Q. How do I install a 3TB or larger hard drive?

Posted on May 18, 2012 by quill

The largest new desktop SATA hard drives on the market have capacities of 3 TB and 4 TB.

This is great for storage, not so great for older machines because it goes beyond what SATA interfaces on older (mid 2011 and earlier) PC motherboards were designed for.

What happens if you try to use a 3 TB or 4 TB drive with an incompatible machine or enclosure, is that it may format to only 800 GB or 2.2 GB, or it may crash and say the volume is unreadable.

Windows machines:

PCs that use traditional BIOSes are limited to a directly connected SATA drive of 2 TB or less – they will fail if you connect a 3TB drive. This is a problem with the SATA controller addressing the drive sectors, and is not fixed by partitioning the drive into two partitions smaller than 2 TB.

PCs and motherboards that use the more recent UEFI BIOS can support 3 TB and 4 TB drives directly from the motherboard SATA and eSATA ports, as can recent model PCI-e SATA interface cards (check with manufacturer to verify).

The motherboard’s SATA size limitation is not a problem for USB and Firewire connected drives, only for SATA and eSATA drives. (Important: the USB or Firewire enclosure itself will have to be compatible with large drives however, see External Drives below)

Apple:

MacPro machines with OSX 10.5 and above support large drives partitoned as GUID Partitioning Table (GPT) when attached to the internal SATA ports.

The Apple Pro RAID card however is limited to drives under 2.2TB each on its SATA connectors even if it is installed in a MacPro. There is no fix for this.

PowerMacintosh G5 machines also have limitations with drives larger than 2 TB, with a few exceptions – when the drive is formatted as GUID, and when the PowerMac is running OSX 10.5 and above, they should work.

Whichever OSX version you have, make sure you are current with the latest updates.

Intel iMac machines should be compatible, although they have their own unique issues with temperature sensors when installing third party drives.

External Drives:

External USB/Firewire/eSATA SATA hard drive enclosures, Multi bay RAID enclosures and Network Attached Storage (NAS) enclosures may or may not support large drives depending on the chipset and firmware of the enclosure, it will have to be verified on a case by case basis. Many of the newest 3.5″ drive enclosures can support 3 and 4 TB drives.

Just because an enclosure has the same model number as another, doesn’t mean that the two enclosures have the same firmware (or even bridge board hardware) internally.

In some cases (such as OWC Mercury enclosures) there is a small switch inside the enclosure of “Advanced Format” or “Large Block Size” which must be turned on to enable compatibility with drives larger than 2 TB. Refer to the owners manual or the manufacturer’s website for specifics.

In other cases, the firmware of the enclosure’s bridge-board chipset has to be updated to make it compatible.  Refer to the manufacturer’s website for specifics.

Keep in mind that a drive that has both USB and Firewire interfaces actually has two independent bridge chips inside, one for each interface, and it is possible that one interface works properly while the other does not.

Drives that have eSATA connections have a third path – the eSATA connection does not use a bridge or a controller within the enclosure, it is dependent on the SATA controller of the computer (or of the eSATA interface board in the computer). So again, an external could work on eSATA if the computer’s controller is compatible, and still fail on USB and Firewire with the same drive.

Background:

There are two issues to be addressed, the total drive size, and the size of the sectors on the drive.

Larger hard drives (including a number of 2 TB models such as the Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB) use a new, larger 4 KB sector size, and older machines may not be compatible, or may need software drivers to address the drive.

Western Digital, installing 2 TB Advanced Format drives with Windows http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=120#tab10

Western Digital, installing 2 TB Advanced Format drives on non-Windows systems http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5655

“If your operating system is either Windows 7 or Vista, WD recommends using the latest Intel driver version 9.6 or later for maximum performance in all situations.Please visit Intel for the latest driver downloads.”
For NVidia chipset machines, Microsoft has released a patch for Windows 7 and Server 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982018

Western Digital has WD Align software to properly set up 2 TB Advanced Format drives with Windows. Note that these software updates do not allow a 3 TB or 4 TB drive to work with an older BIOS motherboard.

Seagate has an information page and links to their DiskWizard software http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/beyond-2tb/

They indicate that a 3 TB or larger drive used as a boot disk in a machine with an UEFI BIOS needs Windows 64-bit to boot.

Seagate apparently had a problem with their GoFlex 3 TB drives and Apple OSX 10.7.2, which was resolved with OSX 10.7.3

Hitachi has a technology brief on advanced format drives available as a PDF

Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows Home Server require alignment software for partitioning.

 

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Q. How do I install RAM in a PC Notebook?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by quill

The RAM memory in most notebook computers is user-upgradeable. Almost all notebook machines use SODIMMs (Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Modules).

Part of the trick is to discover where the memory modules are located in a notebook machine. The best advice is to get online and look up the owners manual or technical manual for your model at the manufacturer’s support website. Or you can search for “{Make} {Model number} takeapart” on Google to find diagrams or YouTube videos of how to take apart your machine.

Also refer to online references or contact Canadaram.com to determine how much memory your machine can take, and what specification it needs.

The advice following is generic information, your machine may be different.  Before starting the installation, shut the machine all the way down, and once it is completely shut down, take out the battery. Now you are ready to open it.

SODIMM in a socketOn many machines, the memory is behind a door on the bottom of the machine, often the door is marked with the rectangular symbol of a memory chip. Typically there are one to four tiny Philips #00 screws to remove (don’t lose them), then the door un-clips. Usually the memory sockets are visible, but on some machines there can be a shield or a cover over them which has to be removed.

On some machines, only one SODIMM socket is located under the machine, the other SODIMM socket (or sometimes both) may be under the keyboard. Look for small tabs between the function keys at the top which you can slide back to allow the keyboard to lift up. Be very careful of the ribbon cable that attaches the keyboard, they are easy to tear or pull out.

Below are general instructions for installation of SODIMMs:

The key to SODIMM installation is to seat the RAM module’s pins fully into the socket contacts.

  • First of all, observe the slot in the connector edge of the module, it needs to line up with the key across the socket’s contacts.
  • You insert the module’s connector edge into the socket contacts with the module held up at about a 45 degree angle
  • sodimm installationWhile the module is still up on the angle, use both thumbs on the long edge of the module to firmly push the module’s connector edge into the socket contacts.
  • Only then, lay the module down to the flat position. The module retaining clips will click as you lay it down (but the clips clicking is not an indication that the RAM is properly seated).
  • Look at the module, you should see very little (1mm) or none of the gold contacts remaining visible. The edge of the contacts should line up parallel with the socket.  If it is angled in the socket or there is more than 1mm of contacts visible, remove the module and reinstall it.

Remember that machines with a 32-bit operating system and older machines that are not 64-bit clean will use at most 3.0 – 3.5 GB of RAM even if 4 GB is installed.  You require all three of

  • a 64-bit OS,
  • a 64-bit CPU and a
  • 64-bit compatible chipset (BIOS and memory controller)

to use more than 4 GB of RAM.

Occasionally, older machines will require a BIOS update to recognize the larger RAM modules, check the manufacturer’s support site for Drivers and Downloads for your model.  Back up your data before starting a BIOS flash update, and follow the instructions to the letter.

Acer technical support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Asus support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Dell support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Gateway support pages   Purchase RAM modules
Hewlett-Packard and Compaq support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Lenovo support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Sony Vaio support pages  Purchase RAM modules
Toshiba support pages  Purchase RAM modules

Laptop hard drives

SSD drives

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Memory, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What memory fits my Apple Xserve server?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by quill
Model/ Identifier CPU/ Speed/ Screen/ Date/ Designation RAM Type & Speed Maximum RAM Hard Drive/ SSD
XServe G4RackMac1,1 G4 1.0 GHz (4 RAM sockets Mid 2002, M8627LL/A ) DDR-266 DIMM 2 GB (4x512MB) 3.5″ PATA hard drive
XServe G4/DPRackMac1,1 G4 1.0 GHz Dual Processor (4 RAM sockets Mid 2002, M8628LL/A ) DDR-266 DIMM 2 GB (4x512MB) 3.5″ PATA hard drive
XServe G4RackMac1,2 G4 1.33 GHz  (Slot Load, 4 RAM sockets Early 2003, M8888LL/A ) DDR-266 DIMM 2 GB (4x512MB) 3.5″ PATA hard drive
XServe G4 / DPRackMac1,2 G4 1.33 GHz  Dual Processor (Slot Load, 4 RAM sockets Early 2003, M8889LL/A ) DDR-266 DIMM 2 GB (4x512MB) 3.5″ PATA hard drive
XServe G4 / DP Cluster NodeRackMac1,2 G4 1.33 GHz  Dual Processor (Slot Load, 4 RAM sockets Early 2003, M9090 LL/A ) DDR-266 DIMM 2 GB (4x512MB) 3.5″ PATA hard drive
Xserve G5RackMac3,1 G5 2.0 GHz  (PCI-X slots, Early 2004, ML/9216A) DDR-400 ECC DIMM 8 GB (8x1GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve G5/DPRackMac3,1 G5 2.0 GHz Dual Processor (PCI-X slots, Early 2004, ML/9217A, A1068) DDR-400 ECC DIMM 8 GB (8x1GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve G5 DP Cluster NodeRackMac3,1 G5 2.0 GHz  (PCI-X slots, Early 2004, ML/9215A) DDR-400 ECC DIMM 16 GB (8x2GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve G5/DPRackMac3,1 G5 2.3 GHz Dual Processor  (PCI-X slots, Early 2005, M9745LL/A A1068) DDR-400 ECC DIMM 16 GB (8x2GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve G5 DP Cluster NodeRackMac3,1 G5 2.3 GHz Dual Processor  (PCI-X slots, Early 2005, M9742LL/A) DDR-400 ECC DIMM 16 GB (8x2GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve1,1 Intel Xeon 2.0 GHz  Quad-core (Late 2006, MA409LL/A) DDR2-667 ECC FB-DIMM 32 GB (8x4GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve1,1 Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz  Quad-core (Late 2006, A1196 ) DDR2-667 ECC FB-DIMM 32 GB (8x4GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve2,1 Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz Quad-core (Early 2008, A1246, MA882LL/A ) DDR2-800 ECC FB-DIMM 32 GB (8x4GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve2,1 Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz Eight-core (Early 2008, A1246 BTO) DDR2-800 ECC FB-DIMM 32 GB (8x4GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve2,1 Intel Xeon 3.0 GHz Eight-core (Early 2008, A1246 BTO) DDR2-800 ECC FB-DIMM 32 GB (8x4GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve3,1 Intel Xeon 2.26 GHz Quad-core (Nehalem Early 2009, A1279, MB449LL/A) DDR3-1066 ECC DIMM with temp sensor 48 GB (6x8GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve3,1 Intel Xeon 2.26 GHz Eight-core (Nehalem Early 2009, A1279, BTO) DDR3-1066 ECC DIMM with temp sensor 96 GB (12x8GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve3,1 Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz Eight-core (Nehalem Early 2009, A1279, BTO) DDR3-1066 ECC DIMM with temp sensor 96 GB (12x8GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve XeonXserve3,1 Intel Xeon 2.93 GHz Eight-core (Nehalem Early 2009, A1279, BTO) DDR3-1066 ECC DIMM with temp sensor 96 GB (12x8GB) 3.5″ SATA HD
2.5″ SATA SSD
Xserve RAID XserveRAID 3U Rackmount 14 bay (IDE) Fibre-channel storage
(Early 2003, A1004 M8668LL/A)		  up to 256 MB, up to 512 MB Cache RAM 3.5″ IDE HD
Xserve RAID SFP XserveRAID 3U Rackmount 14 bay (IDE) Fibre-channel storage
(2004, A1009  M9721LL/A)		 2×512 MB Cache RAM standard 3.5″ IDE HD

 

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Mac questions, Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. How do I set up a website? Is it free?

Posted on April 18, 2012 by quill

To create a website, you will need to know a few basics about how Web (HTML) pages work, or use a website service or blogging service that gives you templates and allows you to create a web site just by filling in information.

If you want people to find your site with a name of your choosing like  www.mygreatsiteidea.com then you have to purchase the domain name (mygreatsiteidea.com) and then host that domain on a server at a hosting company. This will cost from $10 per year to much higher, depending on the services you need.

There are some hosting companies that provide a limited amount of web server space for free (as long as you agree to them putting on advertising)
The easiest way might be to go to Google Sites sites.google.com and use their site building wizard. You will need a Google logon to use it.  Step by step instructions from eHow

HTML Tutorials
www.w3schools.com/
www.htmlcodetutorial.com/
www.2createawebsite.com/

For paid tutorials, the most well respected site is Lynda.com
www.lynda.com/Developer-training-tutorials/50-0.html 

The International Webmasters Association offers instructor-led online courses
iwa-hwg.eclasses.org/

Templates
www.freewebsitetemplates.com/
www.templatemonster.com/

Free (open source and shareware) Web page creation/editing programs
sixrevisions.com/tools/30-useful-open-source-apps-for-web-designers/
Windows
Free web design software at Download.com
Nvu Win XP
HTML editors Win 7
Mac
Free HTML Editor software at Download.com
Nvu Mac

Free Web Hosts
Google Sites sites.google.com
List of free hosts  www.free-webhosts.com/
Webs.com www.webs.com/
Freehostia.com www.freehostia.com/index2.html
Weebly www.weebly.com/

Commercial web hosts (not an endorsement):
dreamhost.com
1and1.com
godaddy.com

Blogging sites are also a way to get a website online without needing any special software or training:
Wordpress  wordpress.org/
Google Blogger www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Internet and Networking | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. How do I clone my Windows 7 drive to a new hard drive?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by quill

For this solution, we are assuming that you have a bootable Windows 7 installation on your working C: drive, and that you want to put a newer/faster/larger drive in as a new C: drive with the same Windows and programs.  To clone the C: drive to another drive, you’ll need either to install it internally in the machine (if it is a desktop) connected to an available SATA connection, or if it is a laptop or a machine without room for a second SATA drive internally, use a USB / SATA drive enclosure or a technician’s USB / SATA adapter cable.  Note: to clone a bootable Windows drive the target drive must be installed internally on the SATA bus. The original source drive must be in the USB enclosure.

The first place to look for cloning software is the manufacturer of your new hard drive.
Western Digital provides a free version of Acronis True Image here. See Section 15 of the User Manual PDF file for transferring a system automatically.

Seagate offers a free download of Diskwizard  also an adaptation of Acronis software, with an instuctional video and User Manual PDF (English)

Other software options are:

Acronis TrueImage – this is a commercial program, and is our go-to tool for drive cloning and it includes backup and restore tools for continuing use.

EaseUS ToDo backup, which is available in a variety of versions,  (EaseUS ToDo links from Download.com) and is an easy solution to maintaing backups of your files.

XXClone (XXClone from Download.com) can create a bootable clone of your drive.

EaseUS Disk Copy allows you to create a bootable DVD or USB utility disk, which you can use to start up the computer. The program can then do a sector by sector copy of a hard drive to another – which is independent of the operating system the drive was used with – and/or it can clone a bootable Windows disk. (EaseUS Disk Copy from Download.com)

On the hardware side, there are dual-bay SATA ‘docks’ with built in disk-to-disk cloning functions. You won’t find these in many homes or offices, but they are a timesaver in a technician’s shop.

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Hard Drives and SSD, How-To, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Q. How do I install RAM in a Mac?

Posted on April 13, 2012 by quill

Memory in most Macintoshes is user-upgradeable. The bottom of this post has links to the Apple instructions for specific models.  Here are general instructions for installation on modern Macs.

In machines with SODIMMs, there are two main ways to insert RAM modules.

1) Machines with flat SODIMM sockets (MacBook Pro 2012 and earlier, newer MacMini except 2014).

The key to this installation is to seat the RAM module’s pins fully into the socket contacts.

  • First of all, observe the slot in the connector edge of the module, it needs to line up with the key across the socket’s contacts.
  • You insert the module’s connector edge into the socket contacts with the module held up at about a 45 degree angle
  • sodimm installationWhile the module is still up on the angle, use both thumbs on the long edge of the module to firmly push the module’s connector edge into the socket contacts.
  • Only then, lay the module down to the flat position. The module retaining clips will click as you lay it down (but the clips clicking is not an indication that the RAM is properly seated).
  • Look at the module, you should see very little (1mm) or none of the gold contacts remaining visible. The edge of the contacts should line up parallel with the socket.  If it is angled in the socket or there is more than 1mm of contacts visible, remove the module and reinstall it.

2) Machines with blind push-in slots (White MacBook, most intel iMacs 2012 and earlier).

These machines are tricky because you cannot see what you are doing, the module is a straight push into the slot.

  • There is usually a metal cover plate to unscrew to expose the slots. The screws on most models are captured, they do not remove all the way.
  • You may have to remove the existing module(s). There will be levers or some vinyl tape to pull on to loosen the module, it will not spring them all the way out so don’t pull violently on the mechanism.  Use your fingers to pull the RAM module out (do NOT use pliers or other tools, they will damage the module).
  • As the older module comes out, observe the orientation of the slot on the connector edge, you will want to insert the new RAM module the same way.  If you didn’t see which side the slot is on, look inside the socket with a flashlight, or look for a legend printed on the machine, or refer to your owners manual or Apple’s web site. Do not force a module in if you are uncertain of the orientation.
  • sodimm slot load illustrationInsert the new RAM module in the socket in the correct orientation , and push it in.  It will go in about 1 inch (2.5cm) and then stop. You are not done yet…
  • Get both thumbs on the long edge of the module and push quite firmly. The module will go in another 1/8th inch (2mm) to seat fully into the socket. (Contrary to Apple’s instructions, there is no audible click as it is seated, more of a soft thunk you can feel more than hear). Check that it is fully seated on both ends of the module. If you don’t have dents on the ends of your thumbs, then you haven’t pushed hard enough.
  • If the machine has 2 plastic lever clips at the ends of the module, you can gently move these back into the closed position – but do not use these to push in the RAM module, it will damage the clips and or the module.  If the clips do not go back without pushing, that means that the module is not fully inserted.
    If the machine has a single horizontal lever, this has no role in inserting the module.
  • Reinstall the coverplate over the RAM sockets.   If the plate does not go back into place flush, that means that the module is not fully inserted.

3) MacPros and some older iMac G4, iMac G5, Mini G4 and PowerMac models use DIMM modules of various specifications. In most cases, installation is straightforward.  When installing a DIMM it is important to make sure it is oriented correctly, and then press it firmly down on both ends, so that it ‘clicks’ into place at both ends.

(The exception is the iMac G5 pre-iSight model – it uses angled DIMM sockets similar to the SODIMM socket.)

Some MacPro and PowerMac machines require installation of RAM into the slots in a specific order. Refer to your owners manual or the links below.

Apple memory installation instructions for

MacPro

MacBook Pro  MacBook

iMac Intel  iMac G5 iSight model   iMac G5 pre-iSight

MacMini Intel

PowerBook G4 17″ Al    PowerBook G4 15″ Al  Powerbook G4 12″ Al  PowerBook G4 Titanium

Memory configurations for earlier PowerMacs

List of RAM and drive compatibility for all Macs

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Mac questions, Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Q. How to set up a new external hard drive on a Mac?

Posted on April 10, 2012 by quill

A. When you plug in a new external hard drive to a Mac, it will either be formatted for Windows (in which case you may have trouble writing to it from the Mac) or it will be unformatted. An internal hard drive replacement or upgrade is almost always unformatted. In order to use a drive, you will need to Partition and Format it for your machine.

  • NOTE: KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL THESE FORMATTING AND PARTITIONING OPERATIONS WILL DELETE ALL DATA ON THE HARD DRIVE.  Make sure that you back up the data from the hard drive first, if it has been used.

When you first plug in an external drive, if the Mac doesn’t recognize the formatting, it will pop up a message “The drive cannot be used, do you want to intialize it?” (Initialize means the same as Format). You can go ahead and let it initialize, but I recommend that you learn how to partition and initialize a drive yourself.

Initializing (Formatting):  Formatting means preparing a drive for accepting data by organizing its sectors and creating catalogs – a drive must be formatted before it can be writtten to. The format method used on a drive depends on the operating system.  Windows machines can use NTFS (Microsoft’s proprietary filing system) or FAT-32 (the older system with roots back to MS-DOS days). Macintoshes use HFS+ (called Mac OS Extended in Disk Utility) and can also read and write FAT-32 (called MSDOS in Disk Utility) However, for a disk to be an OSX Boot volume, the format must be HFS+.
You can see right away that a drive or USB memory stick that is intended to be used between the Macintosh and the Windows environment should be formatted FAT-32 for compatibility.

  • (As an aside, a few cameras and flash memory products use FAT-16 or ExFAT; the rule with camera and device flash memory cards is to always format them in the device, and never on a computer)

Partitioning a drive commonly means to divide it into two or more sections, each partition can be formatted independently, and each will mount on the Mac desktop as a separate volume. (A drive with a single volume of the whole size of the drive is still partitioned, it has just one partition).
In the illustration below, my 2 TB external Firewire drive named PI-367 is partitioned into two partitions, named MacBackup and PCBACKUP, which show on the desktop.

Disk Utility Dialog

If you look at the bottom of the Disk Utility window, there is “Partition Map Scheme: GUID”
When a drive is partitioned, the master Map of how the drive is organized has to be written in a specific way for the computer to be able to use it as a Bootable (System) drive.  For an Intel based Macintosh, the Partition Map has to be GUID. For a Windows machine, the Partition Map must be MBR (Master Boot Record) and for an early PowerPC based Mac, it needs to be Apple Partition Map.  This is why I recommend that you Partition a new hard drive yourself when you install it, rather than let the Apple software do it automatically.  A drive that has been formatted for a Windows machine will have a Master Boot Record Map, and reformatting (initializing) the volume to HFS+ will not change it to GUID partition map.  Later on, when you decide to install OSX on the drive, perhaps because you need it to boot a Mac that is having issues, you’ll find out you can’t install on it, because it is not GUID.

To Partition a drive, start by launching Disk Utility from your Applications > Utilities folder (suggestion: I keep mine on the Dock all the time)
Disk Utility Icon

Select the name of the drive itself in the left hand window. (not the name(s) of the volumes on that drive, if any.  The drive name will be on the left, and any Volumes will be indented under the drive name on the list). Choose Partition from the tabs.
I am partitioning a new Buffalo external USB drive. It already has a Windows MBR partition on it already, which I Want to delete, so I am choosing the name of the drive itself (1 TB Buffalo External) in the list. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DRIVE SELECTED BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Disk Utility Dialog 2

Next, I will choose a different Volume Scheme: which will force the partition map to be remade. Clicking on Current, I can change this to 1 Partition from the drop down menu. Once I have changed the Volume Scheme, I can now click on Options, and this is the important place for me to change the Partition Map from MBR to GUID Partition Table so it can be a fully fledged Mac drive.

Click OK on the option box, optionally you can fill in a name that you want the Untitled 1 Volume (partition) to be called  (although you can do this any time later). Leave the Format under Volume Information at the default Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and hit Apply.  It will warn you that the existing volume is going to be destroyed, if it had one. Proceed with that.

I now have a new USB disk volume, “Untitled 1” on my desktop in a GUID partition and formatted Mac HFS+.

Posted in General Computer, Hard Drives and SSD, How-To, Mac questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. What does it mean to clean a cache?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by quill

Your web browser caches (keeps local copies on your hard drive of) many of the pages and graphics it downloads as you are browsing the Web. This makes it faster to reload the same page when you return to it later. However, there is a risk that the cached information will be out of date, and sometimes the cached data becomes corrupted, so it is sometimes useful to clear out the browser cache.  If you are having trouble loading a website, then this would be a first step in troubleshooting.

Firefox:
Click on the Firefox menu > History > Clear recent history… > Details > select Cache files (and uncheck the other history files if you don’t want to delete those).
Firefox earlier versions www.bnl.gov/itd/webapps/browsercache.asp#FireWin

Chrome:
Click on the “Wrench” symbol in the menubar (the Tools menu) > Settings > Under the Hood > in the Privacy section click Clear browsing data… and select which types of data that you want to clear (Cookies, cache, history, etc.)
(Older versions may have Options rather than Settings)
support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95582

Safari:
Click on the Safari menu > Reset Safari >  select the items you want to clear, click Reset. (“Remove all website data” deletes both cookies and cache files).
www.bnl.gov/itd/webapps/browsercache.asp#Safari4

Safari on iPad: browsers.about.com/od/howtousemobilebrowser1/ss/safari-ipad-clear-cache.htm

Internet Explorer: www.bnl.gov/itd/webapps/browsercache.asp#IE9

Other programs use caches as well.  For Windows there is a program CCleaner www.piriform.com/ccleaner which will clean out internet caches and a variety of other temporary and unneeded files as well.

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, Internet and Networking, Mac questions, Security, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. How can I add “DRAFT” or “COPY” to printouts of my Word document?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by quill

You want to print a message on all printed copies of a document, such as “Draft” or “Confidential” or “Copy”, and you are using Microsoft Word.

What you are looking for is a “Watermark”, which is done by modifying the Background of the document.  You can also put a watermark on selected pages only, but that requires that you divide the document into Sections and modify the individual sections to have watermarks or not (see below).

You can add a text watermark, choose one of the stock Microsoft watermarks, or use a custom image.

In Microsoft Word, the general instructions from Microsoft are

On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click Watermark.

Do one of the following:

  • Click a predesigned watermark, such as Confidential or Urgent, in the gallery of watermarks – or
  • Click Custom Watermark, click Text watermark and then select or type the text that you want. You can also format the text – or
  • Click Picture watermark, and then click Select Picture.
    • Select the picture that you want, and then click Insert.
    • Select a percentage under Scale to insert the picture at a particular size
    • Select the Washout check box to lighten the picture so that it doesn’t interfere with text.

To view a watermark as it will appear on the printed page, use the Print Layout view.

In Word 2011 for Macintosh

  • Select Insert
  • Choose Watermark
  • Either select Text and type in the text you want or choose from the drop down menu of options
  • Choose any other settings you want for the watermark (size, font, transparency, font color, and orientation)
  • Choose OK

To add watermark to specific pages, you divide your document into Sections first.

  • On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Show/Hide so that you can see the page breaks in your document.
  • In Draft view, replace the page breaks surrounding the pages to which you want to add watermarks with section breaks.
  • On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks, and then click Next Page under Section Breaks.
    • Note  When you insert a cover page in a document, it has a separate header so that you don’t need to create a separate section for it if you’re creating sections to add a watermark only to selected pages.
  • Switch to Print Layout view.
  • Double-click the document header area on the page where you want the watermark to appear. This opens the header.
    • Note: Microsoft Office Word places watermarks in the header even though they don’t appear in the header.
  • On the Design tab, in the Navigation group, click Link to Previous so that the headers are no longer linked.
  • Double-click the document header area on the first page where you don’t want the watermark to appear â€” for example, the first page of document text â€” and then repeat step 4.
  • Click the page where you want the watermark to appear.
  • On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click Watermark and select the watermark that you want.

 

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Q. When you register on a website, do they know your IP address?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by quill

Yes, they know your IP address and a lot more without you having to register or enter any information.

Your IP address is sent to the webserver with every page and file request that you make on the Web. That’s how the Web server knows where to send the web page and images that your browser asks for. From the IP address, the owners of the server can derive the general location (country, city and possibly neighborhood) that you are in. The server can also determine the brand of Web browser you are using, what helper applications are available, your screen size, whether you have Flash, Javascript and Cookies enabled and what language your browser uses.  If you have visited the site before, it is possible that the site has written cookies to your hard drive, which it can retrieve to look up past-visit information.

The website ip-check.info will show you a list of what can be learned from your browser.
Every web server has a log of the IP addresses that have visited, and what specific pages and files were requested.  If the website uses web beacons and /or use cookies they can track additional information about where you go on their site.

When you do register on a website, the site will almost certainly record your IP address, the time, your web browser software version, and possibly the website that referred you there, along with the registration information.

This information is used in several ways – one obvious one is to prevent one person registering multiple times on a site under phony names. Another is to detect banned forum members from re-registering on the forum with new names. Finally, if there is any illegal activity, the server administrators can turn the IP address information over to law enforcement.

In general, I recommend that you run Firefox as your brower, with pop ups blocked and NoScript installed so you can control what Javascripts are allowed to run. When you are visiting websites, you have the option of toggling on Private Browsing. This does NOT make you anonymous, but it will erase the history, cookies or other traces that the webserver may leave behind on your machine.

To browse on the web anonymously by masking your IP address, you would need to look into the use of a proxy server or a VPN service. Many websites maintain lists of proxy servers, so they can block viewers from proxies as well.

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Q. What is a Retina Display?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by quill

Apple new iPad“Retina” is Apple’s marketing name for a high resolution LCD display for smartphones (iPhone), tablets (iPad), media players (iPod Touch) and future products such as computer monitors and iMacs.

What does “Retina” mean?
The term Retina refers to the assumption that at a usable distance, the resolution of the display is as high or higher than the human eye’s ability to resolve detail. When a person cannot distinguish individual picture elements (pixels), a high-enough resolution image is touted as being ‘true to life’.  According to Apple, a resolution above 300 pixels per inch is higher than human resolvability at a distance of 12 inches, this may be a bit optimistic as one display-industry figure gives a figure of 477 pixels per inch (54 micrometer pixels) at 12 inches for a person with perfect vision and 300 ppi would be high enough at 18 inches. Others disagree, and say that people with average vision would see a continuous image at 286 ppi (89 micrometer pixels) at 12 inches.

iPhone 4SProducts with Retina displays:
The first Apple Retina display product was the iPhone 4, with a  960×640 pixel Retina display, released June 2010

iPhone 4 and 4S Retina display: 960×640, 3.5″ (89 mm, diagonal) Pixels 78 micrometers wide, 326 pixels per inch contrast ratio of 800:1

iPod Touch Retina display: 960×640, 3.5″ (89 mm, diagonal) Pixels 78 micrometers wide, 326 pixels per inch, released September 2010

New iPad (third generation) Retina display: 2048 × 1536, 9.7″ (250 mm, diagonal)  264 pixels per inch, released March 2012. (The iPad is considered a Retina display despite its lower pixel per inch resolution, by virtue of the assumption that it will be used at a distance of 18″ – 24″ inches from the eyes, rather than the 12 inches of a smartphone.)

Anandtech has some good close up photographs which contrast the resolution of the New iPad Retina display against the earlier iPad 1 and 2 1024 x 768 resolution displays.

Where is the display technology going?
The obvious next step for Retina display technology is for use in computer monitors and MacBook Pro and iMac computers where the high resolution can make reading a computer screen as easy (finally!) as reading a printed page. Televisions could be next, however the fact that televisions are used at distances of feet rather than inches means that the resolution does not have to be as high. Some sites have speculated that Apple is getting ready for higher resolution displays in their computer line based on high resolution support in OSX 10.8.

Challenges:
A less obvious consideration is the cost and yield. Manufacturing LCD displays (and computer chips, which have some similarities in their manufacturing processes) depends on creating highly accurate grids of transistors and conductors on a solid substrate (glass for displays, silicon wafers for chips). The number of pixels, and therefore the associated transistors and connections, goes up as the square of the screen size – so a 9 inch screen has 4 times the number of components as a 3 inch screen. Then add the resolution – each doubling of resolution increases the number of components by four times. Display panel makers (and chip makers) are forced to destroy a relatively high percentage of flawed product, as there is no way to repair the circuitry deposited onto the substrate after the fact. With a smaller screen size, you can get a higher yield of saleable product.

What this means is that manufacturing a flawless 20 or 24 inch computer screen at Retina resolution is going to be much harder and more expensive than a 9.7 inch iPad screen. A 24 inch (diagonal) monitor at 200 pixels per inch will have a pixel count of 4000 x 2360, compared with today’s standard 1920 x 1080 – that’s 9.4 million pixels vs. 2.1 million.

A computer’s (or tablet’s, or television’s) video hardware will also have to have the processing power and memory to push out 8 times the number of pixels as it is called on to do today. This is one reason the new iPad uses the much more powerful A5 processor than the earlier version iPads, and we are never going to see Retina screen upgrades offered for earlier model tablets and smartphones.

Resolution is not the be-all and end-all of display quality. The realism of the display also hinges on colour accuracy, contrast ratio, black level and the speed of pixel response (for moving pictures). Once all of these are sorted out however, looking at a display could be like looking out a window.

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac questions, News, Smartphone News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What are the most useful keyboard shortcuts?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by quill

Most computer programs have keyboard shortcuts – these are key combinations that substitute for commonly used commands – this avoids having to grab the mouse and taking the cursor up to the menus at the top of the screen.  Learning these key combinations can save you time and effort.

When you use a key combination, don’t try to hit both keys at once. Instead, press and hold the Modifier key(s) (Control, Alt, Option, Command, Shift) and while holding, press the letter key once amd release it, then release the modifier.  It’s the same technique that you use for using the Shift key to capitalize letters.

The single best time saving shortcut isn’t a keyboard combo at all – it is a mouse one.  Wherever you are, click the Right mouse button (or hold down the Control key while clicking the mouse button on a Mac). This will pop up a context-sensitive menu with the most likely actions you would want to do with the item you have currently selected.  If you have selected a file, it may suggest you can open. copy, delete or compress the file. If you have spelled a word incorrectly in a word processor, a right click can pop up spell-checking and replacement options.  Try it in various programs and see what it can do.

The most popular keyboard shortcuts are:

Command Windows Mac (On a Mac, the Command key is also known as the Apple key – earlier Mac keyboards had a symbol of an apple on it) 
COMMON TO MOST PROGRAMS
Cut Control-X Command-X Mnemonic: the X looks like a pair of scissors, which you use to “Cut”. Hint, when you Cut something, it is added to the clipboard, so it is ready to Paste somewhere else. So Cut is like a Copy plus a Delete.
Copy Control-C Command-C
Paste Control-V Command-V
Undo Control-Z Command-Z If you make a mistake, first thing is to take your hands off the keyboard, and then press Undo. It will only undo the last action, so it is important not to type or click anything else before Undoing.
Save Control-S Command-S Get in the habit of Saving your documents regularly, every few minutes, with Control-S. This will minimize the wasted time if your machine crashes or you make an error and exit the document.
Print Control-P Command-P
New Control-N Command-N Context sensitive, depending what you have selected it will create a new document, new email or new folder
Do the last action again Control-Y Repeat the last menu action
Zoom in Control-+ (plus) Command-+ (plus)
Zoom out Control- – (minus) Command- – (minus)
Select All Control-A Command-A
Find Control-F Command-F Especially useful to find a piece of text on a long web page or a long Word document.
Stop or exit an action Escape Escape or Command-Period
FIREFOX
Reload the page Control-R Command-R
Reload the page and force override the cached version Control-Shift-R Command-Shift-R When you load a web page, your browser first looks in its cache on your hard drive to see if it has a recent version to use. This makes loading faster, but for pages that update continually, loading the cached version could give you out of date information.
Back a page in history Alt-Left Arrow Command-Left Arrow
Forward a page in history Alt-Right Arrow Command-Right Arrow
Go to top of page Home Home
Go to bottom of page End End
Go to Google Search Control-K Command-K
Bookmark this page Control-D Command-D
Go to location bar Alt-D or Control-L Command-L Useful when you want to type in a web address manually

 

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What is Smart HDD and why does it say I have errors?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by quill

Do not proceed with anything!  Quit or Force Quit your browser, or it it isn’t possible to quit, shut your machine off.  Smart HDD is a scam – it is malware that mimics a legitimate repair or testing program – Usually starting from a Web page popup window, it shows you an alert that tells you you have serious problems with Windows, or you have “11 errors detected on your hard drive”, with convincing sounding names, and tells you you need to run the Smart HDD program to repair them.

If you go ahead and download and run the software, it will hide the data on your machine and blackmail you into paying $40 or more for the software to “fix” the problem.   Do not download the software or run the software. If you have mistakenly run the ‘free’ or ‘trial’ version, do not pay (sending your charge card information is an invitation to identity theft or unauthorized charges).  Instead, read these instructions how to eliminate the malware and get your files back.

Windows Recovery and family removal instructions

Windows Recovery, SmartHDD, HDD Repair, HDD Rescue — there are many other names that these fake system repair or hard drive repair utilities go under. They do not actually scan your machine or test for errors, the alerts are made up. Do not fall for the scam.  The best way to avoid these in the first place is to turn off pop up windows in your Web browser.

Even better, switch to using Firefox, turn off pop up windows and install the NoScript add-on http://noscript.net/getit to prevent Javasripts from running without your permission.

Blocking popups – instructions vary a bit depending on the version of your browser

Firefox: Go to “Tools” or the “Firefox > Options” drop down menu, and choose “Options…” then in that window click the “Content” tab, then check the “Block pop-up windows” checkbox. support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Pop-up%20blocker

New Internet Explorer: Go to the “Gear” or “Tools” menu icon (or hit Alt-X), choose “Internet Options”, then choose the “Privacy” tab, and check the “Turn on Pop-up Blocker” checkbox. windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Internet-Explorer-Pop-up-Blocker-frequently-asked-questions

Older Internet Explorer: Go to “Tools,” then “Pop-up Blocker.” Click the “Turn On Pop-up Blocker” checkbox.

Older Internet Explorer in Win XP:  support.microsoft.com/kb/843016

Safari: Choose the “Safari” tab at the top of the window. Click on “Block Pop-Up Windows.”

Chrome: Go to the “Chrome” or “Wrench” menu icon. Choose “Preferences” or “Options”. Click “Under the Hood.” Under the “Privacy” heading, click the “Content Settings” button. Click “Pop-ups,” found in the menu on the left side of the page. Click the second radio button under “Pop-Up Settings” or the “Do not allow any site to show popups” radio button. support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95472:

Some of the latest rogue and fake antispyware and utility malware names:

Windows First-Class Protector. Windows Trouble Taker Windows Debug Center Windows Defending Center Windows No-Risk Agent Windows Software Saver Windows AntiHazard Helper Windows AntiHazard Center Windows Process Director Windows Guardian Angel  Windows Software Keeper Windows Problems Stopper Windows Health Keeper Windows No-Risk Center

More at Wikipedia list of rogue security software

About Browser Security:

Installing an Ad blocker in your Web browser or turning on the browsers anti-popup features is a first step, but it is not enough.

Many viruses that are launched from a poisoned Web page or banner ad rely on Java and/or Javascript running in your web browser software to execute their instructions.  If you turn off Java entirely, or remove it from your Web browser, you will be safer.  Turning off Javascript however is more problematic, because many of the legitimate sites you visit use Javascript for drop down menus, calendars, form filling, etc. and the sites won’t function without scripting.  My recommended solution is to use Firefox as your Web browser, with the addition of NoScript plugin, which allows you to control which scripts that you allow to run, and blocks all others.

Adobe Flash is also used by some malware and poisoned websites. You can also use Adobe Flash Player’s privacy settings to block access to the Flash player by websites www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/help09.html

 

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Internet and Networking, Security, Viruses and malware, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What memory and hard drives fit my iBook G3/G4?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by quill

There are several models of iBook, the G3 models use PC66 or PC100 memory and the G4 models use DDR memory. Below is a list of all models. iBooks take 2.5″ IDE hard drives up to 120 GB in capacity.

Lists of RAM and drive compatibility for all Macs

Model/ Identifier CPU/ Speed/ Screen/ Date/ Designation RAM Type & Speed Maximum RAM
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook2,1 G3/300 MHz (Original Clamshell, Mid 1999)
PC66 SODIMM 544 MB or 576 MB, 32 or 64 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook2,1 G3/366SE 366 MHz (Original Clamshell, Early 2000) PC66 SODIMM 576 MB, 64 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook2,2 G3/366 MHz (Firewire Clamshell, Late 2000) PC66 SODIMM 576 MB, 64 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook2,2 G3/466 SE 466 MHz (Firewire Clamshell, Late 2000, M6411) PC66 SODIMM 576 MB, 64 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,1 G3/500 MHz 12″ (Dual USB Translucent White, Mid 2001, CD-ROM, M6497) PC100 SODIMM 576 MB or 640 MB, 64 or 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,1 G3/500 MHz 12″ (Translucent White, Late 2001, CD-ROM, M6497) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,1 G3/600 MHz 12″ (Translucent White, Late 2001, DVD-ROM, M6497) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,2 G3/600 MHz 14″ (Translucent White, Early 2002, DVD Combo, M8413) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/600 MHz 12″ (16 VRAM, Translucent White, Mid 2002, CD-ROM, A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/700 MHz 12″ (16 VRAM, Translucent White, Mid 2002, DVD Combo A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/700 MHz 14″ (16 VRAM, Translucent White, Mid 2002, DVD Combo A1007) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/700 MHz 12″ (16 VRAM, Opaque White, Late 2002, CD-ROM A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/800 MHz 14″ (32 VRAM, Translucent White, Late 2002, DVD-Combo A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/800 MHz 12″ (32 VRAM, Opaque White, Early 2003, CD-ROM A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/900 MHz 12″ (32 VRAM, Opaque White, Early 2003, DVD Combo A1005) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
iBook G3 (PowerPC) PowerBook4,3 G3/900 MHz 14″ (32 VRAM, Opaque White, Early 2003, DVD Combo A1007) PC100 SODIMM 640 MB, 128 soldered + 1x512MB
Model/ Identifier CPU/ Speed/ Screen/ Date/ Designation RAM Type & Speed Maximum RAM
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,3 G4/800 MHz 12″ (Original G4 Opaque White, Late 2003 M9164LL/A A1054)
DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1152 MB, 128 soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,3 G4/933 MHz 14″ (Original G4 Opaque White, Late 2003 M9388LL/A A1055) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1152 MB, 128 soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,3 G4/1.0 GHz 14″ (Original G4 Opaque White, Late 2003 M9165LL/A A1055) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1152 MB, 128 soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,5 G4/1.0 GH 12″ (Opaque White, Early 2004 M9426LL/A A1054) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1.25 GB, 256M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,5 G4/1.0 GH 14″ (Opaque White, Early 2004 M9418LL/A A1055) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1.25 GB, 256M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,5 G4/1.2 GH 14″ (Opaque White, Early 2004 M9419LL/A A1055) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1.25 GB, 256M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,5 G4/1.2 GH 12″ (Opaque White, Late 2004 M9623LL/A A1054) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1.25 GB, 256M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,5 G4/1.33 GH 14″ (Opaque White, Late 2004 M9627LL/A A1055) DDR266 or 333 SODIMM 1.25 GB, 256M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,7 G4/1.33 GH 12″ (Opaque White, Mid 2005 M9846LL/A A1133) DDR333 SODIMM 1.5 GB, 512M soldered + 1x1GB
iBook G4 (PowerPC) PowerBook6,7 G4/1.42 GH 14″ (Opaque White, Mid 2005 M9848LL/A A1134) DDR333 SODIMM 1.5 GB, 512M soldered + 1x1GB
Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, How-To, Internet and Networking, Mac questions, Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Flashback”, Java trojans, “SabPub”, “LuckyCat” and “Tibet” Microsoft Office trojans target Mac OSX

Posted on March 29, 2012 by quill

Updated Apr 17 2012

April 17: Another Word Trojan Backdoor.OSX.SabPub.a aka “LuckyCat” has been described by Kapersky Labs, which is different malware code, assumed to be delivered in a similar way as “Tibet” through Word 2004/2008 documents or by targeted “spearphishing” attacks. The Trojan uses an older Java exploit to install once it has arrived in the Word .DOC.  Updating or removing Java as outlined below will prevent the code from installing, however will not cure an already-infected machine.  To check if you are infected you can search for

  • /Library/Preferences/com.apple.PubSabAgent.pfile
  • /Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.PubSabAGent.plist

The number of attacked machines should be small, given the narrow method of spreading.

Flashback Trojan: Scroll down this post for information on Flashback/FlashFake and its variants

Tibet Trojan: According to the websites AlienVault.com, ESET.com and Intego.com, a malware author has exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Office Word 2004 and 2008. The Tibet.C Trojan rides along with a seemingly normal Word .DOC file (Word 2011 and .DOCX files are not affected). The Word .DOC file would be delivered with an email and some kind of subject that encourages you to open the document – the first example is an email to do with Tibet.  Earlier variants of the Tibet trojan fooled viewers into visiting an infected web page.

If the DOC file is opened, it can use a security flaw in Word to install a back-door remote access to an outside server. It does not require password permission to install, and there is no indication to the user that there is malware installing.

The first line of defense is, as always:
Never open unsolicited emails, and never open any attachment to an email unless you know 100% for sure who it is from and why you are receiving it.  Delete spam emails immediately without opening.

The second line of defense is to keep your software up to date with all Software Update patches. Word 2011 is not affected by this particular attack, (which doesn’t mean that it is immune from any future attacks).  Presumably Microsoft will distribute additional updates for Word 2008 and 2011 through Microsoft AutoUpdate . If you are using the obsolete version 2004, you should consider upgrading to 2011 or switching to OpenOffice.
Note: there is a security update for Microsoft Word 2008 that was released Dec 2011 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2644354 – make sure you have this installed.

The third line of defense is to update or turn off Java on your Mac browser.
Run this updater released April 3 by Apple http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5228 and a second updater released April 5 which is available through Apple Software Update under the Apple menu (or should be set to automatically update) Lion: support.apple.com/kb/DL1515  10.6: support.apple.com/kb/HT5056

Java is Off by default in OSX 10.7  but on by default in OSX 10.6 Although Java is not implicated in the Tibet Word trojan horse, it is used by other related malware attempts such as the Flashback.K trojan which can load as a drive-by download from a poisoned web page. The latest update of Java from Apple Software Update patches the vulnerability.

NOTE: Apple has not released an update for Java for OSX 10.5 and earlier.  If you are running 10.5 or earlier, then either turn off Java immediately or update to 10.6.

If you are not doing Web or App development, chances are you don’t need Java anyway. You can disable it globally from Applications > Utilities > Java Preferences
If you do need Java (such as for OpenOffice) you can still disable it from running in your Web browser.

Safari: click Preferences, then Security tab  uncheck “Enable Java”.
Also uncheck the “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” box in Safari Preferences > General tab.
Google Chrome: open Preferences, type “Java” in the search text box. Scroll down until you reach Plug-ins, click “Disable individual plug-ins.” If Java is installed, you’ll see a “disable” link for it.
Firefox: While in Firefox, from the top menu, choose Tools, Add-ons, disable the Java plugin(s)
www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_disable_java_your_mac_web_browser

Flashback, FlashFake and variants:

There are numerous variations of the Flashback Trojan being reported.

If you see this screen below, this is a phony “un-trusted self signed certificate” notification supposedly from Apple. It is really a malware installer for Flashback,G, so do not click Continue, instead shut down the machine.

Note that Java is not the same as JavaScript. You will want JavaScript available in your browser if you do online shopping or banking or many other web based activities.  The best way I know to manage JavaScript is to switch to Firefox as your web browser and install NoScript, which allows you to approve or reject JavaScripts from specific web servers.

FlashFake: Beware also of phony program installers like FlashPlayer.pkg (masquerades as an updater for Adobe Flash Player, this has been around since the Fall of 2011.

It looks plausible but is not the same as the official Adobe installer screen, below.

Also watch out for fake Video CoDec downloads, which are used to deliver browser redirect trojans.

Never download a program update or program installer from an unknown website, a pop-up browser window or an email, always go to the manufacturer’s site (adobe.com in this case) to get your updater and installer files.

Flashback can also be installed via a drive-by download (silently) from a poisoned Website if an unpatched Java installation is active. See above for updating instructions.

Information and manual removal instructions for particular variants:

(Note that just turning off or updating Java will not delete the Trojan if the Mac is already infected)

Apple has released the third software update within a week, which is designed to remove the Flashback trojan – For Lion 10.7 support.apple.com/kb/HT5242 or use Software Update. It will automatically disable Java after it has been unused for 35 days, so if you rely on Java be aware you may need to re-enable it in the future.
Apple also has a new update for Snow Leopard OSX 10.6 in Software Updates

Flashfake Removal tool from Kapersky: www.kaspersky.com/virus-removal-tools

Flashback.A www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_a.shtml
Flashback.C www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_c.shtml
Flashback.I www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml
Flashback.K www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_k.shtml

Kapersky Labs has confirmed the trojan: www.securelist.com/en/blog/208193441/Flashfake_Mac_OS_X_botnet_confirmed and they have a 30 day free trial of their product usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-home-trials/anti-virus-for-mac

Intego also has a 30 day free trial of VirusBarrier, which is claimed to detect Tibet www.intego.com/virusbarrier

The Flashback Trojans can be detected by searching for the presence of certain files in Terminal:

In Terminal, copy and paste in one of the following commands and hit Return:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

defaults read /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

The correct response should be “does not exist” if your machine is clean.

An open-source application has been released that automates those searches and reports the presence or not of the infected files.  Note that this App does nothing to remove the infection, it just reports status, and it would not detect new mutations that use differently named files FlashbackChecker 1.0 github.com/jils/FlashbackChecker/wiki

There are several free and commercial antivirus programs available for Macintosh, and interestingly, this particular Flashback Trojan seems to commit suicide if it detects anti-virus programs like ClamXAV or network reporting programs like Little Snitch on the machine. This is perhaps an attempt to be stealthy and conceal the botnet Command and Control (C&C) servers from being revealed and tracked.

More Mac antivirus information is here and

Information on securing a Macintosh is here

AVComparatives paper comparing Mac antivirus programs (PDF)

osxdaily.com tips on securing a Mac

Although these malware are not viruses, strictly speaking they are trojan horses, they do illustrate the point that a Macintosh OSX system is vulnerable to attack if the user can be tricked into installing it, or a flaw in a third party program (such as Word 2008 or Java) permits programs to be installed.

The arguments whether these are viruses or trojans, and whether the Macintosh operating system is faulty or the third party software is faulty, or whether this is a Windows virus that opportunistically had Mac OSX and or Linux payloads added to is, are academic. The fact is that there is a threat, there will be more, and they have the potential to do real damage.

Other Trojans or Advertising/Malware to look out for an avoid are:
MacDefender/MacProtector/MacSecurity/MacGuard (FakeMacDef),  MacShield, which are phony utility or antivirus programs. A trojan called OSX/Imuler or OSX/Revir.C  is embedded in a sample of erotic pictures that are offered for free (example “Covergirl Irina Shayk”).

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