OS X Mac Tips

How to downgrade from iTunes 11

2013-04-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Apple has most definitely decided to change the look and feel of iTunes with the release of version 11. Cover Flow is now gone and even the iTunes icon has changed. Many people simply do not like the way Apple has chosen to change this app, especially if you have come to rely on certain features. Luckily, you can downgrade to an earlier version of iTunes if you follow these directions. Step 1:

How to make a list of files in OS X

2013-04-19T15:05:00.002-07:00

When you go to Spotlight or the Finder and search for files, or browse through folders, occasionally you might want to compile a list of files in text format without having to type all of the file locations by hand. With a few clicks, you can output directory listings to text with ease. You can accomplish this basic task with TextEdit. Simply launch TextEdit, go to Format and choose Make Plain

How to fix Internet Sharing in OS X

2013-04-19T14:48:00.002-07:00

Occasionally in OS X when you try to share your internet connection from your Mac with your iPhone, iPad or some other device via Wi-Fi you might have noticed the data is not working. You can establish a wireless connection, but no data will come through. This is a glaring problem which Apple has resolved for many versions of OS X all the way into Mountain Lion. You have two options of solving

How to Backup and Restore Dashboard Widgets

2013-04-19T14:18:00.001-07:00

Time Machine is one solution for backing up your Dashboard Widgets, but this option is not always optimal, especially when you have limited hard drive space, or if you would rather use other backup methods. Luckily, you can backup your widgets and reinstall each of them manually without much effort. How to Backup Step 1: Choose go to folder in Finder by typing Shift + Command + G and go to "~/

View Full Screen in Preview App

2013-03-03T18:20:00.002-08:00

As you might have noticed, when you are using the image viewing software native to OS X, called "Preview", if you try to search the menus looking for a way to go into full screen with a photo or set of photos, there is no listing for this anywhere to be found. This feature seems almost completely hidden. Thankfully, all you have to do is select a group of images or one image and then choose to

Enable Safari highlighting feature

2013-02-28T23:56:00.002-08:00

If you are browsing the web and you notice several items which you would like to highlight out of the many without having to select with your mouse or keyboard, there is an easy way to achieve this with a simple key command. First, go to Preferences in Safari, and choose Advanced. Next check the box next to Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage. Now all you have to do is type Option +

Customize software update frequency

2013-02-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

You have the option of manually checking for updates or having an automatic check which can occur daily, weekly or monthly. This is especially helpful if you would like to not see the update window constantly opening up. You can also choose to have software downloaded upon installation to save on bandwidth. Just go to Software Update in System Preferences and select the Scheduled Check pane to

Renaming your network in OS X

2013-02-28T23:36:00.003-08:00

Instead of having the same self-assigned names like AirPort appear in the menu bar, or whatever the default name might be for a new device you install on your Mac network, you can have a custom name of your choice. In case you haven't already discovered this, just go to Network in System Preferences. From here, select a network connection on the left, such as AirPort, for example. Go down to

Stop OS X searching external drives

2013-02-05T15:12:00.002-08:00

You can stop OS X from using Spotlight to index and search your external drives you have connected directly or wirelessly. The solution to this is fairly simple. You have to configure Spotlight to exclude certain locations from searches. Luckily you can do this without a Terminal command. Go to System Preferences, and go to Spotlight. Select the Privacy pane. As you can see you can choose

Set up a wireless network on your Mac

2013-02-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted a wireless network without using a wireless router? You can do this easily with a Mac running OS X 10.2 or later. Simply plug in your ethernet (LAN) cable to your cable modem obtained from your internet provider and plug it into the back of your iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro, or MacBook Pro, or whatever computer happens to have an ethernet port built-in. You can also use Ethernet to USB

Can't Delete Files in Trash Called "Locked Items"

2013-02-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed when you move certain files to the your trash bin that you can't empty the trash and then also getting a message saying "There are some locked items in the Trash". There are numerous reasons for this, but one of them might be that you have a file on your local drive that has a lock originating from your Mac or another user. If you have Administrator access and there

How to use iCloud Reading List

2013-01-21T16:28:00.001-08:00

The Reading List started in Safari 5.1 for Snow Leopard users, and it allows you to quickly save articles to a list, so that you can easily read them later. Also they clear out as soon as they are opened to avoid the hassle of having to go to your bookmarks menu and delete a specific bookmark once you are done. With the introduction of iCloud you can have your Reading List match across all of

How To Find iChat Sound Files

2012-10-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted to use the sounds you hear in iChat for text messages on your iPhone? Maybe make them ringtones? Or use them for some other purpose on your Mac? Well, the process for finding these .aiff files is fairly simple. Although you can't find them through a normal search in the Finder or Spotlight, you can get to the folder containing these sound files another way. First, just use Spotlight

Bring Back Screen Zoom in Lion

2012-10-11T02:14:00.000-07:00

If you have upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion or Mountain Lion, you may have noticed something is missing. The ability to zoom in and out of the screen on the fly using your mouse or two finger gesture on the track pad while holding down Control isn't present right out of the box. You can bring this feature back by going to System Preferences, Universal Access, and under Zoom select Options.

View Application Windows Easier in Lion

2012-10-10T03:13:00.000-07:00

When you are in Mission Control (OS X Lion or later), and you have several windows open in a particular program or several (as I often do), and you want to view more of the windows overlapping each other, if you have access to a trackpad on your laptop or desktop you can do so very easily. Just move your cursor over the group of windows and use your thumb and three fingers in an outward motion

Ways to jump to the bottom of a web page

2012-10-10T00:26:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, there's a way to move all the way down to the bottom of a web page without having to manually use the scroll bar all the way there. Just holding Command + Down Key will do the trick, also Command + Up Key will do just the reverse. Additionally, just tapping the Space bar will slightly scroll down the page if you do not wish to go all the way to the top or bottom.

Customize the Mission Control Wallpaper in Lion

2012-06-21T23:26:00.006-07:00

You have probably noticed when you activate Mission Control, in Mac OS X Lion, that there is a second background image behind the wallpaper you may have already chosen for the desktop. The Linen tiled picture is selected by default for the operating system, but you can change this to a custom image if you desire to give it your own unique look and feel.Setting Up Your ImageLion's processing will

Setting Default Boot Mode

2012-02-27T12:20:00.005-08:00

You might be wondering how you can change your boot kernal so that you can use different hardware and/or software or perhaps some other reason.In OS X Lion, you can choose a default of either the 32-bit or 64-bit kernal, by typing these commands in Terminal:To select 64-bit mode as default:sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64To select 32-bit mode as default:sudo systemsetup -

Faster Search for Mac OS X using Terminal

2011-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Using Spotlight for file searches can be fast (even faster if you are using SSD) and it is also speedy to use the search field in the upper right corner of the Finder window, but there is an even faster way of searching through the files on your hard drive using Terminal. In Terminal, you can use the Unix Command locate, this command relies on creating an index database for performing searches,

Find LCD Panel Model Number for your MacBook or iMac

2011-08-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

The latest release of the Macbook Air reportedly has two different manufacturers for its high resolution display. Many people are now trying to verify which make and model display they have. You can determine the model number by typing (or copying and pasting) this lengthy Terminal command: ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6 After executing the

Automatically fix the Clock Time on your Mac

2011-07-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

Does your clock on your Mac occasionally display the incorrect time? This usually happens due to the battery and system hardware not syncing, thus there are lapses in the time count. You can solve this problem by going to System Preferences, under the System pane go to Date & Time. Once there, check the "Set date and time automatically" box. Now you should be fully synced if and when you have an

Change Name or Names on Mac Login Screen

2011-03-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

In System Preferences you can easily change the name that appears next to your login picture on the screen when you first start your Mac computer. Follow these few steps:First, go into System Preferences, and then under Accounts you will see the field to change Full Name, this will change name that appears in black text next to the user icon before you log on.What about the name that appears in

Stop Safari crashing from Flash

2010-10-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

All too often does one encounter a time when Safari will freeze and not respond to any input, and sometimes crashes altogether, losing any precious open webpages you didn't want to lose in the first place.It's best to update to the latest Flash 10.1 because this latest version seems address some of the freezing in Safari, but unfortunately, not all of it.If your browser becomes unresponsive due

Enable Magic Mouse Free-Scrolling in Leopard

2010-07-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed the ability to scroll through web pages with the trackpad on the Magic Mouse in a way that is similar to the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.It seems that Apple has only made this feature visible in System Preferences in Snow Leopard, but they have not added it to the interface on Leopard.You can enable this kind of scrolling manually by typing some basic commands. Simply start

How To Enable Password For Screen Saver

2010-01-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

Maybe some of you might be wondering how to set a password for a Screen Saver on your Mac. It is a little confusing at first when you go to look for an option to enable your login password, because upon first glance there is not an option to set a password for Screen Savers in the Desktop & Screen Saver pane in System Preferences, like one might expect to find in the Screen Saver section of