Ask Jacob

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

The iPod touch does come with a built-in Google Map application that can show you your relative position and the driving directions to a location. Unlike the iPhone, the iPod Touch does not have a GPS or a 3G/Edge data connection. That means that you have to be connected to a Wi-Fi internet connection to get updated Map info and you will have to manually plot your course. Both the iPhone and iPod Touch are different than a car navigation system. Navigation systems will have maps stored in memory and will use GPS to navigate those internal maps with turn-by-turn instructions. The iPhone can use GPS to update your location on the map while showing you the street layout, but currently there is not a turn-by-turn application on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Your current configuration is probably fairly stable, but you would certainly achieve better performance by upgrading to Tiger and upgrading the RAM. Tiger will run on 256MB of RAM but it will perform much better with another 512MB of iMac RAM installed. Adding RAM to a G4 iMac is easy and the best upgrade for that system.

Tracking down a used copy of OS X 10.4 Tiger will be a little more difficult than buying RAM. Tiger is no longer produced, so used versions of that OS sell fast. You may want to call a PowerMax sales person and have them try to track down a copy for you. If you have other Mac friends, then it may be possible that they would give you their unused copies, provided they moved onto Leopard.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

You should check the Audio tab in the Skype preferences and make sure that it is referencing the same input / output. It may also be advisable to upgrade your Skype version to 2.7 which should run on your system.

If all the above fails, you may need to try an Archive and Install of the Mac OS to remove any problem USB audio drivers causing a conflict.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

Just like with people, a Mac insomniac can have many potential causes of sleepless nights. The first place to look is with expansion cards. More often than not, the problem lies with a PCI, PCI-X, or PCIe card that is doing some low level communication with the rest of your Mac. That communication could be causing it to wake from low power mode. If you have any cards installed it would be a good idea to remove them and see if the sleep behavior of your Mac computer returns to normal.

It can also be due to a software-based problem. A good test would consist of creating a new user account on your system and log into it. Without starting any applications, put the computer to sleep and see if it stays that way. If it does stay sleeping, then there is something running in your main user account that wakes your system, and you should look at your user account’s login items for suspect applications.

If your Mac still fails to sleep in a clean user account, you should see if you have a setting in the Energy Saver System Preferences that would cause the system to wake. Under the Options tab uncheck anything under the “Wake Options” section. Also click on the Schedule button and make sure that there aren’t checked items in that section.

I hope that gets you going it the right direction
Jacob

There are a few drive adapter cases out there that will probably work well for you but I would suggest just getting a Universal Drive Adapter cable. This will not only work on your used iBooks hard drive but also let you use it on almost any other raw drive you come across.

I have one in my tool box and it is invaluable. If, however, you would rather have a full hard drive enclosure then look at this nice budget unit that will create a permanent home for your old Apple computer hard drive.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

There are two ways to handle the deleting of unwanted email within Apple Mail. You can move mail to a Trash folder until it is time to permanently remove the messages, or you can keep them in your Inbox until they are to be removed completely. Deleted messages will remain in the Trash until they are permanently erased, as specified in Mail preferences. If you want to empty the trash early, you can Right click or [Control] click on the trash icon and select “Erase Deleted Messages.”

In Mail preferences, under the Accounts tab, you can specify for each mail account to not “Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox” by un-checking the checkbox. Messages remain in their original location after you delete them, and are shown dimmed or are hidden. To show or hide deleted messages, select “Show Deleted Messages” or “Hide Deleted Messages” from the View menu.

You will probably want to select the “Hide Deleted Messages” options to get rid off those grayed out messages.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

In this case it may be easier to get a Floppy Drive for your G5 iMac, opposed to trying to connect your used Mac to this newer one. Fortunately Floppy drives are relatively cheap and will work for transferring files from the old system, in addition to allowing you to install this older application. I have been fond of the LaCie USB floppy drive and think you will like it as well.

Hope this helps
Jacob

A Mac Pro of nearly any generation should last you a considerable amount of time. Very few of them have made there way to service, which is a pretty good indicator of the quality of this generation of Mac. I also like to mention that an iMac can handle some of the pro photography tasks you are going to use your computer for. It may seem under powered for you, but I have had a good deal of success with a iMac as the workhorse of my office. It is essential that you get a color accurate external display for your iMac to, not only extend the screen real-estate, but to counter the color distortion of the glossy display.

Not many people have traded in a Mac Pro and few are returned as Open Box units, so deals are hard to come by. For expandability and overall performance, an entry 2.8GHZ Quad-Core Mac Pro should treat you well for many years.

I hope this helps but I am sure that you many need to spend some time on the phone with a PowerMax sales person to find the best value Mac Pro.

Jacob

Some of these off brand cameras are hard to deal with because they were never designed to work with Mac computers and they are so obscure that Apple did not build specific support for them into the Mac OS, as they do with more popular cameras. This is not to say that your camera will never work again, it is just not going to be easy to find specific info on your camera’s Mac connectivity.

This Emprex camera you are using charges from the USB connection. It could be this charging operation that is causing the problem. Not all G4 Macs had USB 2.0 ports on them and and that is likely going to be the requirement of this camera. Not that this camera needs the extra speed but a USB 2.0 port provides more power than the older USB 1.1 port. A good test would be to fully charge this camera from another computer that has USB 2.0, or a well powered USB port, and then check to see whether it properly mounts on the Apple Mac.

The other option would be to try removing the SD memory card from the camera and use a universal card reader to transfer the photos over to the Mac.

Hope this helps
Jacob

You have many monitor options that will work with a Mac G5 Tower. The best kind of display to look at would be a DVI based LCD monitor. Almost any of these 20″ displays will work well with your G5 and many are priced to fit a tight budget. The Apple displays are certainly nice but not everyone needs that exact quality of display.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

In this case you have done much of the troubleshooting I would have suggested. I would not rule out the RAM as a cause though, and it would not be a “bad RAM” issue but a problem with the slot or amount of RAM. Your model Macbook Pro only supports 3GB of RAM although it will see all 4GB installed. Try running with a single stick of Apple original RAM installed. When you get a failure, move the stick to another slot. If it fails then repeat with another RAM stick, each time running in just one slot.

Also I assume that with the “re-installed OS 10.5.5″ you did an Archive and Install. If you did not, that full Archive and Install Process can work better than a Combo Update reinstall. I would also suggest that you run the Apple Hardware Test off the install DVD. You restart your system holding down the [D] key with the install disk in the drive.

Hope that helps, some.

Jacob

The iMic is a very decent solution to broken internal audio ports on your Mac computer. The only issue is that the internal headphone jack may have an intermittent short in it that signals your Mac that you have earphones connected. The Mac was engineered so that headphones would override all other audio settings. It is possible that the tip of a 1/8th inch plug is stuck in the headphone jack. Use a flashlight to look inside that port and compare it to the mic port and see if you can identify any foreign material stuck in the port. If you find something, use a paper clip to try and remove it.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

There was only one Repair Extension program for the G5 iMac that I know of and that covered the logic board and power supply. That program is over now but it would not have required the replacement of the LCD. You may be able to convince Apple that this is an unacceptable product lifespan for your iMac and would like them to consider other options, I just do not know how successful that will be. If the LCD work was done by an Apple Authorized service center you should have enough justification to a least start a conversation with Apple Support.

Sorry to hear about your problems and I hope it works out for you.
Jacob

Well my friend, you are not alone in desiring a Jacobimize feature in OS X. The problem is that Apple does not share that opinion and does not even include it as part of its Human Interface Guidelines. OS X has a Zoom button that has many different functions based on the application. It is the little [+] button on top of most windows (Depending on your preferences, it may be Green). This is often used as a toggle between the default window size and the User specified window size. Full screen is only possible if the Application programmers decided to include it. This is one of the reasons I use WriteRoom for composition of long form text.

All the solutions that others have engineered to Jacobimize windows will work most of the time, but not universally as you have found. Unless Apple changes the way the Apple computers Mac OS functions you will have to make do with the lack of a true universal Jacobimize feature. There is hope from an unlikely place though. If the iPhone can be any indication on the direction Apple is taking the OS interface, we may soon see a desktop OS without windows. Just buttons and a navigation dock.

Sorry I do not have better news for you,
Jacob

In most cases holding down the power button for a continued time will force your Apple Mac to shutdown. It is not good to do often, but this procedure is intended to be an emergency off option. If that fails to work, then your only other option would be to remove the battery and power cord and repeat the power off option of holding down the power-button until the sleep light on the front stops glowing. Because the power button is in the upper right hand corner and it is not always certain that the button is fully depressed, try pinching the button down. Use your right thumb to press the button and have your right pointer finger underneath the laptop, directly below your right thumb. This way you will be able to maintain the button press and signal the shut down. After it is shut down you should follow the linked procedure for a PMU reset and then power-up the computer again.

Hopefully the PMU reset should prevent you from suffering through this problem again.

Jacob

Apple’s update to the iPod classic was “classic Apple” and left many people scratching their heads. It is hard to imagine that having fewer options is better for the consumer but that was the gist of this change. What really happened was that the under-performing iPod Classic 160GB was cut from the iPod lineup and the 80GB model got an upgrade to 120GB. You realize this when you consider size. With iPods there is size, “how much music can this hold” and then there is size, “how big is this thing.” The 80GB iPod Classic is the same physical dimensions as the 120GB iPod Classic, allowing it to use all the same accessories. Apple could have kept a 160GB Classic but was unable to make it hold more music via a larger hard drive. The capacity of the physically larger 160GB iPod was too close to the upgraded “smaller” in physical size iPod Classic. Considering the similarity in storage size, but the difference in accessories, Apple opted to just eliminate the confusion and drop the heftier iPod. Cleaner product offerings, but fewer options.

We also have to understand how the iPod Classic fits into Apple’s idea of the future. Apple design is moving towards touching and not scrolling: big glass screens like the iPod touch and not little plastic shields over smaller LCDs. If only the Classic iPod did not sell so well Apple could just kill it altogether but we silly consumers just love the things. So I recommend ignoring Apple and their minimalist direction and get the iPod that fits you, and that sounds like the 160GB iPod classic. Get ‘em while they last.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

The processor speeds are not going to impact your graphics performance like the MacBook’s integrated GeForce 9400M video chipset will. This is a substantial improvement over the previous generation MacBook’s video capabilities but may fall short of the 3D rendering power most games demand. If you are at all interested in the previous generation of MacBook Pro, then you should look at this 2.4GHz MacBook Pro for $1,599.

This may not have the sexy and rugged design of the new Unibody Mac laptops, but this is at its heart the power you need for gaming and graphic design. If though, you are after the latest and greatest then the 2.4GHz Unibody MacBook is in your budget.

Use your money to buy the best processor-equipped laptop now, and upgrade the hard drive and RAM later. You can always upgrade those things later but it is almost impossible to upgrade a processor in a MacBook after you get it home.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

You most certainly can share Word documents between PC and Mac versions of the program. The interface looks different but the document types are cross compatible.

Jacob

This is a good time to buy a used Black MacBook because they have recently been discontinued. That means that they are cheaper than a new Aluminum Unibody MacBook, but still are fast and can be bought with an Apple warranty.

A Black MacBook would “make” any teenager’s Christmas. They can come “fully loaded” with 2 GB RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. If a fully loaded model is over the collective budget of the family there may be some other pre-owned options that you can look at. You may also find a few open-box Black MacBooks in our special value Mac section. I would also suggest you call our PowerMax sales team to find the best deal on possible incoming trades.

Focus on an Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook with at least 1 GB of RAM. Make sure you tell them that you need a Black MacBook, as that immediately limits the search to a small selection of computers.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

The Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger upgrade path is a decent way to go when upgrading your 10.3 Mac computer. I personally will want a full retail disk around so that I can Archive and Install, without downgrading and then updating again, but it is not essential. Save your money and get a Upgrade OS X CD set, instead of a full version. PowerMax used to sell those but we have long since run out (probably due to our significantly lower prices, compared to what you are listing).

Hope that helps,
Jacob

You can absolutely use your old keyboard with your new Apple iMac. Some people even use the extra-compact G3 iMac keyboards with newer Apple computers, just for the convenience of the smaller size while retaining a 10-key. I understand the value of a good keyboard, though I have the opposite preference. I have replaced all my keyboards with the Aluminum Apple Keyboards because I type more accurately with the added key spacing. It is all about what works for the individual, so keep using the white Apple keyboard.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

There are some third party insurance services for computers but the best method of protection comes from your Home Owners or Renters insurance. If you contact your insurance provider, they can talk to you about adding a Computer Rider to your policy. It often has very little additional cost and you can specify an appropriate deductible.

I hope this helps, sorry to hear about the accident.
Jacob

You may have a received a corrupt download because the disk image is not complete, and therefore not mountable on the Desktop. Also you may have an issue installing Firefox 3 on your system, as it requires OS X 10.4 Tiger or newer. You should download Firefox 2 instead.

Thunderbird 2 should run fine on your system though. Make sure you are downloading each separately as the combo installer will not work with your system. It comes with Firefox 3.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

Welcome to the Mac community, we are happy to have you. The 24″ Aluminum iMac that you are looking at is a good choice and should last you many years. I share a similar model with my wife in our home office and it is a great central family computer.

I love the “The Missing Manual” series from Pogue/O’Reilly press and think it would be a good series for you to read. Start with “Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual – Leopard Edition.” Then after you become comfortable with the differences between Mac and Windows, you can move on to “Mac OSX Leopard: The Missing Manual.”

If you are interested in reading some online sources, you can try this switchers site that has some basic info to get you started: www.switchtoamac.com.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Apple iMac. The best way to recover data from a Mac computer that will not power up is to remove the hard drive. You can then put the drive in an external drive enclosure or use a universal USB to drive adapter cable.

Then just connect the drive to your working Mac and collect the files you need from it. Below is a link to a G3 iMac upgrade article that should help you remove your hard drive. Just follow the instructions for upgrading the hard drive up to the point of removing the old one.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

The Mac OS has a well-developed group of Accessibility Features that can assist people of differing ability. They are a core component of the operating system and can be enabled from the System Preferences. The section to make the accessibility changes in is Universal Access. You will be most interested in the options under the Keyboard tab. Just as with Windows there is a feature called “Stick Keys” that will let you press a series modifier keys one at a time to activate the key combination.

The trackpad will respond to any skin contact point so you should have many control options with the MacBook Pro.

I hope this helps let me know how it works out for you.
Jacob

There could be a few things potentially at the root of this problem but my first guess is that it is a RAM issue. A bad RAM chip would only trigger a crash when the system tries to write and read form that damaged part of the RAM stick. Depending on how many applications you open and what you are doing, your RAM will become fully occupied at different times. That is why it unpredictably locks up on you. If your eMac has two RAM sticks installed, I would recommend that you try to remove one and see if it still locks up. If it does, then put the pulled stick back in and then remove the other stick. Each time only starting up the Apple computer with one RAM stick Installed. Here is a link to the RAM removal and installation Procedures.

If you only have one RAM stick in the eMac, Start by removing that stick and then move it to the other, unused, slot. Start up the computer and see how it behaves. If the problem is still occurring then consider purchasing a new RAM stick. Even if it turns out to be a non- RAM related issue, you will still benefit from an extra stick of RAM installed.

If after all this you have eliminated the RAM as the culprit, I would next suggest that you look at doing an Archive and Install of the Mac OS from the Discs that came with your computer or the most recent Retail Install CDs you have.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

Buzzing in digital audio speakers can be due to all sorts or radio interference. The most common source is from a cell phone or cordless phone. Even when you are not talking on them, these devices emit radio waves that will be audible on powered speakers. It is more likely that interference has recently developed in your neighborhood than the port failing on your G4. However you can check that simply by connecting the speakers to another device. An iPod or portable CD player would work well. The important part of the test is to leave the speakers where they are and just change input sources. If the speakers sound fine on another device, and it is just a computer issue, then you can get a USB audio adapter to replace the internal sound system on the Mac. Many people use the Griffin iMic for a simple solution:

If the static does end up occurring on both the Apple computer and portable audio device you used to test with, then you need to eliminate possible causes of that buzz. To troubleshoot, try plugging in the speakers to another power source, in another room. If the move fixes it then you should be able to move it back to its former positions, in small step until you locate the source of the buzz.

Hope that helps get you moving in the right direction,
Jacob

The answer is a yes and no answer. The eMac does support an external display via an Apple Mini-VGA to VGA adapter.

The Apple driver only lets you mirror what is displayed on the built-in screen of the eMac, you will not be able to extend your desktop as most would want to do. That being said, a clever fellow created an application that will allow you to unlock the Extended Desktop mode in some iMac, eMacs, and iBooks.

But check the list of supported Apple machines before you install and remember this is unsupported by anyone, especially Apple.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

Locking and unlocking a file is done from the info Get Info window. To get there, right-click or [control] click on the file and select “Get Info” from the popup menu. In the General section of the Get Info window are two checkboxes. Check or uncheck the “Locked” checkbox to change the locked status of the file on your Apple computer.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

In my experience that is probably a dead or low voltage PRAM battery issue. You
can test the battery on a Volt Meter to see if it is putting out 3.6 volts, if not you should replace it. If you replace the PowerPC PRAM battery on the logic board with a new one, I bet it will return to normal operation.

After replacing the Apple computers battery you should also reset the PMU on your Power Mac to make sure no corrupt settings are saved from your failed PRAM battery.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Modern Apple computers do not come with built-in modems these days. This has a lot to do with the availability of broadband throughout the country. Most people are not using dial-up anymore so putting a modem in every Mac just adds needless expense to the majority of the Mac users. Modems are still available but as USB dongles that are purchased separately.

We still list the modem as not installed because some of our older systems will include internal modems and a few of our customers are looking for that feature.

Hope that clears things up,
Jacob

As with most annoying things in the computer world, this is a feature and not a glitch. This was added to mail so that people could proofread what they were sending on their Apple computers. You can change the display option of your attachment by Right clicking or [control] clicking on the attachment and selecting “View as Icon” from the popup menu. To change it from displaying an icon, to displaying the image or PDF in the body of the email, Right click on it and select “View in Place.”

Hope that helps,
Jacob

To change the “Start Page” in Safari you will need to go the “Preferences…” under the Safari menu. In preferences select the General tab on the top bar of the Apple Mac window. You can then type your preferred start page address in the in the address box to the right of “Home Page:” If you were already on the web page you want to see on starting Safari, then you just need to click on the Set to Current Page button under the Home Page address box.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

SuperDocker does not actually replace the Dock application itself but instead contains some scripts that replace visual elements and edits the preference file for the dock. The easiest way to restore your Apple computer dock to normal is with the SuperDocker application. At the bottom right side of the SuperDocker Application window, is a “Restore Dock Settings.” Clicking this will get your Dock back to the way it looks when you first logged into OS X. All your Added items will remain the same but if you had it on the right or left hand sides of your screen, then you will have to use the Dock System Preferences to restore that position.

After that you can trash the SuperDocker application again.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

In many cases restarting Apple iPods will fix this issue. Do this by toggling the Hold switch on and off. Then press and hold the Menu and Center (Select) buttons simultaneously until the screen flickers and the Apple logo appears. Assuming you have tried that and now need more help you will need to go to the computer. As a general fix all for an iPod you should try a complete Factory restore. This will wipe all the music off of the iPod and then take it back to its original conditions. You can then copy all your songs from iTunes back to the iPod.

Here is a link to Apple instructions on restoring your iPod.

If this fails to revive your iPod you will need to take it in for service or contact Apple for mail-in repair options.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

The problem with the dimming screen could be caused by a few “features” of the Apple laptop design. The first possible cause would be the brightness keys being inadvertently pressed. On all the G4 PowerBooks and later laptops, Apple has included brightness keys as a sub-feature of the F1-F12 keys The icons for raising the brightness is a big sun image and to lower the brightness is a key with a little sun image. The function keys that these are associated with the icons vary from model to model. Depending on the settings your apple computer has, you may need to hold down the Function shift key [FN] to activate the special function of those Brightness keys. It is possible that when hitting a nearby key your finger is also connecting with the brightness keys. I reverse the special function of those keys In the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences to avoid those kind of accidental changes.

The second possibility you have already ruled out but it is often the problem for other users. For others the dimming could be due to Ambient Light sensors. Many newer Apple computers with built-in displays have sensors in them that detect when the room is dark. The computer can then dim the screen when the lights are lowered, so that the user’s eyes are not blinded by the screen. You can turn off this feature in the Display System Preferences. This feature is set by a checkbox, labeled “Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes.”

The third culprit affects desktop Macs more than Apple laptops. Desktop Macs have a small battery to retain sound and brightness settings, among other things. A failing battery in a desktop could cause these settings to reset to defaults, perhaps a failing battery in you laptop or other power system problem could cause a similar effect. Try resetting the PMU and PRAM via these instructions and see if your settings are retained after restart. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

The issue with Apple Mail changing column listings is a bit trickier. I have personally experienced this problem but not as frequently as you have. It has yet to occur in OS X 10.5 Mail. This seems to be an issue with the 10.4 Apple Mail plist file, and the way it writes those column changes during operation. To my knowledge there is not a fix, other than moving to 10.5, but you can always try some general disk maintenance, like repair disk permissions, to see if that fixes it.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

In my experience, most Mac antivirus programs cause more problems than they prevent. Removing your recent installation of Symantec would be a good first step in troubleshooting this problem. You may also have to do an Archive and Install of the Mac OS after you remove Symantec Antivirus. If the problem continues after you do these two repairs, then I would next look at your PRAM battery. A low voltage PRAM battery will cause many sleep and waking issues. Also you could notice other problems starting up but that is not always a symptom.

In some rare instances, a Power Mac G5 can have problems with SATA drives. I have seen some Seagate drives cause booting and other issues in G5s. These drives were of the Barracuda 7200.10 family. This has not been a problem for many years but it is worth a look if all else fails to solve your problem.

I honestly recommend running a Mac without any Antivirus software. Most times placing a Mac behind a NAT Router is sufficient to protect you from attack. It is a good idea to have a router in between your ISP’s modem and your computer, even if you are the only user of the connection. A NAT Router will take one public IP address and translate that into another internal group of secret IP addresses. This translation makes it very difficult for malicious people to see your computer on the internet and that makes you more safe than having protective software on your system.

You may consider having Antivirus Software installed in your Windows XP virtual machine to protect it from attack but as long as you only use it for a select group of websites you trust and non-networked software, it will probably be safe.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

There are a few plist files that you can try deleting to remove that failed Burn from your sidebar. From your User account’s Home folder look in the /Library/Preferences/ folder for com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.sidebarlists.plist. Move both files to the trash and then restart your Apple computer. If that fails to work, you should boot up off your OS Install DVD and open Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Select your hard drive and then use the Disk permissions repair function of the First Aid Tab.

The best solution for Apple computers that can’t use an internal modem, like your Intel iMac, is to use the Apple V.92 Data/Fax USB Modem.

The only requirement is that you have Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, and a free USB port. As the name implies, this will work for faxing as well as Dial-up internet access.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

Only the new Unibody MacBooks have had a FireWire port omitted from the design. The new MacBook Pros have a FireWire 800 port that supports FireWire 400 via an adapter. The MacBook Pro can be booted into Target Disk Mode, just as with previous models. However, the MacBook’s lack of FireWire signals a shift in how Apple expects Macs to migrate, post-Leopard. Time Machine is the new migration and backup tool of choice. Fresh Leopard installs let you restore from a Time Machine backup, regardless of what system that backup was created from. So assuming you have a system that you have been backing up with Time Machine, you just connect your new Mac to the USB Time Machine drive, migrate, and you are running again.

Another consideration is that most modern Macs have Gigabit Ethernet. Two Macs connected via a Gigabit network can transfer data faster than two Macs connected via FireWire 800. I think we will start to see more Ethernet-based solutions from Apple as Gigabit becomes the modern standard.

There are a few technical reasons why you would want to install and then Migrate 10.5, apposed to just cloning, but you can still use the cloning method. All Intel Macs support USB 2.0 booting so you can just start cloning to a USB hard drive instead of a FireWire one. It should be procedurally the same.

Both new and used Mac minis supports two video connection types called DVI and VGA. VGA uses a D-sub 15 pin connection, so your old PC monitor should work fine. The Mac Mini has a DVI port on the back of the unit but it will allow your VGA monitor to connect to it via a DVI to VGA adapter. New Mac Minis come with that adapter but not all used systems ship with adapters. If you find that your Mac Mini came without an adapter, then you will need this DVI to VGA adapter.

It is best to use Mac-specific PCI hard drive controllers, although some generic PC cards will work. These days I recommend that you but a PCI SATA controller card for drive expansion. Not only are these available with Mac support, but your investment in hard drives will be transferable to your future Apple computers. I am fond of Sonnet Tech adapter cards for older Macs and I think this SATA card would work well for you.

When ordering a hard drive for this configuration, make sure it has both Legacy and Serial ATA power. Otherwise consider getting the Sonnet Serial ATA Cable Kit.

Low End Mac has a great G4 Power Mac Upgrade Guide with loads of information specs relating to G4 Power Mac Upgrades.

Any time you want to print a picture of exactly what you see on screen you should take a screen shot first. Use the Grab application in the Utilities folder. From the Capture menu select “Window.” You will then have the option to get the Web browser window to look just as you want it to when printed. Then go back to the Grab application and click on the Choose Window button. The pointer will turn into a camera and the next window you click on will be captured as an image. You can print that image and also save it in digital form.

You can also use Apple (Command) Key + Shift+3, which will allow you to capture the entire screen.

Apple (Command) Key + Shift+4 gives you a cross hair with which you can capture a select portion of your screen by dragging the cross hair over the image you’re interested in capturing.

To switch windows while in capture mode press the spacebar.

The “Trash” is a terrible place to keep any important files, but I assume you know this and it was an accident. Also, this would be a perfect rescue job for Time Machine coupled with an Apple Time Capsule. If you had been using Leopard’s Time Machine you could have gone back in time to when the data was not in the trash and then recovered just those files to your current system. If you are desperate to undelete, then you will need a program like Data Rescue.

With this software you can reboot your system off the CD and then use the undelete scan function to recover as much data as possible from the drive. The main thing is stop using your Apple computer. Every file you get, including this email, could be overwriting your deleted files. Even leaving your computer on could allow those files to be overwritten by system temp files.

That G4 iMac should be able to take any PATA (AKA ATA or IDE) hard drive even this 750GB Seagate hard drive.

Here is a take apart for that G4 iMac.

Consider also replacing the optical drive with a newer MCE Internal Super drive, if you have it taken apart it is a natural upgrade in addition to the hard drive.

Data protection is essential to everyone, not just professionals, but as a professional videographer your data is your money. Mean time between failures (MTBF) is a poor choice for considering data protection. It’s far better to assume a drive will fail at any time, and put yourself in the position that drive loss will not hurt you. We lose drives from our XServe RAIDs here, from time to time, but powermax.com stays up and running as we cycle a new drive in its place. There are many ways to configure a system to have protection.

The simplest date protection setup is to have two drives in a RAID 1 configuration. Essentially you have two identical drives in your Mac Pro getting duplicate information. Disk Utility in your Utilities folder will let you partition two drives together in RAID 1, after that initial setup they will stay in sync until one fails. Any drive will work for this purpose, you just want to use identical drives when creating the RAID.

The costlier and more complicated way would be to use an external RAID 5. This would let you have a portable and secure “Data Piggy Bank” for your video files and projects.

Check out the great LaCie 4big RAID backup and be sure to consult with one of our sales people for the best fitting RAID.

I believe this is a preference setting for Finder. It is often overlooked, but the “Finder” is an application running on your Apple Computer. The Finder application is brought to the active foreground when you click on the Desktop or the Finder icon on the Dock. Although it is an integral part of the Operating System, it is still just an application and therefore has its own preferences. The System Preferences under the Apple Menu are specific to the computer in general, the Finder preferences are found under the “Finder” menu. Under the General tab, there are four checkboxes in the “Show these items on the Desktop:” section. I would recommend marking all four checkboxes. Take a look around at the other settings in there; I think you will be surprised at all the options.

Yes the iPod nano has a wonderful screen that will give you many ways to interact visually with your music. The iPod Shuffle is an anomaly in the iPod family. It is the only iPod introduced that had less features than the original iPod. The ability to scroll, and now flip, through your music and video collections is one of the trademark advantages of an iPod over other MP3 players. The Shuffle is Apple’s low-cost alternative to the iPod, or as a second iPod for strenuous activities.

The Nano is a great choice, we have a few in my house, but an older generation used iPod will also work for you, as long as they are not Shuffles.

You should have no fear about plugging that monitor into Apple computers, except the fear it may fall over. A well-placed, heavy lamp can hold the display upright when the rear foot is missing. This is a common failure of the clear plastic Apple LCD display. That is not to say that it happened all the time, but the displays are so solid everywhere else that the foot became the only weak point in the display. Many displays have suffered the same fate as yours and have gone on with productive lives. Images on the display will still look just as good as they did before, after you get it in the proper position, and stable.

There are relatively few choices for upgrading your video card on a first generation used Mac Pro but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a great card. The NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT is a spectacular upgrade card and quite the improvement over the 7300 GT card. There is also the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT card, but users complain of noise and relatively low performance on high-end applications compared to the 8800GT card.

WPA is the best security to use for your mixed Wireless network because it will often work identically for both Apple Computers and Windows PCs. There are some options in setting up the wireless router that may not work well with your Mac. One of the primary issues stems from “Speed Boosting” technology promoted by some routers. These feature will work well if you use the same manufacturer for a wireless router and a computers wireless network card. Matching card and router works with “Speed Boosting” because both understand each other, but that feature doesn’t adhere to industry standards for wireless communication. With Mac computers, they have built-in wireless cards that expect standard wireless communication and the Airport card fails to understand the “Speed Boosting” communication from the router. Make sure that any boosting technology is turned off on your router.

It is also important that you have a modern version of the Mac OS to connect to the WPA network. Use Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher if you can. There are several WPA configuration options that may also be causing problems. On your router you will want to select Pre-Shared Key w/TKIP, or something similar, to connect your Mac via WPA/WPA2 Personal option.

I would agree that it sounds like a USB problem. There are several things to try to resolve the problem. The first would be to see if there are updated USB drivers for your laptop. Most PC manufacturers will have Support section containing a list of drivers for your particular computer, and any available updates. This is separate from the Windows Update mechanism, so you should probably start there because I would bet there is at least one update you will need. After you have the drives updated, then see if the iPods are working again. If not, the next step is to uninstall iTunes completely and then reinstall. This is a common fix for Windows versions of iTunes with iPod connection issues.

If all the above fails you should look at the USB port. It could be that there is an intermittent short in the USB port. You can try a different plug or get a USB 2.0 expansion card for your laptop. Depending on what options your laptop came with, you could use PCMCIA (AKA a PC Card) or an Express Card to USB 2.0 adapter. This may provide a more stable connection to the iPod than the built-in USB port.

Some late-model, used PowerBooks have FireWire on them and those units could be booted into Target Disk Mode (TDM). You do this by holding down the [T] key on startup of the PowerBook. Then you can connect your two Apple computers together with a FireWire cable. The PowerBook’s hard drive should appear on the Desktop of your iMac. You then can use Disk Utility to repair the drive. Also, make sure that your PowerBook drive is not full; it sounds as if you may have a full hard drive and that may be causing your boot-up issues.

If you do not have FireWire or the above does not work, you can try booting up your Apple computer with the [Shift] Key held down. This will boot OS 9 in a limited mode that should help you diagnose the problem. There is a good chance it will also fail, but holding down the [Shift] key turns off extensions and those can often be a cause of a failed OS 9 boot. If that works then you need to sort through your extensions folder to find the culprit.

If everything above fails, then you will need to find a retail copy of OS 9 to boot up the computer and repair or replace the installed OS on the drive. It would probably be best to backup the data off the PowerBook and erase the drive. Then you can reinstall a clean copy of the Mac OS.

If you are using Lotus Notes 6 or newer, then you can export those files as vCards. The Export option should be under the File menu. Once you have the vCards you just need to transfer them over to the Mac and select Import vCard from the File menu of the Mac Address Book application. Address Book will also import from a text file if that is your only export option within Lotus Notes. That option is in the same pop-out menu as the vCard import.

It is certainly possible for Safari, or its preferences, to become corrupted over time. The first bit of troubleshooting would be to trash the preference files for Safari. The file is located at:
Macintosh HD/Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist. Quit Safari and drag the preference file to the trash. Then open Safari and see if you still get the spinning beach ball. If you are still having issues, try downloading a new copy of Safari.

If you are still getting issues after reinstalling Safari, you can try another browser, FireFox is a good second browser.

If the problem occurs in FireFox as well, then it is probably a network configuration error on your system. That will take some troubleshooting with your ISP and router. If the problem does not occur in FireFox, you may want to consider an Archive and Install of the Mac OS to replace the failing components of the Operating System that Safari relies on.

Target Disk Mode should work for this process and you only need one 6 Pin FireWire cable. From “Big Red” you will want to download Carbon Copy Cloner 2.3 and install it.

Then boot up one of the other iMacs in Target Disk Mode by holding down the [T] key during startup. Let go of the key after you see a FireWire symbol on the screen and connect the TDM computer to “Big Red” via the FireWire cable. The hard drive of the TDM iMac will appear on Big Red’s Desktop. Format the drive as you want it to look with Disk Utility. Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy both the OS X and OS 9 volumes from Big Red to the other iMac’s partitions.

When done, eject the TDM iMac’s drives and restart it. It should boot up exactly as Big Red would and if it does, repeat the process on all the other iMacs you want to look like Big Red.

The 15″ vs. 17″ MacBook Pro debate is an interesting one and it is similar to the SUV Vs. sedan debate. In each case it boils down to space verses mobility. Just like the automotive analogy, both laptops can go the same places but the bigger units are harder to maneuver in tight spaces. It takes more energy to move the 17″ around and operate it than the 15″ MacBook Pro. The main advantage to the 17″ MacBook Pro was the screen size, until recently. Now it has screen size and the availability of an Antiglare (AKA matte) screen.

If you want the larger screen real estate, and do not care about hauling around a few extra pounds and inches of computer, the 17″ MacBook is a good choice. If you want a new MacBook Pro with an Antiglare screen, then the 17″ is your only choice.

I have a 15″ system at work and at home, my lap is just not big enough for the 17″ Mac laptops. For my money I think the Unibody MacBook Pro is better than all previous models of MacBook.

The cheapest fix is to get a USB Ethernet adapter and use that for your network connection.

This Belkin Gigabit network adapter is for people with USB 2.0 and 10/100 USB 1.1 computers.

Drivers for OS 10.2 and up are found at the Belkin gigabit USB product support page.

The LCII came with a 40MB or 80MB hard drive and many of those older drives just do not hold up well over time. Fifteen years is a long time to keep spinning the same steel platter. You could be lucky and just need to reinstall the Mac OS. It will take Mac OS 7.0.1 to 7.5.5 and you can find system updates for that computer at Apple’s Older Software Downloads page.

If you do not have a copy of the Mac OS for your system, you can download system 7.5.3 from Apple’s Index Of Older Systems and put them on Floppy disks. Here are some good instructions on making boot floppies from OS X.

Hope this helps, If the drive is dead you will have some issues finding a suitable replacement, but it can be done.

I like Leopard for many geeky reasons. It makes it easier to manage my teenager’s computer through Parental Controls. The Leopard Time Machine backup is great data insurance, which gives me peace of mind. The ease of screen sharing makes having a house of Mac computers work cooperatively.

That being said, it is not essential to your overall productivity. It will not change your speed or quality of work, nor will it revolutionize your computer experience. If you want to upgrade, I would recommend doing all your systems together. If you are updating many computers, the Family pack is the best way to go. Apple has its users on the honor system, so you can install the same copy of the single user OS on every Mac you own. However, the OS X Leopard Family Pack is not much more money than the single user version, so it is easy to “do the right thing” when it comes to software licensing.

You can absolutely get that G3 iMac online. Once you get the connection taken care of, setup is easy and documented in the users guide. The easiest way to get physically online is via the Ethernet port. That is the larger of the two “phone jacks” you saw on the side of the Mac. The smaller one is the modem and the larger one can connect directly to your router via an Ethernet cable.

If you want to go wireless with Apple branded equipment then you need two parts. You need the original G3 Airport Card and a G3 iMac adapter card called an InterPoser.

If you are running Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, you can use a USB Wireless adapter.

I recommend Elgato equipment and specifically the EyeTV 250 Plus tuner.

This will handle all the unencrypted Digital signals coming from your Cable company. It will not work with all channels however, as some channels are encrypted by your cable company to protect the content. This tuner will also work with the analog signals on your cable system as long as they continue to provide analog signals.

I bought my oldest daughter an iPod when she was 10 years old, and by her account I was a little bit late in doing so. I think 1GB would be OK for some children as it holds about 240 songs. If your child owns much more music than that, a larger iPod would probably be a good investment. I think 4 GBs is a great size for music use because 1000 songs offers more than enough choice of music in one day.

Be careful about buying the clip-on iPod Shuffle for kids. It is so small that it will often stay clipped to the clothing and go through the wash. Also, sending a kid to school with an iPod can make them a target for theft. Consider buying non-Apple headphones so it is not obvious as to what they have.

The New 13 Inch MacBook

You will need to use a program called Keychain Access to do this and it is found on your Mac computer hard drive in the Utilities folder that is contained in the Applications folder. When you open that application, use the Search box in the upper right hand corner to search for “mail” and all your stored passwords for mail accounts should be shown.

What you do next depends on the problem you are having.

If you are trying to check mail but Mail is always sending the wrong password you can just delete the password item in Keychain Access by highlighting the item and pressing the [delete] key. Now Mail will ask you to reenter your password and you can then enter the correct one.

If you want to look at a saved password Keychain is using, you just need to double click on the password item. Then mark the checkbox for “Show password:”, enter your computer’s login password, and then click the “Allow” button. You will then have the ability to see your password and edit it. After you like your edits you can click the Save Changes button.

Adobe CS3 Box

Running Adobe CS on a G4 400 is a “could / should” question. You “could” run CS 3 on a G4 400 MHz computer with over 512 MB of RAM but you probably “should” not. According to the minimum required hardware specifications all you need is a 512 RAM, the latest version of 10.4 Tiger and enough hard drive space to install everything. Those three things plus a G4, G5 or Intel processor will be enough to let you install the CS suite of software. However, being that low on the requirement scale, CS applications would probably open on your Mac computer but soon after that everything would slow to molasses speed.

If you need to start using CS 3 applications, it would save you a ton of time and headache to get a newer system. Something in the GHz processor range, not the MHz range.

The White MacBook

You can replace the MacBook’s drive yourself but it would be better to have an Apple Authorized Service center do it for you. The replacement part will likely cost you $200 to $300 but should only take a half of an hour to replace it. Using a Service center will also give the tech a chance to see if the drop did more damage than just the Optical Drive.

If price is overly concerning to you, Searching Google by the drive model number will bring up some budget options. You can also go with an external USB Super drive until you want to fully replace the drive you have. Eventually there could be a Blu-Ray drive upgrade for your MacBook. That way you will get more for your upgrade dollars.

The alternating “?” and Folder Icon indicates that your computer cannot find a bootable Operating system. Not all B&W G3 towers could handle bigger drives, so that may be what is causing the problem. The Rev A G3 Logic board couldn’t handle large drives but the Rev B logic boards can take up to 120 GB drives. Look for the Apple copyright information printed on the logic board and below it will be a string of characters in one of the following two configurations XXX-09XX-A or XXX-10XX-A. The “X” is used in place of unimportant information. 09 indicates that it is a rev A logic board and the 10 means that it is a rev B.

If you have a Rev B Blue and White G3 logic board, then you need to make sure that the drive is set to Master and is the only drive in the computer. It may also be that a more advanced version of the Mac OS is on the drive than what the G3 can handle. You should also download any G3 Firmware updates needed to run OS X.

Macally Storage Cabinet

If you have a Beige G3, and not a Blue & White one, then you are running into the 7 GB boot volume limit. OS X has to be installed on a partition of less than 7.4 GB and that partition must also be on the Master drive on the IDE cable.

Your best option would be to reformat the drive and then reinstall a copy of the Mac OS. To move over your old data you will need to put that 6 GB drive into an external enclosure, like this Macally Storage Cabinet, and use Firewire to bring it over to the B&W G3 or put the 6 GB drive into the Beige G3 as a second drive to copy over the data.