Category Archives: Mac questions

Questions and answers specific to Apple machines and OSX

Memory for the new late Apple 2014 5K iMac, Mac Mini

Posted on October 19, 2014 by quill

Apple has released a 2014 model of the iMac, with a stunning new “5K” 27 inch Retina screen.  Happily, unlike the previous Retina iMac models, Apple included upgradeable memory in this configuration. It can go to a maximum of 32 … Continue reading →

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What is the state of Thunderbolt drives? (October 2014 edition)

Posted on October 17, 2014 by quill

Thunderbolt drive news (Note 4/2020, many of the products introduced in 2014 are now out of date in 2020) Apple has left Firewire and adopted Thunderbolt as their recommended high speed connection for external hard drives (and monitors and other … Continue reading →

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NoScript with Firefox gives a higher level of security to web browsing

Posted on April 30, 2014 by quill

Web browsing is full of hazards. Even reputable websites can have poisoned banner ads from third parties, which can attempt to hack your machine or browser settings. You don’t even have to click on a “bad” website to be the … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I add memory to an Apple Mac Pro tower?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by quill

There are three main generations of Mac Pro machines, each generation has particular RAM types and installation procedures The models from 2006 to early 2008 use FB-DIMMs with large heatsinks in 667 MHz and 800 MHz. These models have two … Continue reading →

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Zero Day Java Exploit – Disable Java Now

Posted on January 12, 2013 by quill

There is yet another series of malware out which exploits holes in the Oracle (Sun) Java language, including the most recent version (Java 7 Update 10) as of Jan 12 2013. Disable Java in your Web browser now. After the … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Internet and Networking, Mac questions, Security, Viruses and malware, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Installing hard drives in an Apple iMac

Posted on August 14, 2012 by quill

Note: Installing hard drives in an iMac requires disassembling the machine and should be attempted only if you have experience. If you are not confident, please refer the work to a competent technician. Intel iMacs  require the glass LCD screen … Continue reading →

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OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion information

Posted on July 26, 2012 by quill

Apple released OSX 10.8 “Mountain Lion” on July 25. It is available from the Apple App Store as a download for $19.95.  When you purchase one Mountain Lion, you can install it on as many Macs as you own.  (if … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a small drive, can iPhoto & iTunes go on an external?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by quill

While the programs themselves should remain in the Applications folder of your internal startup drive, the Libraries for iTunes and iPhoto can be placed on an external hard drive to save space on the internal drive.  Keep in mind that … Continue reading →

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Q. What do I need to burn DVDs and CDs?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by quill

DVD-Rs are a good format for backing up data files and for distributing data and software. Because files on a DVD-R cannot be changed once burned (and therefore cannot be deleted or affected by viruses or hard drive breakdown) I … Continue reading →

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Q. Are there free alternatives to Photoshop?

Posted on July 19, 2012 by quill

Photoshop is the top professional image editing / photo retouching program, but it is expensive.  There are some cheap and free alternatives available: Adobe Photoshop Express (online image editing, requires sign up at Adobe’s site) http://www.photoshop.com/tools/overview The GIMP is open source … Continue reading →

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Add an SSD drive to a MacPro for fast booting and loading times

Posted on July 12, 2012 by quill

The MacPro Xeon tower machines are incredibly fast workstations. You can make yours even faster by adding a Solid State Drive (SSD) as a boot drive and/or as a scratch file drive.  An SSD equipped machine boots very quickly and … Continue reading →

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New Java based Trojan attacks Mac, Windows and Linux

Posted on July 11, 2012 by quill

Updated August 27 2012 Computerworld has published an article about new Java based malware which can infect Mac, Windows and Linux machines through a vulnerability in Oracle’s Java 7. OSX 10.7 and OSX 10.8 come with Java disabled by default, … Continue reading →

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Q. My documents are gone on my Mac and the Dock is back to default?

Posted on July 4, 2012 by quill

Just about every time that we have customers call saying that their documents, settings and Desktop on a Mac have disappeared and gone back to the Apple default, there is one cause: The user has renamed their User folder in … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I replace the drive in my 2012 or earlier MacBook / MacBook Pro?

Posted on June 27, 2012 by quill

The MacBook and MacBook Pro Mid 2012 and earlier models (excluding all MacBook Airs and the Late 2012 and later Retina MacBook Pro) have hard drives that can be replaced with a larger, faster 2.5″ SATA hard drive or upgraded … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a problem with my iTunes purchase, who do I contact?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by quill

If you have a problem with a download you purchased within the Apple iTunes store, such as the download didn’t work, or you were charged for multiple copies of the same item, you can address it directly in iTunes, First … Continue reading →

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