Ask Jacob

You may need to repartition it through the Partition tab in Disk Utility.

To repatriation a drive, select the drive (not the indented Volume) that you want to erase and click on the Partition tab. Change the Volume Scheme popup menu from “Current” to “1 Partition.” Click the [Options...] button and set it to use the “Apple Partition Map.” Then give it a name and click on the [Apply] button. One more click to say that you understand all data will be lost on that drive and then it should work fine for your Mac computer.

It will not work on PCs after that though, it will be a Mac drive.

- Jacob

Even the mighty iPod nano is no match for a washing machine...

It is unlikely your daughter’s iPod nano will come back from the dead. The wash is a thorough killer of the iPod family, particularly the batteries. The best bet is to dry it in the windowsill, on a sunny day. That should get it warm enough to cook out the moisture without further damaging the electronics. After a day of drying try connecting it to a computer through the docking cable. Then see if it will power on. Even if the battery is dead it should still work off the USB power. If you see nothing it will probably mean you need a new iPod.

If it does turn on then try to charge the battery. If it does not charge, there are battery replacement options. Some sites offer repair, but those could cost as much as just replacing the unit.

- Jacob

There is the chance that it is a Software related issue. If you boot up off the Mac OS Install DVD, you can reinstall the OS via an Archive and Install. Then run Software update to get your MacBook to the most recent version. Also make sure that your MacBook does not need a Firmware or SMC update.

If after that, you still have trouble, it may bee that the Bluetooth module needs to be replaced. If that is the case, any Apple Authorized service center can do that for you as part of the Apple warranty on your product. Use Apple’s Service Location Tool to find your nearest provider.

- Jacob

The good news is that you can move the mail file over fairly easily. There is are two folders and a file you need to copy from your home folder. The home folder is in your hard drive in the “Users” folder and then in a folder with your unique user name. The home folder is indicated with a ” ~ ” symbol and I will use the symbol in describing the files locations.

First copy the preference file: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
Then grab the main mail folder ~/Library/Mail/
And lastly the Mail Downloads folder ~/Library/Mail Downloads/

On the fresh system copy these back to your new Users account, in there respective places. Then when you launch the new mail app it will look just like the old one.

- Jacob

There are a few ways to do this but here are the two ways I would recommend. The standard “Apple” method is that you would want to use the MobileMe service to do this. You can sync calendars Address Books and even BookMarks. It was designed with the idea of keeping your Home and Work Macs in sync but will work in a small office too. It is integrated into the OS so you really just have to enter the account info into the System Preferences and enable the services you want to keep synchronized on that computer. There is a annual cost for this service and although there are many more features than what I have mentioned, you may not find the value in the service.

So next look at the Gmail solution. With a free Gmail account you can sync your Apple Address Book with a single account from many computers. In Leopard, go to the Address Book preferences and click on the General tab. Then mark the checkbox for “Synchronize with Google.” Click the [Google] button and enter your email address and account password. Set up all you computer with the same info and soon they all will be in sync.

- Jacob

I am happy you asked before trying it. Mini sized CDs or DVDs should never be used in any slot-loading drive. This is true for Apple computers and car stereos. Really they are a terrible idea and should have never been produced. Currently only tray-based drives will accept them, and the tray has to have a special indent to keep the small disc centered.

This idea came out of the initial high cost of creating a full sized CD. Now that cost is pennies so making it smaller does not reduce the cost appreciably. The best way to get data off those disc, is to find a tray loading drive and transfer the data to a USB thumb drive or full sized CD-R.

Many service techs has had to extract those little discs from a drive, at great expense.

- Jacob

In general Apple laptops can not get replacement processors or even upgrade processors. In a portable PC or Mac, the processor is often soldered to the logic board.

Early PowerBooks used daughter cards for the RAM and Processor, consequently that made them upgradable, but the G4 Powerbooks never used that design. The good news is that you processor may be slower than you like but it is not physically failing, at least not by what you describe. You can have a total of 2 GB of RAM in that computer so I would recommend that you buy another 1GB stick and remove the 256 MB stick. Also replacing your hard drive with a faster unit could be a good way to boost speed. You can get a 2.5″ 7200 RPM drive for your laptop and greatly increase your file access speeds. Also if you have not done so in a while, backup your data and erase your hard drive. Then install a clean version of OS X and pull your data back over.

Starting fresh can provide a amazing boost to your overall system performance.

- Jacob

It is possible for the USB system to not allow devices to connect but still fail to register a problem on the AHT logic-board test. Here are two things to try.

– First turn off your Power Mac G5 and then hold the Power button down until you hear a long tone. Then let go and wait for the computer to reboot and test the USB.

– If that fails to fix the USB operation, then you should insert the OS X install DVD and set it as the startup device. Power down the computer and remove all extra PCI cards from the machine. With only a USB mouse connected, start it up and see if the USB ports now allow the mouse to function. Try all the ports, including the front port. If the mouse works from the Install DVD, then it could be a software issue and an Archive and Install of the Mac OS should work to repair the damaged system files.

- Jacob

Intuit has developed a new version of Quicken for the Mac called “Quicken® Mac 2007“, but that was less than the full Quicken® application. They plan to release a full version of Quicken® in February 2010.

It also does look like the new Mac version will import Windows data into the new software, although this is no true for Quicken® Mac 2007. The Quicken Online product is an option for you.

This has always been my complaint with Intuit, they have historically treated their Mac division as if it were an unrelated company. Features and versions do not match up between operating systems, leaving users confused. It is unfortunate, but let’s hope the new application lives up to the billing.

- Jacob

The easiest way to do this would be to first drag the “.eml” attachment to your desktop. Then Right Click or [Control] Click on the attachment and select “Get Info.” Next expand the “Open with:” section and select the Mail.app application as the assigned program for that file type. Click on the [Change All...] button and click on [Continue]. Close the Info window and from now on you can just double click on any “.eml” attachment and it will open in Mail.app.

- Jacob

Time Machine is great but it does have its limits. You can only backup your boot drive via Time Machine so setting that external drive to protect your main 640 GB boot drive is the right setup. Then using the Apple software RAID 1 (Mirroring) on those two 1TB drives is a smart choice. It is not as fast as having a hardware RAID 5 configuration but it is very reliable. Many of the small servers I setup have been protected by a software RAID 1. I have lost drives but never any data.

The one advantage Time Machine has over RAID 1 is that it will protect you from unintentionally deleting important files, allowing you to go back and retrieve those files. RAID 1 will not let you recover from that kind of mistake. It just protects you from drive failure. So be carful when deleting or overwriting data on the RAID 1 volume.

Other than that it sounds like a solid plan.

- Jacob

Well you have many input device options with a Mac. Most USB keyboards will work with a Mac, in fact I have yet to find one that does not. So you should buy they keyboard that works well for you. If the Dell functions perfectly, I would recommend getting two of those. I am not kidding about getting two. Over the years I have seen how fast a good keyboard design is replaced. If you find something that works, just as you want it to, get its replacement now. Otherwise you will send your evenings trolling eBay looking for a exact replacement after the first one dies.

If you do not want to hassle with running Parallels, consider MacSpeech. It is built on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition engine.

I have yet to see a good mouse solution that is voice activated. Also, most mice or joysticks are difficult to use during hand tremors. Luckily the Mac OS comes with a feature in the Universal Access settings that could help. Under the Mouse & Trackpad tab is the ability to turn on the “Mouse Keys” feature. This turns the numeric ten-key into a mouse controller. There are sensitivity and speed settings that you can set to your specific needs. It works fairly well and gives you more precise movement than what you get from a standard input device.

- Jacob

Really it is true, I know many video professionals who use a MacBook Pro to edit HD video. This is particularly true now that they support 8 GB RAM in the 17″ MacBook Pro models. Where you may feel the difference is in large rendering and capture. In those instances having more cores and faster drives available will be a benefit. Most video pros will own a Mac Pro if they just have one system but the second system is often a MacBook Pro for mobile work and assembly of the footage.

- Jacob

Yes - every new Mac Pro has a Dual-Link DVI port on it to connect your 30″ Cinema Display. There is also a second connection point with a Mini DisplayPort connector. That can run near any display with the proper adapter, even a second 30″ Display.

- Jacob

If your Mac suffers a lockup when connecting a USB device, it is often due to a bad USB device. Or it is a USB device drawing more power than what the port is supplying. Make sure you are connecting it to an internal USB port on the computer, not a keyboard or unpowered hub. If that still causes a problem, see if the device is a USB 2.0 device, your Mac may only have a USB 1.1 port. USB 2.0 devices can draw more power than the USB 1.1 port supplies.

- Jacob

Most times sharing a drive over the network will be fast, sometimes faster that FireWire 800. You must have a Gigabit switch for that to work and good wiring in the building. Also, all your systems, including the network drive, must support Gigabit Ethernet. That will be the fastest and most cost effective way to share a drive over the network. Everything beyond that will have a large start-up cost.

If the 2TB drive is not a network drive or only has 10/100 Ethernet , just attach it to your fastest Mac and use File Sharing to grant access to the other Apple computers on the network.

- Jacob

I could try to reiterate this article but they did good job explaining it. The basic sum of this is you need to use PPTP protocol on your OS X server to allow Windows clients.

The other option would be to use a different Windows VPN client.

- Jacob

Handbrake is specialized for converting your DVDs to iPod friendly formats but it should ultimately work for you. When it matures, you may want to try Videomonkey to convey your video files to something iMovie will easily accept. Currently it is iPod focused but has plans to convert to other formats.

For general video converting you should have both VLC and Perian installed on your Mac to make extra video formats usable. Even if you don’t need them, both these applications are a must for the modern Mac wanting to work with video.

In Handbrake, make sure the checkbox for “Use iPod/iTunes friendly (.m4v) file extension is for MP4″ is unchecked. Then you should be able to export into a MP4 format and it will use the “.mp4″ extension on the end. After Handbrake is finished, use the Import/Movies… option from the iMovie File menu. It should import without any issues.

- Jacob

Probably the simplest way to get that data over is with a PCI SCSI card. This will enable you to install the SCSI hard drive into your G4 and pull all the data from it that you want. It will also allow you to use some external SCSI hardware. Otherwise, you could try connecting both Macs to the same ethernet network and enabling an Appletalk network for file sharing. However, that could prove to be more complicated than it is worth for you.

- Jacob

When booting up from the Windows install disc, the first thing you need to do is format the partition you created with the boot-camp utility in the Mac OS. What you need to do is format the available
empty space on the windows partition with a NTFS or FAT32 file system. Only after you format the partition, will the Windows installer have a place to put the Windows XP files. Here is some info from the
Microsoft install documentation.
• At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
• Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
• All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to create a new partition by selecting the non-partitioned space. You can also press C to create a new partition using non-partitioned
• To create the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER.
• If you want to create additional partitions, repeat steps g. and h.
• Use the ARROW keys to select the new partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.
• Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from the following options:
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system
• Leave the current file system intact (no changes)

Notes
• If the selected partition is a new partition, the option to leave the current file system intact is not available.
• If the selected partition is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB), the FAT file system option is not available.
• If the selected partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm).
• If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.
• If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on a different partition, you are prompted to select a file system for both the System and Startup partitions.
• Press ENTER.
• After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to install Windows XP.

I cleaned up the Microsoft documentation to help you read through it easier. Hope that helps,

- Jacob

Last time I installed the Macromedia Studio MX software, I recall that there were two serial numbers in the set. One was for the PC version, and the other was for the Mac version. It is possible that you have the two serial numbers switched. Now that Macromedia is part of Adobe, you may be able to use whatever serial number you have to upgrade to the Adobe version of the software. If you contact Adobe directly they can help you find the proper upgrade path, even if you only have the Window serial number.

- Jacob

One drive to look at that can fit your music and survive a drop or two is the Lacie Rugged Hard Drive.

Follow these three steps.

- Copy your iTunes library to an external drive
- Then set it as your new Library
- Delete your old Music Library from the Music folder.

- Jacob

I am fairly sure it is not an issue with your Apple equipment. This is because I have exactly the same setup in my home and it works reliably. The one exception is that I do not like the equipment Comcast provides. I instead use my own Cable modem. This is the Linksys router I have used for years and like its rock -solid performance.

Before you run our and get a new modem, try these two possible fixes. First off power everything. Let the cable modem sit, without power, for five minutes and then power it on again. After it is fully on and connected to the Comcast network, power on the Airport Base station. Make sure your cable modem is the only Ethernet device connected to the Airport base station and that you have it connected to the WAN port. That is the port off to one side with a dotted circle above it. Now you can connect your devices.

If that fails you may have been given a Cable modem that has its own DHCP / NAT serve and it is in conflict with your Airport’s DHCP / NAT service. Here is the process for disabling DHCP and NAT on the Airport Base Station.

If all my suggestions fail, get the Linksys modem. You may even save money on your monthly bill.

- Jacob

Unfortunately Apple has done it again. They jumped into a new connector format without a thought about the Mac user who has older Mac equipment. The 24″ Apple LED display is a truly great companion to the new Mac laptops. Although they work on all new Macs, the 24″ display is a docking station for laptops. They provide power and a host of desktop features to give you two macs from one. A Mac Laptop tied to a 24″ Apple display is a perfect package, and I would like you to have that experience. Sadly that the new display will not work on your G4 tower. It may be better to just get a low end LCD display for the G4 and then use the 24″ LED display as your MacBook’s docking station.

Here is a nice one but there are many good sub $150 displays.

- Jacob

The FIrewire port is part of your logic-board, so replacing the logic-board would be the standard way to fix that problem. At this point the repair would cost more than your Apple computer is worth. You still have a USB port on your iBook and USB 2.0 is a fine way to connect external drives. Many drives are available with USB 2.0 connections. Lacie USB drives are very popular and would fit the bill.

- Jacob

I use the Apple Disk Utility to securely erase data from my hard drives. You can do this from your OS Install media. Boot up your iMac computer off the disc and open Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Under the Erase tab will be a Security button. Click on it and set it to write zeros over your data. This will take a good amount of time, and be sure to check out Apple’s article on Disk Utility’s secure erase options.

After you erase the drive, you can install the Mac OS on it, but it is not necessary for our Mac trade-in program. We format the drives when they come in, but please do erase your drive to the security level that you would like.

- Jacob

I use the Apple Airport base stations for this. They share a printer with Macs and PCs, but you need to install Bonjour on the Windows system.

Look at the Airport express if you just have wireless computers in the house. If some computers have to have an Ethernet connection, the AirPort Extreme is the one you want.

- Jacob

You may be facing a issue that has more to do with software version you have, verses the limit of the drive format. If you are trying to just reinstall the OS, you will need to do an Archive and Install of the OS.

If you are trying to reformat the drive and remove all data from it, you will need to repartition it with the Disk Utility that is on the OS X install media. You will have to boot up the disc and then open Disk Utility and use the Partition tab to create one new partition on your Apple computer hard drive..

- Jacob

Well some sites are focused only on PC systems and do not recognize the Mac browsers. Firefox would be your best option, it is based on what was left of Netscape. Microsoft stopped making a Mac version of Internet Explorer many years ago and so that would not be the best option. Here is a link to FireFox: http://getfirefox.com

For the most part your Mac is safe from the worms and viruses that plague the PC world. Mostly this is due to the incompatibility of the two operating systems. Most evil people do not bother writing two versions of the same virus for each platform. The main thing is, be careful of what you install on your Mac (only software from trusted places) and run the Mac Software Update often.

- Jacob

What you need is a iPod FM transmitter that plugs into your lighter and the Apple dock connector on the bottom of the nano. I have personally used the Monster Cable iPod FM transmitter.

But you should also look at others like the Belkin TuneCast Auto for iPod, Griffen iPod FM Transmitter or the Griffen RoadTrip FM Transmitter.

Most times I do not recommend these in urban areas because of station interference but you sound like the perfect candidate to use one of these. Also consider downloading free Podcast from iTunes, to break up the music on long drives. Believe me a bunch of podcasts can make a drive seem much shorter. Hope it gives that iPod new life.

- Jacob

When moving from PowerPC based Macs to an Intel Mac, I always recommend using Migration Assistant when you first start up the new Mac. During the initial setup you are given the option to move data over from your old Mac. The new Migration Assistant now allows you to do that over a network connection. Below is a link to Apple article on this process. Most applications should run fine on your system. Universal applications will run at full speed and PowerPC applications can run in an emulation mode of-sorts. It is a good idea to download fresh copies of Universal software, if available online to replace older version moved over during the migration.

Network based data migration using Migration Assistant.

In most cases you should be fine. If your ethernet enabled migration is interrupted, it will pickup where you left off so you do not need to guard it during the process.

- Jacob

Well there are many option to protect your child’s Apple laptop. I used to work for the Evergreen State College and have seen first hand the dangers a laptop faces in that environment. Well if a Mac computer can survive on the battlefield, I am sure you can find something fitting to protect your daughter’s computer. On the extreme side of mobile protection there is are hard side laptop cases. They can be water, dust, and crush resistant but often let you use the laptop without removing it from the case.

These may be more than you were looking for but I would consider it top-shelf protection with style. Beyond that many of the neoprene laptops sleeves will protect a MacBook from light spills. The seams will let water in so if it is sitting in a puddle than water will get in. Here are some water repelling options you may be interested in.

Thin and protective solution, the RadTech Sleevz for Macbook. Hope this helps with the process but there is also a “Style” issue with the selection of a case, so your daughter may want to look at some of the colorful neoprene cases.

- Jacob

You can have any size 3.5″ SATA hard drive installed in the Intel iMacs. Your only limit it in what size drives are being made. You are limited to just one drive installed inside the iMacs. Apple computers can support many more drives externally via USB 2.0, FireWire 800, and Gigabit ethernet.

- Jacob

When trouble shooting the Mac printing system it is often best to reset the Printer preferences and install the latest T634 drivers.

If after that your laser printer still waists a page with a single line. It probably has to do with your Page Margins in the word processor you are printing from. You may need to adjust the header/footer spacing options so less text is assigned to each page.
- Jacob

What you need is a KVM switch and there are two you should look at. The IOGear KVM switch is particularly nice for this kind of device switching. Many KVMs do not have audio switching or us DVI, but this IOGear Micro View KVM Switch will do.

Which ever unit you get should help with the monitor an speakers. The wireless keyboard mouse combo should work as long as it is the kind that uses the USB dongle attached to your current Mac computer. Otherwise you will have trouble pairing those devices with two computers. You may need to use the Keyboard and mouse that come with the Mac Pro until you retire the PC. After that a PC bluetooth keyboard/mouse will work well on the Mac.

- Jacob

Often this issue is caused by a preference change in your Apple computer. Click once on the Desktop and then select “Preferences” from the Finder menu. Under the General tab mark all the checkboxes in the “Show these items on Desktop” section.

- Jacob

Your Mac computer should connect just fine to your HD TV and kick-out a full HD signal. I have an old PowerBook G4 connected to my HDTV at home. I mostly play standard definition TV from my EyeTV archive upstairs but we have played HD shows on the TV though the Mac. The PowerBook G4 has trouble keeping up with decoding the HD signal, your Intel Mac should have no problem with HD shows. You will need three cables to connect to your TV through HDMI. Your TV will need to support HDMI with an RCA audio connection for this to work.

Here is the list.
• The Mini DVI to DVI cable to get DVI from your MacBook.
• A DVI to HDMI cable.
• Then an audio cable for the, uh, audio.

Later when you move to the Mac Mini, you can reuse these cables. Most web pages are very readable and recorded TV looks great. Consider also getting an EyeTV system to record HDTV and this Adesso Keyboard / Trackpad combo (note it is Windows keyed but works on a Mac).

- Jacob

There is no physical way to connect the screen of an eMac or iMac to another computer. They are hardware locked to the logic board of Apple computers. You can, however, use the built-in screen sharing feature of 10.5 Leopard to view and control the Mac Mini remotely. They both need to be connected to the same network and the Mini would need to be configured to allow remote connections. So it would need to be connected to a monitor and keyboard-mouse for the initial setup. You would also need to upgrade the eMac to Leopard to control the Mac Mini. After that it the eMac should be able to see the new Mac Mini as available for screen sharing in the sidebar of any Finder window. If this is just a matter of saving money, you can get an LCD display that will work on your Mac Mini cheaply. It will work two times better than Screen Sharing, perhaps ten times better.

- Jacob

There is no problem using your US bought Mac laptop’s power adapter overseas. All the Mac power adapters cover voltages ranging from 100 to 240 Volts at 50 or 60 Hz. You may want to buy the Apple World Traveler Adapter Kit though, to fit the wall plugs you have locally.
- Jacob

Because the Apple ADC based LCD displays received their power from the ADC port on the older Macs, you will need more than a simple cable adapter. You need the powered Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter.

You could also consider getting a newer LCD display, like this Acer 19″ display, that is bigger for just a little more than the powered adapter.

- Jacob

With any Mac computer, the boot up time depends greatly on hard drive speed. Most Intel Macs will boot the Leopard OS in under 40 Seconds of an internal drive. Solid state drives can speed that up some, and faster RAM can help too. You can slow that time down as well by connecting to a Wireless network on startup and other boot up add-ons. For the most part the Mac Pro will boot quickly, but I still leave most of my Macs running all the time. I hate waiting for the screen’s backlight to kick on, a personal flaw I have to admit to.

The RAM and video card will be easy for you to upgrade in the near future but the processor will not upgrade with exactly the same ease. It is a socketed processor and you can replace it, although wait until the Apple warranty period is over before you attempt it. You will not be able to convert the Mac Pro single processor, four core system, into a dual processor, eight core system. So make sure you get a configuration that will meet you upgrade needs. I have know people who upgrade their Mac Pros regularly with the latest processors, but most of those people are Intel employees. It should be fine for an experienced PC tech.

- Jacob

I have always loved the Missing Manual series from O’Reilly press. Here is a link the the O’Reilly iWork ‘09 book. You might also try O’Reilly’s Switching to the Mac guide in the same series.

Both would be well worth adding to your library.

- Jacob

Most every AC to DC adapter I have seen from Canon has an input voltage range of 100-240 volts at 50/60 cycles. The CA-590 that comes with that camera should be no different. I would however suggest that
you use a 240 Volt to 110 volt converter if you travel often. That conversion cleans up the sometimes spotty power you find in other countries.

- Jacob

There are some graphic performance differences between higher and lower resolutions. Particularly when it comes to consuming VRAM. However, with modern video cards, they don’t exhibit too much
difference between the 20″ and 24″ iMac native resolution resolutions. This is particularly true when you have 512MB of VRAM. Each extra pixel on screen has to be stored in VRAM on your Apple computer. So with only 256MB of VRAM, the difference between 1680 by 1050 and 1680 by 1050 can be enough pixels to push data out of VRAM. When that happens your Frame Rate drops.

Although you can set the screens for a lower resolution, LCDs really should be run at there native resolution for best performance.

- Jacob

You will not only need a Blu-Ray burner to make HD video discs, but you will need some additional software. Here is a good article on the HD editing workflow. Toast 10 Titanium is great Blu-Ray burning software.

I only have one recommendation for an external Blu-Ray burner, the LaCie d2 Blu-ray drive. For internal use, I like the MCE Blu-ray kit.

- Jacob

It all depends on the application you are using. If the primary application you are running is multi-threaded then the 8 Core model is the best choice. It is also the right choice for any RAM hungry applications because you have twice the RAM controllers and slots. However, for older software that just needs clock cycles the 2.93 Ghz will help you more than extra cores and RAM in your Mac Pro.

- Jacob

You can upgrade your memory and hard drive yourself. Here is a link to Apple’s MacBook Pro RAM installation page.

The hard drive is just as easy, as you can see by Apple’s instructions on how to install a replacement hard drive.

If you use a none Apple drive in the computer, you will have to deal directly with the maker of the hard drive for drive warranty issues and most Apple service centers will want you to have a Apple hard drive installed for testing. For that reason it may be a good idea to keep the pulled Apple hard drive safely stored in a static bag, until you are out of the Apple warranty period.

- Jacob

Windows is a fickle beast and especially in virtualization. It could be that a change or update to Parallels has cased a driver conflict in your copy of Windows. Follow these instructions from kb.parallels.com to remove and then reinstall the Parallels Tools.

1. Start Windows in Safe Mode (Press F8 key during the boot-up process and choose Safe Mode from the list).

2. Uninstall Parallels Tools
   • From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel > Add or remove programs.
   • Select Parallels Tools and click Remove.

3. Restart the Windows guest OS.

4. While Windows is running, install Parallels Tools again:
   • From the Parallels Desktop menubar, choose Actions > Install Parallels Tools. The Parallels Tools installation wizard appears in the guest OS window.
   • Follow the wizard instructions to complete installation.

5. Restart the Windows guest OS again.

- Jacob

It is possible to throw away essential Apple System fonts that will cause your computer to exhibit strange behavior like what you are experiencing. Here are Apple articles on the system fonts for 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard fonts.

Here’s a non-Apple font reference source but still a good article on font management in OS X.

It is recommended that you always use the Font Book to manage fonts because it will prevent damaging font deletion from happening. If you had the system discs, an Archive and Install would fix your problem but as you are missing those disks you will have to reinstall the fonts manually. Look through the lists and identify which two fonts you need back. Copy them from another Mac computer or let me know what they are and I can email them to you.

After that, you will need to install them back to the font folder you deleted them from and restart. If you can not navigate the file system, you will then have to boot the computer into Single User mode and install the fonts from the command line. Although, getting the proper system discs or a OS X install DVD would not be a bad idea, for the next time you have a problem like this.

- Jacob

My daughter has one of these G4 iBook. The only computer display port that you can use is VGA, an analog connection. You will need a Mini-VGA to VGA adapter cable to connect a VGA display.

The good news is that many LCD displays support both DVI and VGA connections, or have only VGA ports. Take a look at the 17″ LCD displays with VGA. You will be limited to a 1024 X 768 image, no mater how big the display, the iBook is set to only Mirror what is on the laptop display. That limit on your iBook is 1024 X 768 pixels, so do not over spend on a display.

- Jacob

Here is a handy little list of user recorded Mac system temperatures assembled to help others determine what is normal temperature for their Mac.

From the list, it looks like your iMac is in the proper range. As for RAM upgrades, you can go up to 3 GBs if you have a white plastic iMac or 4 GB if you have an Aluminum iMac released before 2009. Depending on what iMac you have, you can buy one or two of these 2GB stick. You only have 2 RAM slots so you will have to remove one stick of 1GB RAM for each 2GB stick of RAM you add.

The newest iMac introduced in 2009 can take up to 8GB of RAM using a 4GB RAM stick, but I would guess you do not have this version of the iMac.

- Jacob

I think a basic iMac would be a good choice for you. That is the kind of Mac my wife and I share and it makes a good home computer. This 20″ iMac model is excellent, it was recently replaced with a slightly different version of the same computer, so it is on sale. Any of the newer iMacs will give you power and performance to last many years. You can look at all the 24″ iMac as well.

The nice feature of the iMac is that it has the display and computer combined together in a single unit. So you really only need to worry about connecting the Keyboard/mouse and Power to get it running. If you have a high-speed internet connection at home, the iMac will have no trouble connecting. If you use dial-up internet, then you need to buy USB modem, like this Apple external modem.

- Jacob

There are probably many ways to accomplish your digital Jukebox project. You certainly can use your MacBook to play all your iTunes directly to a stereo. All you would need is a 1/8th inch to RCA cable like this one. Connect the line out from your Mac computer to the stereo.

Then you would just need to move your iTunes Library to the external drive by following these instructions from Apple regarding Moving your iTunes Music folder.
This would require you to keep your Mac connected to both the stereo and the hard drive, in-order for you to play the music. If that sounds OK to you then it is a fairly easy setup. Otherwise you may want to look at some wireless streaming options.

A truly slick option would be to use the cable above attached to an Airport Express. The Airport Express could be connected to the Wireless network in your house. Your router at home, that hosts the wireless network, would then have a LaCie network drive attached to an ethernet port. The LaCie 1 TB Drive would have your Music stored on it and then shared by the iTunes-compliant server component of the LaCie drive. All your MacBook Pro would need to do is play the music from the drive over to the Express, all wirelessly.

- Jacob

Panasonic and Cannon do a great job in producing Mac computer compatible HD camcorders. Take a look at the Canon VIXIA HF11 Camcorder or the VIXIA HG20 60GB HDD Camcorder. Both could be good choices for you.

One thing to consider though, still image cameras are quickly adding HD video capture to their feature set. If you are also interested in picking up a good still camera, one of those hybrid cameras may be your best choice. The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 was recently announced and it has video people and photographers equally excited.

- Jacob

Well the first step in troubleshooting a ADC monitor is to remove and then reinstall the video card. Believe it or not just reseating a video card can help. I assume these are LCD based Apple 17″ Displays, if they are CRT displays, then there are a host of issues that follow the CRT models. First the CRT models will not run off DVI to ADC adapters, and second the CRT models draw so much power it can be under powered on on many ADC video cards.

If the problem is with the LCD ADC display, then it may be a USB problem inside the display. When using the DVI to ADC converter, try not connecting the USB plug to see if that has any effect. Also make sure the computer is directly connected to the wall outlet. That should eliminate under powering issues.

Let me know how that works out,
- Jacob

Other than making sure you are using a retail copy of the Mac OS released after the PowerBook was produced, 10.3 or higher, it would probably be a hardware issue. The problem is most likely with the cable or logic board. A replacement PowerBook hard drive cable will be cheap enough for you to test with it. I think this is the right cable for your computer but double check.

If that fails to work for you, then it probably is a logic board issue and you will need to weigh the cost of the repair against just upgrading your Mac.

Please let me know what the outcome is.
- Jacob

I would have to say that if you edit HD footage, that yes you want the 8-Core Mac Pro. Not only will the multithreading features of Final Cut Pro run faster on the Octal Mac Pro, but you will be able to install more RAM. As you probably know, the new Mac Pro likes its RAM installed in threes per processor. The forth RAM slot shares its channel with the third slot. So for peak performance in the Quad-Core Mac Pro you will be effectively limited to 6GB. In the 8-Core Mac Pro you can get 24 GB of highly efficient RAM. Although 12GB will probably do just nicely for most of your HD projects.

- Jacob

It has been some time since I bought a none Apple battery but when I did buy one last it was from BTI. They have long had a good reputation for making OEM replacements. This 15″ MacBook battery should work for you. But you can always go with the Apple 15″ MacBook original battery, which is not a bad idea. Both are going to perform about the same on your Mac computer.

As for identifying your laptop the proper name of it is MacBook Pro 15″ Core 2 Duo. The terms titanium, aluminum, G3, and G4 all refer to much older Mac laptops.

- Jacob

Although that machine is not of value for a work Mac computer, there may be collectors or other fans interested in buying it. You could post it on eBay or craigslist.org and see who is interested in it. I do not know of a good price though, so eBay without a reserve and a padded shipping charge would be a good idea.

- Jacob

A fix for this would be to delete the below files from ‘Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration’:com.apple.airport.preferences.plist, NetworkInterfaces.plist, preferences.plist.

After you move those files to the Trash, you will want to restart your computer. This problem can be caused by the installation of FireWall software or other network related software. Let me know how that works for you.

- Jacob

The SpectraView II software is used to calibrate the display itself, and not the video card settings in the Mac computer Displays System Preferences. All you should need to do with the Mac OS preferences is find a baseline setting, then just let the SpectraView II software calibrate the monitor to true color.

- Jacob

USB base PC keyboards and Mice work perfectly both new Mac Minis and used Mac minis, although some special media buttons may not work. Getting a small 2-port KVM will make switching back and forth easy.

Look at this IOGEAR MiniView Micro Plus KVM switch if you have a VGA display or this IOGEAR MiniView DVI if you have a DVI display.

- Jacob

I would steer you towards the MacBook Pro for professional video work. This is mainly due to the advanced Graphics system that is used in the MacBook Pro. Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors, like the ones found in older MacBooks or MacBook Airs. Even the newer MacBook Airs, with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, will feel a little under powered. Also the drive size and speed will be an issue for you, unless you bought the Solid State Drive (SSD). With the SSD option you will be set for speed but not space. The MacBook Pro is currently the only contemporary Apple laptop with FireWire. FireWire connectivity is probably a part of your workflow now and it could be
difficult to work without it.

Now if you want to use Final Cut Express on a MacBook Air, that would probably work fine. This is because you could transfer the the projects to Final Cut Pro later form heavier editing. Hope that gives you enough information to make a good choice based on your work.

- Jacob

This should not be a problem as long as you both have computers that are always on the same network. The first thing to do is relocate that “Active Clients” folder to a good location on your hard drive for sharing. The “Shared” folder in your Macintosh HD/Users/ folder is a good choice. Now we need to enable network access for that Shared folder. Go to your computer’s System Preferences and select Sharing. Mark the check box next to the File Sharing option. Now with Mac OS X 10.5 you have many file sharing features that will let you specifically select the folders you want to share and who has access to them. If you have that version of the Mac OS you can Select the shared folder and add a access account for your Boss With the [+] button  
under users.

If you are using Mac OS 10.4, then you can just move over to your Boss’ computer and click on the Desktop. Then mouse over to the Go menu and down to “Connect To server.” The Server Address will be afp://your.computer’s.IP.address and you can find your computers IP address from the Network section of your computer’s System Preferences (it will look like 10.0.0.2). After you have entered the server address, click on the [Connect] button. You will be prompted for a Username and password. Enter your computer’s user name and login password or if you setup a account for your Boss, enter it there.

Before you click the [Connect] button again, mark the checkbox for “Remember this password in my keychain. You will be asked what Volume you want to mount, Select the “Shared” folder if it is presented or select your hard drive. Once you have a connection to your computer from your Boss’ computer, you will then want to make a shortcut to the  ”Active Clients” folder. Navigate to where the folder is located. Control click on it and Select “Make Alias.” Then drag the alias to the desktop of your Boss’ computer.

Back at your computer, go the the Shared folder and move the alias for the “Active Clients” folder to your desktop. Now you both have an alias on your desktop for the same folder. If all that looked Like a big mess of convoluted steps, there is a shareware program that will save you some headache. Look at SlingShot 2.0 to keep your folder in sync, without the networking hoops to jump  
through. There is a free trial so at least give it a look.

- Jacob

I am sure that most people from NASA should not have a problem installing a new hard drive in a new or used Mac mini, so that would be the cleanest upgrade path. You will need a 2.5″ PATA hard drive. Any size drive should work so look at the 160GB model.

Here is a link to some detailed instructions on changing the internal hard drive on a Mac mini.

You can use the 10.5 migration assistant to recover your files from the last Time Machine backup. With a full backup, you should have no problem recovering your settings after the initial install of drive and the OS.

Jacob

Well if you still have AppleWorks 6 installed on the iBook, you can continue to run the program on a new MacBook. Migration assistant will run when you first setup your new Mac and pull over your old programs, documents, and settings. You will then want to delete your imported Apple Works preferences, but after that you can continue to use AppleWorks.

To delete the preferences, you will want to Trash the folder “Macintosh HD/Users/(YOUR USER NAME)/Library/Preferences/AppleWorks” and the file “Macintosh HD/Users/(YOUR USER NAME)/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appleworks.plist. Then start using Apple works as normal. You can then use the 30-Day trial version of iWork to see if you can import your AppleWorks documents. You may have to use AppleWorks to save the file as a Text only document.

- Jacob

There most certainly is a way to make a simple DVD directly from your camcorder. It is called an “OneStep DVD” When you open iDVD, and are asked to pick an action, chose OneStep DVD. You will then be asked to connect your Camcorder via FireWire and then Click OK. Just insert a blank DVD and walk away, letting your Mac do the rest.

Jacob

I believe that the iPod classic will not have the charging problem that you saw with the 4th Generation Nano. The Classic will most likely be the newest iPod that will charge in the iGroove dock though. Most other iPods now use the new pinning. If you want to be certain though, you can find some good deals on used fifth generation iPods on our used iPods page.

Jacob

There are two places a name and email address could be stored on a basic Mac computer setup. The main place those messages get stored are in the Address Book application. In the application every contact you have saved is on a separate card. If you want to remove a person’s card you can just select the card and use the [delete] key on your keyboard to remove the entry permanently. If you want to edit the card’s data, click on the edit button bellow the displayed card.

The other location peoples’ name and email addresses are kept is in the Mail program. Mail keeps a running list of your correspondents and saves them for your quick reuse. You can edit this list by opening the Mail application and going to the Window menu. Then mouse down to “Previous Recipients.” The Previous Recipients window will contain a long list of people you have emailed. There is a Search box to help you find the one record you are looking for. Then click on the entry to highlight the name and address. Finally use the “Remove From List” button to erase the name and address.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

There is no way to convert a PowerMac G5 into an Intel-based Mac Pro. Although the cases look similar, the internals are radically different. Fortunately PowerMax has a trade-in program that will let you convert your PowerMac G5 into credit towards a Mac Pro, or other Intel Mac.

Submit a Mac trade-in request and find out how close you are to upgrading to an Intel Mac.

I hope this helps
Jacob

For the best boot times and fastest game loads, I would recommend that you make your primary drive a 300GB 15k rpm SAS drive. That should make data and applications zip on that system, the hard drive is often the bottleneck of a computer. Your second and third drives can be 1TB in size. Make them a RAID 1 to protect your data if you have no other backup strategy. Remember Time Machine only backs up the primary boot drive.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Apple has some nice tips on moving your iTunes library off an old computer or relocating the library to another drive.

For your needs you just want to be able to transfer your files over to the new computer. Perhaps the simplest way would be to use Target Disk mode. It sounds as if just the original hard drive is showing up in Target Disk mode. You may have to set up your 120 GB hard drive as the master drive. You can do this by moving the plug on the ribbon cable, attached the original drive, over to the larger drive. Then you will need to change the pinning on the drive to “master” from “slave.” Here is a link to the pinning instructions for your drive.

Once you have the big drive set as master, you can now boot the G4 computer into Target Disk mode (boot the G4 with the [T] key held down). The 120 GB hard drive will now appear on the iMac’s desktop when you connect the two computers with a firewire cable.

You can then use the Add to Library feature to import your old iTunes library or one of the suggestions from the Apple page above.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

What you need is a wireless to Ethernet bridge, I like the Linksys G Wireless Bridge. If you add a small Netgear Ethernet switch to the setup you can have many devices connected to the one Ethernet bridge.

Because you are using an Apple base station, you have the option of using an Airport Express in place of the Linksys bridge. This would be a much better solution. You will set up the Express a WDS extension to your wireless network. Then you will share the Ethernet connection with the switch from above. The Express will also allow you the share your audio over the network, through the AirTunes port.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

Both the Mac Pro and iMac allow you to upgrade the processor, however, the Mac Pro is far easier to work on. The real benefit is that you can now buy generic PC processors to do the upgrade. I have known a few people who have done that upgrade with success.

Mac desktops have only gotten easier to upgrade in the switch to Intel processors.

I hope this helps
Jacob

If you cannot get a CD or DVD to eject by the regular methods, PowerPC-based Mac users can use an Open Firmware emergency eject command. Here is a link to Apple’s instructions on how to eject a disc when other options don’t work. The important steps are below:

– Restart the computer.
– Immediately after the startup sound, press and hold the key combination Command-Option-O-F. Note: The Command key has the Apple and () icons on it.
– Release the keys when you see a white screen that says “Welcome to Open Firmware.”
– At the prompt, type: eject cd
– Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject any disc that is present, and “ok” appears behind your command when the action is complete.
– Type: Mac-boot
– Press Return

If this fails to eject, you will have to open the case of the G4 iMac to gain access to the manual eject pinhole on the face of the optical drive. You may want to seek the help of a professional for that process.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

You have started with some good first step by replacing the PRAM battery and resetting the PMU in your Apple computer. You will now need to look at your RAM. If you have multiple sticks of RAM in your G4 iMac you should turn off your computer and remove one RAM stick. Use your computer without that one stick for a while. If it locks up on you again, you should remove another stick of RAM and put the one you pulled first, back in. Start up the computer and use it, each time it locks up, swap out another stick of RAM until you have cycled thorough all the RAM. If it locks up with every RAM configuration then you will need to look at another cause.

The next step would be to do an Archive and install of your Mac OS X. An Archive and install will replace your System folder with a clean copy of the Mac OS while leaving your software and personal files intact. You can do an Archive and install of any OS X install DVD. If the Archive and Install fails to change anything it will most likely need to be taken into an Apple Authorized service center for further diagnostics.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

A new or used Mac mini will not be an overly compelling upgrade to your used G5 tower. It should be fast in terms of processor power, but it will be a little wimpy on graphics power. The Intel Mac Mini uses an integrated graphics processor, which is OK in most applications, but can be short on power for games and some design programs. The G5 has dedicated graphics card that will outperform the integrated graphics of the Mac Mini.

The included Rosetta emulator in OS X works well, and you will likely not even notice it is active. It works seamlessly in the background. The Rosetta emulation does have a performance hit but it will not be visible to you due to the speed improvements of the Intel Processor. Just do not be surprised if it is not significantly faster at running your application.

Also the 2.5″ hard drive in the Mac Mini is slower than the 3.5″ drive in the G5, which will cause some latency writing large files. For your work you probably will not notice the difference but it could be an issue for video work.

All the negatives in mind you will still probably want to go for the Mac Mini. It is small, portable, and your performance will improve as you upgrade your software to Intel native applications.

I hope this helps with the buying process.
Jacob

This is erroneous disk full message has occurred for a few Word users. It is basically attributed to a Disk Permissions problem. If you boot your used Mac off the OS X install DVD that came with the computer, you can use Disk Utility from the Utilities menu to repair Disk Permissions on your hard drive. After that Word saving abilities should be fixed, at least according to others that have experienced the same Disk is Full errors you received.

Hope this helps
Jacob

Any Mirrored Drive Door G4 will support OS X 10.5 Leopard, as long as it has more than 512MB of RAM. I would encourage you to buy extra RAM to achieve 1GB of RAM for good operation. Other than that it should be a good entry level Leopard Mac.

Jacob

I would be interested in seeing that article, because to my knowledge there is no way to have two processors on an Apple laptop. Apple solders their processor directly to the logic board of the MacBook (Pro)s, which prevent replacement or exchange. I know some brave souls have removed soldered-on processors and reattached faster processors in the past, but it takes specialized soldering equipment. Modern Mac portables do not contain a socketed processor that a home tech could work on.

Perhaps the article was not about an Apple laptop but upgrading the processors on a Mac Pro. I once corresponded with a Intel employee who upgraded his Mac Pro with Quad Core processors before Apple offered the option.

Please send me the link to the article if I am completely wrong. Thanks!
Jacob

There is no real reason that Parallels must be installed to share your Mac computer system with Windows. I use an iMac that has Vista installed Via Boot Camp without Parallels, but in the past I had used Parallels to Run XP on the same system before I uninstalled it. You can run Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMware. You can even mix and match Parallels and Boot Camp, allowing you to use the same installation of Windows two different ways. That said, for the best experience I would recommend Parallels alone. Repartitioning your hard drive is risky business and locks you into a particular configuration. Parallels lets you experiment with different configurations and a variety of x86 operating systems. It is also easier to uninstall Parallels from your system when you are done with Windows.

If you want to use Boot Camp for the maximum system performance (i.e. gaming), then don’t limit your self to 32GB. You can have larger Boot Camp partitions but it will need to be formatted as a NTFS disk from the Windows installer. The only draw back to a NTFS formatted disk is that the Mac OS will not be able to write to it, only read items from it.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Well this is a new one for me, but I suspect that it has something to do with how OS X identified your keyboard. You can try to reset your keyboard’s identification by deleting the file that stores information about your keyboard. The file is called “com.apple.keyboardtype.plist” and it is located in the Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/ Folder. Find the file and drag it to the trash. Restart your computer and see if that fixes your “H” problem. If the keyboard assistant opens, just close it with the little red button on the upper left hand corner of the window.

If you are still having issues typing “H,” then try switching fonts. It could be a problem with the default font you are using. Open the Text Edit Application and use the [Command] + [T] key combination to open the Fonts window and try typing H in different fonts. If you find H to be working in other Fonts, then you may need to reinstall your default System fonts.

If the “H” is persistently displayed incorrectly regardless of font, I would next recommend you try using a different USB keyboard. It does not need to be a Mac keyboard, you can use a Windows USB keyboard to test with. See if the problem is identical on the other keyboard, if it isn’t, you may want a new keyboard.

I hope one of these things will work for you.
Jacob

Photoshop and iPhoto are not directly comparable applications, although they share some features in common. First and foremost iPhoto (which comes standard with Apple’s excellent iLife package) is a photo organizer. It lets you sift through your thousands of photos and organize, print, and adjust them. You can do some basic color correction and cropping with iPhoto, and you can also retouch small blemishes and red-eye, but that’s your limit.

Photoshop, on the other hand, is focus on manipulation of your images. You can composite multiple images together or transform the image far beyond its original elements. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are for people who need to create new images form their photos. If you’re just interested in sprucing up your photos, then the built in iPhoto editing tools will work well. The best part of the two application’s differences is that you can use them together. Instead of using iPhoto’s built-in photo editing tools you can designate Photoshop to be your editor of choice. Import photos into iPhoto, edit the photo in Photoshop, and send it back to iPhoto to store and print it. The best of both worlds.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Despite Apple’s most recent cut of FireWire as an included port in the Unibody MacBook line, FireWire is still considered a standard port on iMacs. The new iMacs even have a FireWire 800 port in addition to the FireWire 400 port. Currently it is only the MacBook and MacBook Air that are missing FireWire ports of any speed.

The ports look like this:

The back of an iMac is where you'll find the ports.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

You can absolutely buy your refurbished MacBook first and trade in later, just make sure you tell your sales person about the trade first. That way it can be logged into your account. You will just have to pay the full price for the new system and then the refund will be credited to your card or through another payment option. You are not alone with not wanting to wait, so this is actually a very common way we process trades.

Hope you love your new system,
Jacob

There are two ways to find the original email file on your system there is an easy way and a hard way. The hard way would be to first find an identifier in the email that will make it easy to find in Spotlight. An easy way to do that is to copy a large chunk of text from the body of the email. Then go to the Spotlight search next to the clock in your menu bar. Search for that text you have copied. Hopefully just one item will be returned in the results. Select “Show All” to get the search results into a separate window. Click once on the email item in the list and select “Get Info” from the File menu. Two pieces of info will be important to you. In the General section will be the “Where:” location of where all your email from that account is stored. Then in the Name & Extension section of the Info window will be the real name of the email, for instance 740892.emlx is the name of your email to me. You can then got to folder where your email is kept and find the message.

OK now the easy way; I had to put it at the end or nobody would read through the hard way. Find the email in Apple Mail and drag it to your desktop. A copy of the email message will be placed on your desktop so you can do with it as you please.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

Until recently we used a 2100TN as a primary printer here at PowerMax. We still have a 2200DN in use in our returns department. It is hard to kill those HP Laser Jets and if speed is not an determining factor, the old units can still hold their own. The main thing is to make sure to have the printers connected to your network via Ethernet and then add them as AppleTalk printers. You can also add them as a LPR printer if you assign them fixed IP addresses on your network. The nice thing about the JetDirect internal print servers is they have had their firmware kept up-to-date by HP and they have a nice web interface. HP still sells legacy parts if your printers are missing the JetDirect module (J3111-69001).

Here’s Apple’s support page on adding a printer to your printer list in OSX.

One potential problem could be with the router you are using. Some routers will block AppleTalk traffic. You should check your router’s website to see if AppleTalk is a supported protocol. If it is not supported then you may need to setup the printers as LPR printers.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

I have long felt that the iMac was a good alternative to the full-blown Mac Pro workstation. I do believe this still to be the case, but I do not want to mislead you into thinking it will be a limitless computer. The iMac will constrain some of your capabilities. It would not be an ideal computer for HD Video or After Effects work on the production level. The iMac will certainly handle most graphic design work but so to would your G5. The new CS4 requires an Intel chip due to only half the software included in the bundle. Photoshop and Illustrator, for example, will work on a dual G5 processor system.

If you are looking to focus on 2D still graphics, with some light instructional video demonstrations, then the iMac should work well for you. Bump up the RAM and hard drive on the 24″ iMac and you should have decent machine. You should also pick up a DVI to mini-DVI adapter to use your current DVI display as a second monitor on the iMac.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

When you are in Apple warranty it is probably a bad idea to upgrade the internal hard drive in an Apple laptop because you will have to put the original Apple drive back into it before you can mail it in for service. Swapping out the drive in MacBooks and new 15″ MacBook Pros are fairly fast, so warranty is less of an issue there. It takes a considerable amount of work to swap out your drive in the 17″ MacBook Pro.

Outside of warranty, replacing the drive is a great upgrade option. Often you can get better speed out of a new drive, in addition to the increased storage space. The 320GB drive will cost you about $200, and a 250GB should be around $50 less. Both of those should be 5400RPM drives, the same drive speed as you already have from the Apple drive. Priced in between the two drives is the faster, and smaller, 200GB 7200RPM drive. The faster drives are better for reading and writing large files but there is a concern with heat. A 7200RPM drive can generate more heat than the 17″ MacBook Pro was designed to handle. If you go to the faster drive you will get better system performance, but you will constantly need to monitor the heat of the unit and not let it overheat.

If increased drive space is what you are after, I think the 250GB drive should be a good fit for you. I was born and raised in Seattle, so consequently I know those Seattle Mac Store people well and send my family there for service. They should treat you well.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

There are a few surfaces that can cause this kind of pointer-jump effect with optical mice on any Apple computer. This happens because the light that illuminates the surface under the mouse refracts the light beam and confuses the optical sensor. The sensor needs to have a steady image change to track the mouse movements. The main surfaces to avoid are, glass, fake wood, and glossy plastic. All these surfaces can bend the light and trick the mouse into thinking you are moving it around. Found in practically every office, the best neutral surface that is a white piece of paper. You can use the paper as a mouse pad to test whether it is surface substance alone that is causing your mouse issues. If it is a surface issue, try using a dark colored cloth-topped mouse pad.

If it continues to jump on the paper, it is probably a dirty optical lens on the bottom of the mouse. Use some compressed air to blow out any dust or debris from the sensor hole on the bottom of the mouse. This will often do the trick.

Hope this helps,

Jacob

The battery on your iBook should constantly be recharging when you have it connected to the power adapter. The ring on the outside of the adapter turns amber or orange when it charges. If your computer turns off when you pull the power plug from the wall, then something is wrong with your iBook’s power management system. You should start troubleshooting your system with a PMU reset. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431 Then after you reset the PMU, restart your iBook and see if the battery will charge. Let it charge overnight and then remove the power cord and see how long the iBook will run. If it only runs for a very short time, you will probably need a new 14″ iBook battery or 12″ iBook battery.

There is also a potential for the iBook to have more serious problems with the internal components that handle the power management of your iBook. Consider bringing in the laptop to an Authorized Apple Service center for a full checkup.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

The Sonic Impact i-Fusion V55 is designed to work with any standard definition video source, but only specific iPods can be placed in its center dock. If you want to use it as pictured, you will want to get or own an iPod 5th generation with video - or better yet, an iPod touch. For all current generation iPods you will need to buy an AV cable and operate the iPod externally connected to the Sonic Impact i-Fusion V55. You will want to use the same Apple adapter cable that you use to connect an iPod to your TV.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Changing your Apple computers name will not affect your Time Machine history or cause additional, redundant, backups. When you make the system name change your Time Machine folder is changed to the new name and updates continue uninterrupted. When the TM backup drive is full, it starts deleting old files. These files are considered old if they were changed since the original copy and it is the oldest version of the file. If you had a Word file that you edited on November 1st, 3rd, and 20th you would have three copies of that file. If you ran out of space, Time Machine would delete the one that was saved on November 1st.

Manually deleting Time Machine files would be a bad idea. They are not only copied to a folder, but also linked and indexed. If you delete them from Finder it has the potential to damage the integrity of your backups. It is better to just let Time Machine manage itself. Like the Infomercial guy says, “Set it and Forget it.”

Hope that helps,

Jacob

There are a few things you can try that should get your iPod classic working on both systems. The first thing to check is that both systems have the current service pack installed. Windows XP is on Service Pack 3 now, and the difference between XP with certain service packs makes functional differences.

After you get Windows XP in order you may also have to uninstall and then reinstall both iTunes and Quicktime.

Also, here are some additional troubleshooting ideas for XP.

Hope this helps
Jacob

I love Text Edit because it is basically what the word processor once was. You can achieve larger type in a few ways, but probably the best method is to highlight the text and use the [command] and [+] keys on your Apple computer to increase the font size. It is also helpful to see what the page will look like when printed without having to do a print preview. To achieve this view change, you will need to go to Text Edit’ preferences. Under the New Document tab, in the format section, select “Rich text” and “Wrap to page.” Optionally, in the options section you can choose to “Show ruler,” for that true word processor feel. Open a new window and copy your text into that new window. Then just start adjusting your text size with the key combination above or the Font pop-out menu found in the Format menu.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

The iMac is a good solution for a kid’s desktop system. Because of the requirements of Spore, I would suggest that you focus on used Intel-based iMacs.

I would also recommend that you at least look at the new iMacs as they have many of the features that your son would need for the game, without having to buy those features later. Also, because of the child’s age, you should have this computer in a public space with a separate “Parental Controlled” account setup. Here is a link to an older article I wrote about kids and computers.

It is a little outdated but the methodology in the article is applicable and the Parental Controls are similar in Leopard as they were in Tiger. Keeping the computer in a public space will also allow you to double task this system as a general family computer, that will help soften the initial expense of the computer.

Hope this helps
Jacob

The third Generation iPods could not handle video or pictures. Those features were added several generations of iPods later. I still own my 30GB 3rd Generation iPod but its primary duty is to play music in my car. Your iPod is certainly a good MP3 player but it was only designed with music in mind.

Hope that is not too disappointing for you.
Jacob

Last year I reviewed just such a negative/slide scanner and I still consider the PrimeFilm Scanner a great product.

Take a look at it and see is it will work for you.

Jacob

It will be hard to bump up the iCab speed because modern websites are resource hungry. You may get some better performance by making sure that your application is reserving as much RAM as you can afford to give it. Here is a link to the Apple’s instructions on assigning application RAM in OS 9.

1. Quit the application if it is open.

2. Locate and click once on the desired application icon on your Macintosh hard disk (not the icon in the Launcher or an alias to the application).

3. Choose Get Info from the File menu.

4. Make sure the Kind: is application program and not folder, alias, or document. If it does not say application program, there is no Memory Requirements area.

5. Select Memory from the Show pop-up menu.

6. Increase the amount of memory allocated to the application in the Preferred Size box by 25 to 50 percent. (Example: change 1000 K to 1500 K)

7. Close the Get Info window.

As for a future upgrade, you will probably want to consider two key elements. Are you willing to buy new applications and do you own any FireWire devices? If you have OS 9-based applications that you must bring over because you do not want to upgrade the software, then you should focus on a used computer with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger installed. This does not include general applications like email clients, web browsers, and basic iLife applications. Those kind of applications will come on a new system, but if you have software that was never written for OS X, then you need to have the Classic application support that is in Mac OS 10.4 but missing from Mac OS 10.5 Tiger.

If you are willing to leap fully into the modern Mac OS and applications, then definitely the new Unibody Macbooks will be right for you and should last you for many years. Unless you need an ultra light computer, PowerMax.com steer clear of the MacBook Air and look at the mid-range MacBooks. They are heavier but will have more processor power and storage. The MacBook and MacBook Air both don’t have FireWire, so if you have a FireWire-based device you will need to look at a MacBook Pro.

Hope this helps
Jacob