Messages

[Krissel, Tacit, Jchuzi, and Xairbusdriver]

1

Tech / ToolBar symbols

« on: September 13, 2014, 04:08:16 PM »

Command-drag and poof it's gone! Amazing. I have no idea how they got there but they are gone now and I at least know what to call that area, the finder Toolbar.

Once again Tech survivors to the rescue. Thanks to Krissel, Tacit, Jchuzi, and Xairbusdriver.

2

Tech / ToolBar symbols

« on: September 13, 2014, 10:31:53 AM »

Further explanation: It is not the dock I am refering to and efinitely, not an app. Apps don't have these symbol in their toolbars.  So perhaps it's not called a toolbar. For example, If I open the Mac harddrive window, I find the following items at the top (toolbar). Going left to right; forward and back arrows, red, yellow and green buttons, the question mark, four boxes labeled View, three boxes labeled Quick Look, Drop Box, and Action, Search window, a folder labeled Miscellanous Docs, and finally, a minimize button.

3

Tech / ToolBar symbols

« on: September 12, 2014, 08:08:06 PM »

I just recently noticed some symbols in my toolbar that I had not seen before. for example, A large question mark on the left side and a folder labeled Misc Docs on the far right side. What are these, how did they get there and how do I get rid of them?

4

Tech / Old to New User

« on: August 19, 2014, 03:30:58 PM »

QUOTE(Paddy @ Aug 9 2014, 04:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Aug 9 2014, 12:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't use iPhoto but with many apps, holding the option key down when you open the app will allow you to pick the "library" that the app uses for "stuff". Shut down/Quit iPhoto and try that. It will help, of course, if you know where the iPhoto library (where all the images are stored) is on your drive. I think it's normally in your "Documents" directory. Actually, iPhoto has a "Switch to Library..." item in the File Menu, that might show you which one it's already using (a new one, no doubt) and others it "sees". Either way, there should be a "Other Library" button that will give you the standard Navigation dialog where you can get to the old User's Documents directory... assuming you have Administrator privileges.

BTW, I tried the Help function of iPhoto (9.5.1) and it claimed it could not access any Help pages. That's just one more reason to not use the app!

Um, Jim, I think Steve wants to move everything BUT the iPhoto library to his new account.

I think the best way to do it would be to clone everything to an external drive, delete the old iPhoto library that doesn't work, then manually move the new one to the cloned drive, make sure it works, and then use Migration Assistant to move everything back to the new account. I *think* that should work.

Strange that you ask that now - I'm about to do a very similar thing this evening with my cousin's iMac. She inherited it from my late uncle, so we're now setting it up for her, as well as upgrading everything to Mavericks. I'll let you know if my recommended method works (we don't have an iPhoto issue, but there is the issue of moving stuff from an old account (his, which she'd been using) into a new account which is hers.)

Paddy

How did it go.I was not able to move the modified iPhoto library back to the new user with MA. Had to go the old tried and true "Drag and Drop" method, with some authentication of folders since the mods to iPhoto came from different Users. Very tricky.

Apparently, the huge size of photo groups, not individual files, caused such a slow down of iPhoto that it was barely running. So, I had to break them into smaller groups and the import them into the new library. After which, I used iPhoto Duplicate Cleaner to get rid of most duplicates. Still some were left and I had to delete those manually. Also, when dumping iPhoto Trash, try not to have too many files there also, as it will take forever.

Believe me, after this is over with, I'm burning photo files onto CDs. :phew:

5

Tech / Old to New User

« on: August 09, 2014, 10:40:31 AM »

In order to solve a problem with iPhoto, I had to create a new user account. Now that it is working correctly, I need to transfer "stuff" from the old user to the new one. things like address book entries, email and network data, applications, etc., basically everything except the old iPhoto. How do I do this? What (easiest) is the best way to do it?  

6

Tech / Having a senior moment; you're not alone!

« on: July 05, 2014, 04:36:23 PM »

To quote a cartoon I was recently sent, " I don't think it's age that makes us forgetful. I just think there's too much stupid stuff to remember." Unquote.

7

Tech / LAN range

« on: June 26, 2014, 10:05:24 AM »

I am using a Cisco LinkSys wireless router for my LAN. Yesterday, a new LAN showed up in my wireless list. It's for a Honeywell wireless thermostat and they are not using a password. I checked with most of my neighbors and none of them have put in a new thermostat. My network is password protected.

How far away can these things be and still be detectable? Could it cause me a problem?

8

Tech / Google Maps

« on: May 20, 2014, 09:28:14 PM »

Will the Google Maps App run on an iPad Mini? If so, how much memory is required?

9

Tech / Cold Mouse

« on: December 23, 2013, 05:31:27 PM »

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Dec 23 2013, 02:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Probably not. But the sender can help by saving the files as an Excel file (which you can then open in Excel or Numbers). Numbers (the original version) was available (may still be) from the App Store for ~$20. The new version is free, but it has less capabilities than the original. Even the original is more limited than Excel but much easier to use and design as it's made for Mac, not a bunch of geeks in Redmond. And, since it's already a Numbers file, why not install the app and see if it's useful for you? Disregard. I do NOT recommend paying even $10 for the 'new' version of Numbers, even though I haven't even used it. I have made the mistake of 'updating' Pages. I then deleted it (as well as Numbers and Keynote)! I know get almost constant requests to install the new 'updates' which are crippled versions of the originals. This has cause enormous damage to Apple's reputation, IMHO. The only apparent reason to cripple the desktop versions was to make things work the same on iOS and OSX. Stupid, shortsighted, illogical, frustrating! I'll not express my real opinion on this family-friendly forum.

There are hints that Apple has realized its mistake and is bringing back some of the lost functionality. So far, nothing encouraging.

Thanks XABD. I'll let the guy know he can save the Numbers file as an Excel file and then send that.

10

Tech / Cold Mouse

« on: December 23, 2013, 03:51:19 PM »

QUOTE(krissel @ Dec 22 2013, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the file extension for the spreadsheet program (Numbers) from Apple in iWorks.  It replaces the Appleworks spreadsheet of long ago (well, not so long ago).

Is there any program, other than Numbers, that will open those files?

11

Tech / Cold Mouse

« on: December 22, 2013, 08:48:07 PM »

I plugged the mouse directly into my MacMini and it has been running two days with no freezing. Looks like my mouse is warm again.

Different problem. I have a friend who has been sending files with the name ending in ".numbers". I haaven't been able to open them with anything. So what is a ".numbers" file?

12

Tech / Cold Mouse

« on: December 20, 2013, 02:01:55 PM »

I've been having a problem with my mouse freezing  of late. It just quits working and the only way to fix it, without rebooting, is to unplug it from the USB port and plug it back in. It then works fine, for a while, until the next time and I go through the process again. I have not added any software recentlyand there does not seem to be any particular pattern to the lockouts. Any ideas?

I have a MacMini running OSX 10.6.8 with 8 GB of RAM. The mouse is plugged into my keyboard which is plugged into the MacMini.

13

Tech / Slow Mini

« on: September 02, 2013, 12:30:44 AM »

QUOTE(Paddy @ Sep 1 2013, 04:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The way to check this is to look at Activity Monitor and under the Memory tab, look to see what your Page Ins are, vs your Page Outs. If you have a lot of Page Outs (significantly more than your Page Ins, in particular) your computer is short of RAM.

So, have a look in Activity Monitor and report back.

My bet is that you need to feed your Mini some more RAM. You can put up to 8GB in it on 10.6.8 - if you upgrade to 10.7.5 (min) you can put 16GB on it. Your choice. If it was me, I'd get the 16GB, put 8 in, and then wait for Mavericks and install the rest. It's possible you will have to upgrade to 10.8 first, but you may not have to do that - 10.8 can be installed without installing 10.7 first. Is there any reason you're running 10.6.8 instead of 10.8? (I like 10.8, but then I generally keep fairly up to date with my OS, 'cept when it comes to the disaster known as Windows 8. )

And as for your background apps, I'm with Jim. Disable the lot of them, except for TimeMachine. There is absolutely no need to run something like McAfee all the time. Really.

Did you mean "Dashlane" - the password manager, by any chance? There is no app called "Dashland" that I can find.

And get rid of MacKeeper - I don't know how you got hornswoggled into that, but many of us have been warning for years that it's utterly

Paddy, Jack and Xairbusdriver (Jim)

Many thanks to all for your helpful advice.

I have done the following recommendations: Turned them off all background programs except Time Machine and DashLane;
I normally use TechTool and Disk Utility for maintenance and troubleshooting. I don't have a current DW, but I have used it in the past. I have used ONYX for emptying trash that I could not get rid of any other way. The others I tried to see if they might be of help and as I said,  they were not. I'll probably relegate them to archives;

In Activity Monitor, I have 22GB Page Ins and 8GB Page Outs. This is after turning off the suggested backgrounds which does seem to be helping;

Am planning on getting extra memory, how much is the question. 8 GB is max for the MiniMac4,1. Why would upgrading to a newer OS make it capable of utilizing more RAM? I thought that was a physical hardware limitation. 16 GB seems like overkill if I could only use half of it until I upgrade which I usually don't do until programs I want to run require it.

What is Mavericks;

I completely shut down every night;

I think that responds to all of your suggestions. Again, thank you all so much for your input.

14

Tech / Slow Mini

« on: August 30, 2013, 03:57:42 PM »

Here's the info requested:

My MacMini has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 duo, running OSX 10.6.8, with 2 GB RAM, a 308 GB hard drive with 259 GB available. I run anywhere from 0 (at boot) to 5 apps. Four run in the background; TechTool Protection, MacAfee Internet Security, DashLand and Time Machine. Plus whatever app I'm running or starting up at the time: Such as Safari, Excel, Word, iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, etc. Only one of these at a time.

The cleanup utilities I've run are; Disk Utilitiy's First Aid, MacKeeper's Cleanup and Optimization, Spring Cleaning's Maintenance, TuneUpMyMac's System Cleaner, Logs Cleaner, and App Optimization, and TechTool Pro's SMART, Volume Structures, Video Memory, File Structures, Rebuild Volume, File Optimization, Volume Optimization, and Repair Permissions.

Hope this helps.

15

Tech / Slow Mini

« on: August 25, 2013, 01:36:04 PM »

Recently, my MacMini has slowed down in all phases. Booting, loading apps, downloading from the internet, etc. I've run several cleanup and maintenance programs to no avail. Suggestions.