www.maintain.se/ Cocktail, nice maintence tool like LCC.
- OnyX http://www.titanium.free.fr/ OnyX, nice maintence tool like LCC.
- Pacifist http://www.charlessoft.com/
- Visage http://keakaj.com/
- Postfix Enabler http://www.cutedgesystems.com/
- HenWen http://seiryu.home.comcast.net/
- nTop Via the Mac Ports Collection.
- Carbon Copy Cloner http://www.bombich.com/
- AppleJack http://applejack.sourceforge.net/
- Printer Setup Repair http://www.fixamacsoftware.com/ Fix Cups and free up a few gigs of space too.
- MPEG Streamclip http://www.squared5.com/ Will need MPEG-2 codec from Apple.
- minicom Via the Mac Ports Collection. Terminal supports /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem and the KeySpan USB Adapter.
- Monolingual http://monolingual.sourceforge.net/ Delocalizer like Leopard Cache Cleaner above.
- Gutenprint http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/
- Flip4Mac http://www.telestream.net/ Play Windows .WMV Media files using QuickTime
- NTFS http://www.paragon-software.com/ Read and Write NTFS partitions.
- OpenOffice http://www.openoffice.org/ Better then MS Office, and FREE too !

- RipIt http://ripitapp.com/ Need I say more ?
- Touch Copy http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/ Best BackUp and RECOVER program for you iPhone or iPod.
- File Juicer http://echoone.com/filejuicer/ Extract images from, PDF, PPT and flash cards.
- Better Zip http://macitbetter.com/ Password protect zips, and a LOT more !

iPhone and iPod Touch APPlications and more.

Check for pending files here too, ls /Library/Updates/
For detailed information see, Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach, by Amit Singh.
And to get even more confused, see the Apple developer website.
The very nice FREE app called "iStat Server", has a hidden precess that "phones home" every time we boot.
- And yes, is started via /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bjango.istatserver.plist
- So lets do, strings "/Library/Application Support/iStat Server/iStatServer" |grep Updater, and see what we find...
```
sudo /usr/libexec/StartupItemContext /usr/bin/open -a /Library/Application\ Support/iStat\ Server/iStat\ Server\ Updater.app/Contents/Resources/UpdateChecker.app

/usr/bin/open -a /Library/Application\ Support/iStat\ Server/iStat\ Server\ Updater.app/Contents/Resources/UpdateChecker.app
```
- Some may call this "UpdateChecker.app" Spyware....

Lets investigate "UpdateChecker" some more...
- Do a strings, and see what we can find...
```
connectionWithRegisteredName:host
http://bjango.com/istat/version.php
/Library/Application Support/iStat Server/iStat Server Updater.app
```
Bottom line ? Yup, its Spyware...

Re-Set Windows Folder Size And View To Its Default

2011-08-01T15:55:00.001-07:00

Open Notepad
Copy and paste the below and save it in your desktop with the name: FolderDefaultSizeAndView.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]

Save the file and double click it. Click “Yes” when prompted.

Prevent Certain Applications From Running

2011-07-29T11:49:00.001-07:00

If your a system administrator or a regular user you may have problems with your users running programs or applications running automatically Adobe Acrotray (acrotray.exe), iTunes, FNPLicensingService.exe, If you want to stop such programs from running, here’s how to use Group Policy to prevent users from running certain programs.

Click Start –> Run, type: gpedit.msc
Find “Don’t run specified Windows applications”

Double-Click it

Enable it
Click Show
Add your applications

i-Tweak

Making Any OS X Application Full Screenable In Apple Lion OSX

Remove Spotlight "developer" and "Web searches"

Set Safari's Default Size and Location

Mac: Find & Delete Specific File Type From The Terminal

Recover Memory On Mac OS X Lion For Free

Parallels Desktop 7 VMWare Offer

Mac OS X Lion Keyboard Shortcuts

Mac OS X Lion Keyboard Shortcuts

iOS 5 Final Version Official Direct Links

MAC OSX: Remove Roboform Icon From The Menu Bar

MAC OSX 10.7 10.6 10.5 -Hide the Dock and Menu bar on a per-app basis

Uninstall the NS Agent for Apple Mac's with Intel Processors

Disable Reverse Scrolling in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Trackpad

Mouse

Apple Mac OSX Lion : Start Google Chrome In Incognito Mode

Preventing Google From Installing/Reinstalling the Update Engine (SoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate)

Opening Applications From The Terminal

Permanently disable Safari's favicons

Installing Java For Mac OSX Lion

Using Native Cisco VPN on Mac OS X

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1. Open Network Prefrences

2. Creating a New VPN Connection

3. Set Your Server Address and Account Name

4. Find Your PCF File

5. Get Your Encrypted Group Password

6. Decrypt Your Group Password

Fancy Schmancy Decoder Ring

7. Enter your Shared Secret and Group Name

8. Create a New VPN Connection

9. Try Starting your VPN

10. Bask in the Warm Glow of a Native VPN Connection

Create a USB Stick Lion Installer

Direct Download Windows 7 All Versions Official ISO

Disable Saving Application State In Apple Mac OS

Get a full Lion install disc for a new MacBook Air or Pro

Control Apple/Mac Services, Lunch Damon's, and Startup Applications

What the hell is starting up (or running) on my Mac ?

The goal of this document is to help a NERD track down aVIRUS or something silly running on an OS-X system.This document will NOT try to explain the,/System/Library/CoreServices/BootXor the/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efior the/etc/rc.xxxxstartup files.

Re-Set Windows Folder Size And View To Its Default

Prevent Certain Applications From Running

The goal of this document is to help a NERD track down a
VIRUS or something silly running on an OS-X system.

This document will NOT try to explain the,
/System/Library/CoreServices/BootX
or the
/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
or the
/etc/rc.xxxx
startup files.