The Only Monthly Mac Blog That Matters…

Category: Uncategorized

Keeping Your Internal Hard Drive Lean & Clean

A message that requires action ASAP!

Funny thing, but digging through the archives, I found that I covered this very subject in the first blog post of 2016! But seeing that I’ve gotten three calls about the dreaded full hard drive warning in the past two weeks, I figure it’s a good time to revisit it. Besides maintaining a backup of your data as well as practicing good hard drive hygiene is one of the most important things I stress.

The implications of having a full hard drive are serious: There is a risk of crashing (and losing valuable data), which should be enough of a deterrent. Also, there’s sluggishness which is often accompanied by decreased functionality. Ignoring the problem by disabling the warning isn’t an option either. The problem of a nearly full drive can be easily solved by knowing exactly what data you can live without on your computer (or at least offload to an external device).

So what exactly takes up the most space?

Music, movies, photos and large graphic art files are the biggest culprits. Photo and music libraries of 100GB (or more) are extremely common. But unless these things are offloaded onto an external drive, they are what they are. Having them reside on an external drive isn’t a bad idea in theory, but a couple of things need be heeded.

For one, you must understand that the external drive must be connected if you want to access the files on it. Not a problem (for the most part) if you’re using a desktop Mac; if you’re a laptop user, then there’s that pesky little step of connecting the drive (and toting with you if you need to access them elsewhere). Not that convenient. Plus, you need to remember to back it up to your normal backup process. Which would mean connecting it to a computer. Life would stink if you lost your only copy of your music or (especially) your pictures.

But there ARE some ways to reduce the number of gigabytes clogging up your hard drive. These include deleting:

  • Files in the trash. Start by pulling down the FINDER menu and selecting EMPTY TRASH.
  • The contents of your DOWNLOADS folder. Many of these files, including space-hogging .dmg files can usually be trashed.
  • Your iPhoto Library, but only AFTER you’ve upgraded to Photos.
  • Any rebuilt Entourage or Outlook user files, which are found in HOME>DOCUMENTS>MICROSOFT USER DATA.
  • Backed up iOS devices (iPhones and iPads). These backups are found in the (hidden) LIBRARY folder. In Finder, pull down on the GO menu (while holding down the OPTION key) and selecting LIBRARY. The folder, called MOBILE SYNC is found inside of the APPLICATION SUPPORT folder.

But – run your back up process BEFORE trashing any files!

Continue Reading

Looking To Save A Few Bucks? (And Who Isn’t??!?)

refurb

Same warranty as a new Apple product!

One thing that Apple is never shy about; preventing prices from getting too low for its products. Today’s prices are never going to go down – you’re simply going to get a better computer for the same money. And forget about shopping around – Apple controls its pricing through its authorized dealers across the board with a heavy hand.

That’s not to say there aren’t ways to save a few bucks. And I’m not talking about buying used at estate sales, local tag sale groups (on Facebook, for example), eBay or craigslist. (I check the prices on these places, and there rarely seems to be any bargains there.) Besides, when buying from a stranger (either in person or online), you don’t know the history, problems, etc. with the computer or device you’re buying. There is no Carfax for electronic devices; unless you get some sort of money-back guarantee from the seller, you’ll probably be out of luck if things go sour and you want to make the deal null and void.

But don’t despair! There are a couple of options – one is through Apple itself, and its refurb store. The other involves third-party dealers – but it requires that you subscribe to sales emails from these companies. (Or check their sales pages when you’re looking to buy.)

refurb1

Where the refurb link is lurking – at the bottom of Apple.com.

First of all –  Apple’s “Refurbished” store. It’s a bit tough to find – the link is at the bottom of its homepage, almost an afterthought. Click on it and you’ll see a sampling of what’s available. The good news is that these computers and devices have the same Apple warranty as a new model. You can generally save $100 or more on this page; you can go to Apple’s homepage and look for it, or go straight to it here. But there are a couple of things you need to know.

For one, these deals are ONLY available online, so walking into the Apple Store isn’t going to help. And because of the mail-only limitations, it’s not going to work for a “need it today” type of situation. A little advance planning is required if you’re going this route. Check out this great article – The Top Six Places To Buy Refurbished Mac Laptops.

A second option is to subscribe to emails from some of the larger Apple dealers. These retailers often can discount recently discontinued models – giving around the same break as Apple and its refurbs. Of course, you must deal with a regular stream of email messages during the times you don’t plan on buying anything. Regardless, a couple of these are:

OWC
Mac Mall

 

Continue Reading

Another blog post, another Mac OS update.

enaglesirisierra

Do you really want to talk to your Mac?

In late September, Apple introduced Mac OS X.12, (Sierra) as a free upgrade, available (as usual) in the App Store. While there are some features that will have Apple fanboys and fangirls excited (Siri on the Mac, the ability to login to your computer via your Apple Watch), most of the action takes place behind the scenes. In other words, functional, but not all that exciting.

There have been a few small glitches with OS X.12. One is an incompatibility issue with Microsoft Office 2008. If you’re planning to upgrade to Sierra, then it’s time to move on from Office 2008, a software package that’s approaching its ninth birthday. Another is a strange pixilation of the print window in some programs (Adobe Acrobat, for example), but that appears to be only an aesthetic issue, not a functional one. And I’m reading of nightmares when mixing Sierra and QuickBooks, so if you’re a QB user, don’t even think of upgrading until you receive the “all clear.”

allfilesinicloud

Think before blindly syncing your files to the cloud!

But the biggest issue I have discovered with updating to Sierra is during the configuration process, post restart, after the software has been downloaded and installed. There is an option to enable Siri (see graphic above), but the next one that comes along – to move all your documents into iCloud Drive – is troubling. That’s because you potentially will be forced into upgrading (e.g. paying Apple for more storage capacity). Worse, your data will have been forcibly migrated into “your” iCloud Drive (which means it’s also stored on Apple’s servers somewhere out there).

iCloud Drive’s tagline is “All your files. On all your devices.” Which is fine and dandy – but that’s exactly what Google Drive, Dropbox and others do just as well. Doing something as rash as moving all your files out of their familiar homes and into the cloud is something you need to put a lot of thought into – not just go willy-nilly with the defaults of an OS update and hope for the best. Understanding exactly how iCloud Drive works and exactly why you would want to take such a large step with your valuable data are things best thought out beforehand.

It’s like deciding who to vote for after the curtain closes behind you in the voting booth. Not the best way to handle an important decision.

Continue Reading

Zen and the Art of Email Maintenance

email

Last month, while working at a client site, I was checking my email while waiting for something to install on the client’s Mac. I casually deleted a couple of unread messages – Groupon and Macy*s – without reading, and was asked “how can you delete an email without reading it?”

There’s an easy answer; the Groupon wasn’t interesting to me, plus I can easily go to its site to see ALL of the offers, and I wasn’t planning on shopping at Macy*s this week. So BOOM – off they go into my Deleted Items. I’ve seen too many people with 10,000+ UNREAD messages in their inboxes – bad news! Not only does a loaded email box make things run more slowly, it takes up valuable hard drive space and can cause the mail program to bonk, sometimes resulting in the loss of many of those messages.

All through my years of working in the industry, whether it’s in a corporate IT environment, a tech writing job or just freelance, I’ve gotten pretty slick at keeping my inbox empty, or at least at a manageable level. I’ve come up with a few easy-to-implement tricks to keep things from spiraling out of control. Yes, it does take some work on your part – but spending a couple of minutes a day keeping things tidy is preferable to paying a professional big bucks to reconstruct your email.

In no particular order, here is a six-pack of tips to avoid being a digital hoarder:

#1) Establish a second email address for retail subscriptions, as well as other mailing lists.

Adding a second (or third) email account to handle mailing lists is a stellar idea, particularly now that we’re all using iPads and iPods to get our mail. This serves two purposes – it keeps our “real” inboxes free of non-essential messages, and because most of these mails are timely, it’s easy to delete them in bulk. I can’t begin to tell you how many users still hold onto J. Crew messages announcing a sale that expires in October 2011.

#2) Unsubscribe from all mailing lists and newsletters that aren’t important to you. (Except mine!)

Just be honest – if you don’t read an email soon after you receive it, it’s probably irrelevant anyway. And question if it’s even pertinent to your situation – if you’re on the Hilton Properties list because you stayed at one of its hotels recently, does any news from them have any bearing on what you’re doing now?

#3) Configure your email client to “Quote The Text Of The Original Message”

Having all of the previous email messages referenced in the current correspondence is another way to keep your inbox pared down. That way you need to save only the most recent message to have access to the entire string. In 99.9% of situations this is fine; however, in cases that require lawyers, documentation and court dates, you should save EVERY message! (In a dedicated folder, as described below.)

#4) Create separate folders for completed tasks.

If you need to save archive old email messages, store them in newly created folders to help clear out your inbox. Not only does this help keep your inbox neat and clean, it also helps your overall organization. Create as many of these folders as you need; you can organize them by sender, project or date.

#5) Create a “Pending Issues” subfolder to store messages that require action on your part.

The “Pending Issues” folder isn’t simply a storage bin to bulk offload messages from your inbox – think of it as a “to do” list for your action items.

#6) Be at peace with the fact that you’re NEVER going to read those old emails.

Human nature is funny – there are some things in life that everybody believes they possess; personal style, a sense of humor, good driving skills and excellent taste in music. Add one more – the belief that they’re someday going to read those old emails. It’s not going to happen. And the sooner they come to that realization, the better off mankind will be.

Continue Reading

Keeping Current With Updates

calendar

It seems that we’re constantly being hammered with updates. And not just from Apple, but from Adobe, Mozilla and Microsoft, among others. Many others. I get a lot of calls from clients, citing concern about applying updates. In most cases, notifications for updates on the Mac platform are legitimate, but there are instances where scammers send out official-looking email notices that request that you update your software.

One thing is certain; you will want to verify that the update request is bona fide and not a scam. The best way to stay protected from a scam that is to instigate all updates yourself. So don’t count on an email to be legit – learn how to perform updates on your own and learn to ignore the fake requests, similar to the way you dismiss the bogus FedEx delivery notifications and Nigerian money transfer scams.

The bottom line: NEVER rely on an email notification (or phone call) to inform you of an update. In addition, performing an update indicated by a pop-up window on a Website is also a bad idea, but you have to be able to differentiate between a Web pop-up and a legitimate notification from Apple. What you SHOULD do is be proactive and take a few minutes from time to time to initiate all the updates on your computer yourself.

To see a list of the most common updates you should perform, visit my update resource page here.

Continue Reading

In The News: Heartbleed Bug

hb

This month, the Heartbleed bug is all over the news. In short, it’s a security flaw that leaves a large percentage of the world’s Internet servers susceptible to hackers. While in theory it doesn’t pose any risks with the data on your personal computer, it still is a major concern because it potentially leaves a large number of user names and passwords exposed to the bad guys.

While these user names and passwords might be on sites where a stolen identity may be on the “no harm no foul” side of the ledger (www.sobe.com, for example), these same user name/password combinations MAY be the same on sites (such as online banking) where you certainly don’t want any unauthorized access.

While companies out there in cyberspace are scrambling to get these security holes patched up, you can help yourself by changing your passwords to most (if not all) of the sites you visit. That can be a tedious process, and although there are apps that can help automate things, it’s best to do it only AFTER you’ve checked if the site has been upgraded to eliminate the security breach. A good resource to check if a site has been repaired its Qualys SSL Labs.

Another great resource for is an e-book titled “12 Quick Tips for Creating, Recording & Remembering Your Computer Names & Passwords” written by yours truly. It’s available from Amazon. You can read it on the iPad if you have the Kindle App installed. It’s also available from Apple’s iBooks Store. If you don’t already have it, you can download the iBooks app from Apple’s App Store for free.

 

Continue Reading

Apple Mail – Friend or Foe?

applemail-icon

Just when everything seems to be working well, you get the dreaded SMTP error and your outgoing email remains stuck in the Outbox. Yet you’re able to seamlessly receive email messages. So what’s the deal with that?

That’s because, for some reason (and Apple will never admit there is a problem with its software), its Mail program has trouble with outgoing mail. Yes, even though it worked fine an hour ago and you haven’t tinkered with the settings, you’ll still get an error message when attempting to send email. The message usually reads “Cannot send message using the service mail.optonline.net” or something similar.

Does this happen to you? And do you know what to do when you get this message? It seems it’s a flaw in Apple’s Mail program. Users with Optimum as their ISP (Internet Service Provider) tend to have this issue, but it’s not limited to Cablevision users; other email providers fall prey to this glitch.

I’ve found that the best way to quickly fix this issue is to delete the outgoing mail server and then reinstate it. This is accomplished by performing the following:

  • Launch Mail
  • Select PREFERENCES from under the MAIL menu in the upper left corner of the screen
  • Click ACCOUNTS icon on the top of the Preferences window
  • Highlight your mail account in the left-hand column
  • Pull down on the OUTGOING MAIL SERVER (SMTP) dropdown menu and select EDIT SMTP SERVER LIST…
  • Select the mail.optonline.net server (or whatever outgoing mail server is causing you grief) and click the MINUS (-) button in the lower left corner of the server window
  • Once the server has been expunged, click on the PLUS (+) button, located to the right of the MINUS (-) button
  • Click on the ACCOUNT INFORMATION tab, and in both the DESCRIPTION and SERVER NAME fields, enter the following: mail.optonline.net
  • Click on the ADVANCED tab and select USE DEFAULT PORTS (25, 465, 587)
  • In the AUTHENTICATION dropdown menu, select PASSWORD and enter your user name (your Optimum email address WITHOUT the @optonline.net suffix) in the USER NAME field and your Optimum email password in the PASSWORD field

If you’re using an outgoing (SMTP) server that isn’t Optonline, then you should consider making print screen of the information (Command-Shift-4) for your records. And please record your password! If you need help with your passwords, I suggest an extremely helpful e-book, 12 Quick Tips for Creating, Recording & Remembering Your Computer Names & Passwords, available at Amazon as well as Apple’s iBooks Store.

Continue Reading

Beware of Scams – Online and Offline!

danger-sign4

We’re all aware of online scams – we all have received the Nigerian Prince email letter (the 21st century version of the Spanish Prisoner scam) and the various other fraud emails that concern banking, Facebook and eBay/PayPal, among others. But this past month alone TWO clients asked me about strange things that happened to them. One received an email and the other was actually a phone call.

One was simply an email offering to fix a “damaged” file on the computer (specifically the email database). This type of thing is similar to an email from “your bank” asking you to reset your password – a notification that can simply be ignored (and deleted). But the second incident was something far more insidious.

It was a phone call (Caller ID: WIRELESS CALLER, 1-646-612-3444) from somebody claiming to be a tech support agent with connection to Microsoft (which they are not). They will tell you that your computer is infected with a virus and they want to be able to access your computer remotely. Once they’re in, all your personal data, passwords and anything else are fair game for them.

The lesson here – do NOT trust ANYBODY to gain access to your computer unless it’s a service call YOU initiated. Furthermore, ignore all unsolicited technical advice, including online messages that inform you that you can “clean up your Mac” by downloading a program, how you have a virus or any other technical problems. The takeaway from all of this: If you get a notification out of the blue about your computer, don’t engage them! There will always be someone out there trying to scam unsuspecting users, but the more you know, the less likely you’ll be hit with identity theft and serious issues.

Continue Reading

Getting A New Mac? Delete Your Data From Your Old One!

oldimac

It seems that we’re buying new computers at a faster clip these days than we were a few years ago (at least in this corner of the nation). I’ve noticed that today the average user keeps his or her Mac for a little over three years.  I’m convinced that the reason for this trend of replacing a computer more often is due to increasingly sophisticated requirements for websites and online content – just note how often Adobe Flash Player requires updating. (I’ll be writing about these changes in a future blog post.)

But since we’re replacing our computers at a faster clip, this means we’re also getting rid of computers more often as well. For some, this means giving the old one to the kids or another family member or maybe keeping it around as a backup. In this instance, it’s not always necessary to reformat the hard drive to delete your data; but if the computer is going anywhere outside of your house, it means you have to be cognizant about what happens to the personal information on your old computer.

Short of physically removing your hard drive (a difficult task in most models), the best way to “zero out” the data is to reinitialize the hard drive using the original installation media.

OS X.7 and earlier Macs: Boot while holding down the “C” key.

OS X.8 and later Macs: Boot while holding the Command-R keys.

In both instances, you’ll be given the opportunity to reinstall the operating system. You’ll want to launch DISK UTILITY from the “Utilities” menu and erase the hard drive before proceeding.

A couple of things:

Confirm that you have copied all the data off your old Mac before erasing the hard drive.

  • If you’re selling/donating/giving away your old Mac, include the original OS media if possible.
  • If you need help preparing your old Mac for donation or sale on eBay or CraigsList and aren’t sure how to expunge your data, call your computer professional before giving it away!
  • If you’re really paranoid about some super hacker with advanced data recovery skills gleaning your information off of your formatted hard drive, then physically remove the drive from the computer before parting with it.

Yes, there’s a little more to this than I have space for here. The bottom line – don’t allow a computer containing your personal data to be out of your control. We’re all extremely aware of the consequences of identity theft.

Continue Reading

Keeping Files Organized On Your Desktop

messydesktop1

Are you a digital hoarder? Or are you just extremely unorganized?

You’re hardly alone. Most of us have no idea how to keep things nice and neat on our desktops – mostly we have a random jumble of files, folders and other digital debris. Yet there is a way to keep things neat, or at least not be embarrassed when somebody glances at your screen. Plus, if your desktop is weighted down with tons of files, it can slow your computer down to a crawl!

So what’s the best way to keep your desktop organized?

 Step 1: Use a method that works for you

There is no “one size fits all” solution to desktop organization. Rather than be locked into an organizational philosophy that goes against the grain, design a folder hierarchy that works the way your brain does. That may involve separating work from personal, entertainment from admin, etc. But name (and organize) your folders in a way that is intuitive to you.

 Step 2: Use the folders Apple provides

Inside your home folder, there are a number of folders that are designed for easy access. These folders are placed in your home folder by default and are a great place to start organizing files. It’s extremely simple – you keep your photos in the Pictures folder, your music in the Music folder, etc.  But beyond that, it gets a little more complex.

 Step 3 Create your own folders

Folders can hold an infinite number of files and other folders. So don’t be afraid to put folders within folders within folders, just like the nesting Russian dolls. Create a few folders – and break down the top level to the lowest common denominator. For example, the folders that sit on the desktop could be named:

  • Admin
  • Family
  • Finances
  • Pending Issues
  • Work

Those five folders cover a lot of ground. For example, Family could have subfolders such as Children and School. Pending Issues could hold vacation plans, submitted health claims and current home projects. Same goes for the others – plan on populating those folders with the files (and folders) that best fit within. Good luck and have a great holiday season and an organized New Year!

Continue Reading