Category Archives: Mac questions

Questions and answers specific to Apple machines and OSX

Q. I am getting a screen on my Mac which tells me it is infected with viruses. I had visited a movie download site – do I have a virus?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by quill

That is a phony virus alert from a web page (or banner ad) which pops it up.  Your Mac does not have a virus. But it MAY have some trojan horse malware that you installed — did the video site … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Viruses and malware | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. How do I format an external hard drive on a Mac?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by quill

Before you can use a hard drive, it needs to be formatted, which organizes the data structure on the drive ready to accept data. In addition, a drive can be partitioned into two or more logical volumes, or it can … Continue reading →

Posted in General Computer, Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I have downloaded some programs on my Mac, why do they disappear each time I restart and why do I have to keep reinstalling them?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by quill

If your applications keep disappearing, it’s because you have not installed them properly. When you download an program, it usually downloads as a disk image (dmg) file. (it may be a zip or compressed file that expands into a dmg). … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac questions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I have some RAR files that were sent to me, What do I do with them?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

RAR is a compression format, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAR, and the files you have are compressed archives of one or more original files.  First, you have to decompress the RAR archives. Here are some utilities that can do that 7-Zip (Free, Windows) http://download.cnet.com/7-Zip/3000-2250_4-10045185.html?tag=mncol;1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What is the fastest disk setup for Photoshop

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Photoshop (as well as other high-end graphic and video production software) is a heavy user of hard drive access.  The speed of the hard drive in a machine and the way that hard drive use is organized can have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Memory, Performance, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. My iBook or Powerbook battery is not charging or being recognized, yet it works fine in another machine

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

First you need to to a Power Manager reset PMU reset) on your machine http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1431 Then recalibrate the battery http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490 Keep in mind that batteries last from one to three years and they steadily lose capacity.  Apple’s criteria is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. How can I tell if my hard drive is failing?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

If you suspect that your disk is having trouble, make sure you back up your data files to another drive or to DVD-R as soon as possible. One symptom of a failing drive is long pauses to do anything. Another … Continue reading →

Posted in General Computer, Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I have a drive I have been using on a Mac, I plugged it into a Windows machine and it can’t read it, there’s no data.

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Trevor

The hard drive is formatted as a Mac HFS+ volume.  Windows can’t read it without some third party software MacDrive www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive Paragon HFS+ for Windows www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/ HSF Explorer (open source, read only) www.catacombae.org/hfsx.html Although both Windows and Mac can read … Continue reading →

Posted in Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment