Mac Tips System X

 Tips you can use to help your Mac and enhance your computer experience.:

  • Back it up! Use zip, CD, DVD, external or internal hard drive, anything, just Do it or lose it. Download a program called "SuperDuper!" from the internet to use with external hard drive for a simple, fool proof way to "clone" and back up your hard drive and make it a bootable drive if you need it.

  • Beware of shareware! It is not tested to standards that store bought software is and may be incompatible with other software or hardware.

  • Don't over buy when purchasing a new computer. Get a system with software and components that you can use now. If looking to the future get a computer with good upgrade paths.

  • Upgrade the system software only when you need to, not when you want to, as there can be problems when getting the latest and greatest. This is also true with all Apple Updates.

  • Use Disk Utility for maintenance on your system. To do this go into Utilities folder in Applications folder, and double click on Disk Utility. If not highlighted, click on First Aid. At upper left window will be the disk with some numbers. Click on that, then on Verify Dish Permissions. When finished, click on Repair Disk Permissions. When that is down repeat the Verify and Repairing of dish permissions on the Macintosh HD just below the numbered disk. This will help fix "stuff". DO weekly or after any software install or update.

  • If a program freezes up on you and doesn't allow you to do anything including quit, you may have to force it to quit. You'll lose any unsaved changes, but it will not affect any other program you are running. Just click and hold on your application in the Dock and go to Force Quit. Restart application and give it another go. If you cannot move mouse, try holding down the Command, Option, and Escape keys. Still no go? Hold down power (Start up) button until computer goes off. Best to unplug power to system, (laptops remove batter too), then plug all back in and restart.

  • Learn, live and love your keyboard shortcuts! They're represented in your menus by the symbol and can save you hours a week searching around with your mouse, and many are the same between programs.

  • A lot of software information is out there so use this website, www.versiontracker.com, to search for software you may need.

  • You can never have too much RAM. Sometimes having more RAM can double the speed of your computer system and software.