Learning about my Mac

After reading through these threads for help on multiple issues I am having, I realized that there is so much I do not know about my Mac. Mainly about keeping it tuned up and cleaned out. I have seen people mention many different programs which they are using to keep their Mac in tip top shape. Where would be the best place for me to really learn and understand my Mac so that I can keep it working well?

The most importing thing to remember before "tuning" your Mac is to remember to back it up.
As for tuning it, I typically do very little tuning myself. I maxed out on RAM, made sure my hard drive doesn't get too full, and repair permissions with Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility before and after each update, and dismount and disconnect third party peripherals before updating. Leaving a Mac on overnight certainly helps on occasion, though you can use a freeware such as Macjanitor to run the same routines the Mac runs automatically on its own.
Besides other utilities are there mainly to troubleshoot issues you may be having. But none can replace having a good backup. Some can supplement it by getting your Mac back in good shape without having to restore from your backup, eventually though restoring from the backup may be needed.
Disclaimer: Reference to links I make to my Macmaps.com website are a for your information only type reference. I do not get any profit from this page, and it is open to the public.

Similar Messages

HT201250 My backup external hard drive hasn't work since I insalled Snow Leopard. Bad:( I am still learning about my MAC and would just like to re-format the hard dive and set everything up again. I want to upgrade to Lion but can't untill I backup what

My backup external hard drive hasn't work since I insalled Snow Leopard. Bad:( I am still learning about my MAC and would just like to re-format the hard dive and set everything up again. I want to upgrade to Lion but can't untill I backup what I.

Read through the links here, calm down and take your time.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Learning about the mac

hi all
just a few things i would like to find out please could you tell me is there anywhere i could learn how to use the macbook iv been once to the apple shop and had an hour session with them but i did not find them helpful although i have one years one 2 one with them which i paid £80 when i brought my new macbook pro thinking that i will be taught a lot of things as i was changing over from a pc to a mac ... i had a lot of expectations but those expectations were not to be
but never the less i still would like to learn all the features about the mac how to use the different programs is there any where i could attend lessons
as i have an expensive macbook which i love and would love to be Abel to use to its full potential
you're kindly
KC

There are Apple and other Apple-centric sites that offer valuable information.
http://support.apple.com/videos/
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/
http://www.macworld.com
http://reviews.cnet.com/macfixit/?tag=mfiredir
http://www.macobserver.com
http://osxdaily.com
Best.

I have a complaint about my mac book pro being slippery. Why do these expensive computers that we as consumers purchase if you set them on a couch slip off no matter where you place them on the couch?

Hi, my Mac Book Pro 15 inch lap top if i set it on the couch no matter where I place it slips off and luckily so far I have caught it before it falls onto the floor and gets ruined, of which I am super afraid of, due to what I initially paid for it as the consumer. Also, the couch is not made of slippery material at all. Also, when using it on my lap while watching tv, and multi tasking while doing my college homework, it even slides off of my lap at times. Why is it called a lap top then when it's not working as one? Are we to wear rubber pants that grip your products? Also, Why do you place on your Apple website that in one area a satin cover is available in the teal color, and then in another area it's discontinued? I believe it would be simpler if Apple would just remove the product all together from the purchasing website once any product becomes discontinued. Also, I was sitting here at home waiting for a reply about the satin cover in teal no longer being available period or that it has shipped, but yet I ended up calling Apple altogether myself and finding this all out that the only available color is the black. It would've been nice to have recieved an e-mail or a phone call on why it wasn't going to be shipped, or shipping instead of having to do customer services job and doing the leg work myself. Also, why is it that no one also even tells a consumer about the classes that were offered to a new consumer for 14 days after purchase of paying the $99.00s to learn about their macs of any kind? If I had known about such a program, I surely would've signed right up for it. Now I am being told that I can only take one clas at a time or something?!? I seriously wish I was told about this as a consumer of the Mac Book Pro 15 inch, because I would've purchased that offer right away, and now I am stuck and can no longer do it. Also I have had my computer since October of last year. So, I am in college as becoming a graphic designer within a degree of an Associates of Science and am now still struggling to learn the computer, and the programs I pruchased as well at the time of purchase, along with an Epson printer, the magic mouse, and the one year warranty. As for this all, I do believe that Apple needs to make a better bottom to the Mac Book Pro's within a much better quality for the price we pay as consumers, and all other lap tops and/or Notebooks in making them slide proof. The tiny rubber spots on the bottom of the lap tops or any Apple computer similar to mine just needs a better quality improvement to us consumers I spent good money on this purchase, I think now I deserve a rubberised protective cover for free for the slipperyness, and also since I was never told about the program for the classes of which a consumer was to pay $99.00s for, I think as a good paying quality consumer for Apple's products, I now deserve these classes for free as well.
Sincerely,
Kim

Hi shldr2thewheel,
it has been a while since we have last spoke, I would like to let you know, I am still working on getting used to the switch from windows to a Mac/Apple system. I do have a new question for you, I did purchase In Design CS5.5 through journeyed.com through Cuyahoga Community College of which I attend as a student, is there a way to purchase an online book through iTunes to learn that as well? Also, you know me, the struggling student, I would also, when and if the book can be purchased through the iTunes, would need to know if you do know of a much easier book for struggling students like myself and at a reasonable price as well for the In Design CS5.5 program. Our campus bookstore had closed early, and, so did the colleges library and our local library here where I do live, so, I cannot go to either place to purchase a book or to take out a book, plus cash funds are low at this moment as well but, I do have money left on the iTunes account to use, if it can be used. So, can it be used, the iTunes money, towards finding a low priced online book? I am in great need of assistance as I have a project due for my one course for this Tuesday, September 4, 2012.
Sincerely in need of help once again,
Kim

Hi, i'm a new member of this community. I've recently learn about flashback malware and other threats to Mac devices. I've installed the new Mac OS X update for Lion 10.7, and the flashback removal tool. what about the update for Flash Player?

Hi,
i'm a new member of this community. I've recently learn about flashback malware and other threats to Mac devices. I've installed the new Mac OS X update for Lion 10.7, and the flashback removal tool. What about the update for Flash Player? Should i install it? Otherwise, should i permanently remove this app?
I realy need some advice.
Thank's to all.

Be sure to install the latest version of Safari (version 5.1.7) which is available via Software Update (in the Apple menu) if you have not already installed it. This update will automatically disable older versions of Flash when new versions are available, and will instruct you on how to install the latest version on your system. This should help keep your system safe from any vulnerabilities in Flash.
Note that this is only useful if you use Safari, though other browsers have their own update mechanisms you should research and enable or configure to your liking.

Network storage drive...where can I learn about these?

I have so many questions, and frankly, the answers I've seen looking (briefly, admittedly) around these threads scare me. Gee, Wally, what ever happened to Apple as the computer you didn't have to know computer programming to use?
Now, before you all get your panties in a bunch telling me that I'm responsible for knowing how to use my hardware, I know...and I do want to know.
So what I want to know now is how can I learn about the various types of "shares", and what they mean for hooking up a network drive for backup, etc.
I have a WD 1TB drive which I believe uses "SMB", whatever that is. It's got two folders on it currently, "Public" which I can access, and "WD Backup", which I can't. I also can't seem to use it as a Time Machine drive, which is what I want to do with it. And, or course, I can't re-format it, which I'd love to do as my wife hates the folder designations on it, and would like to have one folder called "iMac Backup" on it.
Answers which don't involve Terminal will get extra points, but I've dealt with Terminal before, so take your best shot. And ask for clarification if you need it. Thanks.

Unfortunately, networking and file-sharing aren't quite so simple in part because there's decades of history and dozens of companies involved in getting it into the current state. If you want dead-simple, you can get an Apple Time Capsule or AirPort with an external drive and be done with it. However, if you really want the most from network storage, you'll probably want to read up...
WD make a number of drive, some network-attached, some not. We'll assume that you have one of their basic consumer network-attached drives.
"SMB" stands for "Server Message Block" protocol and it was the local area network file-sharing protocol developed for Windows for Workgroups circa 1992 (it was later renamed CIFS - Common Internet File System - by Microsoft in 1996 because of the rising popularity of the Internet, despite the difficulty in getting it to work in anything but a small local network). SMB/CIFS is still widely used today for Microsoft Windows networks, though much of the equipment that serves those files are built on Linux or FreeBSD and not Windows.
Access to shares on an SMB server (such as your hard disk) is controlled through a configuration utility provided with the drive or via a web application built into the device (that you access through your browser). Consult your manual. Generally speaking, however, SMB servers offer different ways of identifying whether or not you can access a share: 1) based on the computer connecting (in which case, everyone is considered the same user), or 2) based on a username/password combo. Generally a server will only operate in one mode. Shared directories can also allow or deny "guest" access (access without a password). All of this should be configurable through the drive utility or web application which you access with your web browser. Generally, an SMB server can only operate in one mode.
It sounds like the Public directory is configured to allow guest access, and I'm guessing that "WD Backup" is a share that's password-protected and intended to be used with Western-Digital's own software of the same name. You should be able to add and create new directories as necessary through the provided utility or the web interface.
You are correct, you cannot use Time Machine with an SMB file-sharing service. Time Machine will require AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) or NFS (Network File System) support. Western-Digital only has 3 network drives that support AFP and Time Machine: My Book Live, MyBook World, and WD ShareSpace. OS X also has some basic requirements about the performance and capabilities of network storage in order to use it with Time Machine, so you really want to look for drives that state up front that you can use Time Machine with them (for example, WD World Edition: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/docs/en/appletimemachine.pdf )
I'm not sure why you can't reformat the drive. This is supported on all WD products (though, if you've moved a bunch of data to it already, perhaps it would be a hassle).
You can do backups of your Mac over SMB, but it's complicated by the fact that SMB is quite old and isn't capable of storing information about the file permissions, ownership, etc. It will be reliable for data files, but not for applications, etc. There's a work-around, of course. You can create a disk image on the SMB share using Disk Utility (make sure you create an HFS+ image) and backup to that. If you go that route, I would suggest either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to perform your backups. They are true backup tools, not versioning tools like Time Machine.

Where can i learn about Boot Camp

to all
i would like to learn about boot camp and the risks of puttiong windows on my mac. some things i just need on windows.
where can i read about it before i start to post dumb questions about virus software and the risk of virus, as i'm sure its been addressed somewhere..

thanks for the reply The Hatter... but its not a case of not leaving my comfort zone, but getting the full facts first for what i want to do. I;m quite good at leaving my comfort zone thank you..
currently trying to build a server at home with little experience
teaching myself HTML and Javascript and writing 5 websites on the fly
among many other things.. i just need to find out more about what i am doing before i do it so i understand what i am doing, and whether its the best use of my time.
my laptop most certainly doesn't sit on a shelf. its been around the world, to far flung corners of jungles, remote islands in Thailand and never leaves my side. Its on al day working and on all night processing. infact it almost drowned with me when i was caught in a violent storm going between islands in Thailand. Naturally i put the laptop somewhere safe before saving myself from going overboard.

About this Mac information is not right

Hello, i have a question about "about this mac" information. It isn`t right and maybe someone can help me out or has the same problem. As you can see on the picture, it says that i`ve uses 90 gb of the storage for programs. But i still have a free space of 81,04 gb of 120,47 gb. It doesn`t match. Does anyone have the same problem or has a solution? (sorry if I have made any mistakes, i`m still learning english )

Reindex Spotlight. That may correct the problem.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409
Ciao.

Want to learn about xCode

I bought my first Mac in february and I love everything about it. that said, I've been trying to get my hands on as much software as possible and I'm interested in learning about xCode. is there somewhere I can get started, right from scratch? I don't know much about developing software at all but I'm willing to learn.
Thanks

I posted this a while back. I don't know if it was helpful or not. It is a tutorial on C programming written by the author of a very good book on Motif programming.
How C Programming Works
Since you are just starting, my advice is to stay out of Xcode, just for little bit. Go through some basic "HelloWorld" tutorials. Learn how the terminal works. Learn a little bit about the process of compiling a source file into an executable. Xcode is very good, but it hides a lot of what is going on underneath. I think you would be much more effective with Xcode if you knew a little about that hidden stuff.

About this Mac - Storage

Hello.
When I go to "About this Mac", then "Storage", I see that there is 77.55G in the "Other" (the yellow one) folder.
I mostly have pics, music, apps and movies on my computer.
Any ideas what that 77.55G is and how to clean it up?

"Other" includes everything that is not audio, movies, photos, apps, or backups. It includes downloads, work products such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, Mail messages and their attachments, and OS X itself. 77+ GB is not at all unusual.
To determine what it might be consider reading the following, from the late Apple Support Communities contributor Pondini's FAQ:
OSX Tips
Where did my Disk Space go?
To learn how to increase disk space read: OS X: Increase disk space

With all of the big changes that have gone on with Lion, surely it would have made sense for Apple to have provided how the new commands work? What is the best way to learn about how things have changed?

Apple has tended in my expereince to provide intuitive software that users can grow to use and admire. Why then does Lion go off at a tangent and become unintuitive and just plain hard work to work out? I run a business and this has caused a lot of time consuming effort particularly when working out how to save files (in certain programs). Like so many products (iPhone being one), there is no guide to the great things that can be done and I just don't have the time to go fishing around online looking for tips and tricks when I've got clients who need things quickly.
Where is the best place to learn about Mac things?

Take a look here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/

I bought this in 2012 and still learning about this, what is cloud for?

I did not go to school to learn this Imac, I used to know a iMac (Intel)lot about windows.How can I learn about this more I do not know how to code. I got a magaizine on the MAC I do not have an IPod or pad. How come my computer some times thinks it is an I Pad or I pod.? Is this the OSMavericks Why do I need I cloud. I am not a business. I do not have Microsoft on it. I keep getting asked to download to my IPod when I am not one. What should I do?

Creating an iCloud account- Frequently Asked Questions
Apple iCloud - Pertinent Questions

Using Learn About FireFox and the 'Markers' disappeared never to return?

Downloaded and installed FF4 for Mac
Elected to ‘Learn about FireFox’, the browser complete with the Markers and dotted track/order to access line was displayed.
Hit the first Marker and the relevant info window displayed.
Hit the next Marker and then was distracted by another link and hit that.
Returning (back button probably) to the learning session found all the Markers had disappeared.
Tried various things to get the Markers to reappear but no luck so far.
I did not restart FF4 but surely this should not be necessary?
I will do this now but think this needs attention.
Cheers, NSN
EDIT: From the links obtained via a Google, I followed the most prominent to Mozilla.com and the info lead me to believe I was downloading FF4. I see this is not so!

Unfortunately I tried that and it didn't work. Thanks for the help though. I tried to uninstall and it said I couldn't because the file is corrupt or something, but I think I finally got it uninstalled and/or deleted or whatever, but now I try to reinstall/download it again from the beginning and I can't. No matter what I do I can not get Firefox working again. No matter how many times I try to redownload it. Any other suggestions?

I have a new iPhone 5S. While trying to learn about it, I accidentally recorded a voice memo with no content. I cannot now figure out how to get rid of it. There is a banner across the top of my phone with this memo which I don't want. Help!

I have a new iPhone 5S. While trying to learn about it, I accidentally recorded a voice memo with no content. I cannot now figure out how to get rid of it. There is a banner across the top of my phone with this memo which I don't want. I have deleted it from iTunes but cannot get it off the phone. Help!

The banner usually indicates that the memo is "Paused." If you go back into voice memos, touch the word "Done" beside the big red pause button, give it a name, then it will show in a list. Touch the memo in the list then touch the trash can icon that should appear.

Memory Speed (MHz) missing in 'About This Mac'

Hi
I'm using a Macbook Pro with 10.4.9 and all updates and I recently noticed that the memory speed is missing in the 'About This Mac' window.
It's saying: Memory 1GB 0 MHz RAM.
Am I the only one with this problem or is this a bug?

Please search the discussions before posting, as this topic has already been covered:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4489699

Learning about my Mac

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