Holding down Shift key gives me "no" symbol and gear

I'm trying to start my Mac up in "safe" mode where all startup kernels and apps don't launch.
I thought this was traditionally done by holding down the Shift key at startup.
When a Mac is normally booted, a gray screen with Apple logo and rotating gear appear. But with the Shift key held down, the Apple logo is replaced with an international "No" icon (circle with diagonal line)... and the gear just rotates infinitely.

You have a hosed OS if restarting holding down the SHIFT key (safe mode) brings up the prohibitory sign. Zap the Pram and try again. If that doesn't fix it, reinstall the 10.6.4 COMBO update, repair permissions, and restart.

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Vector images not sizing proportionally even holding while holding down shift.

I use a Mac version 10.6.8 and Photoshop CS6.
When I copy and paste a vector image from Illustrator, the vector image is not be sized at 100%x 100%. It comes in at weird sizes like 100% x 98.33% (this is not consistent, it changes numbers). I have to go into the top to manually change it to 100%x100% while in Transform mode.
Also, after I change it to 100%x100% and try to scale by holding shift down, it will change again.
I'm not sure what's happening. I've been using Photoshop for quite a few years so it's not a beginner problem.
Does anyone know if there's an update to fix this problem or am I missing some setting somewhere?
Thank you.

Dr.
Simple to see if using default settings (ie Snap vector Tools is checked)
• create new file 400 x 400 px
• draw out rectangle shape, about 150 x 75 px
• go Edit>Transform Path>Scale
• now hold down Shift key as you scale shape. Look at the Width and Height percentages in the option bar as you scale. You'll notice they vary from each other. Slightly. This is different behavior in CS6 than previous versions.
It is more noticeable in a low res file. High res files will show less variation.

How can you insert foreign letters into pages in Maverick? The old option of holding down the key has disappeared.

After downloading Mavericks on the MacBook Air, the ability to hold down a key and insert a foreign language symbol or letter disappeared. How can foreign language alphabet symbols/letters be inserted into Pages?

Are you still using the US keyboard layout?
Pending a solution to restore the Character Picker, you can use the traditional option key shortcuts for many characters, e.g. option + e, then e produces é.
Plus you can use Edit > Special Characters to bring up the Character Viewer.

I can no longer hold down a key and get the character to repeat as say, aaaaa. Instead I get a menu of accented a's, such as àáâäæãåā. I can't find any thing in the System Preferences that allows my to turn this function off

I can no longer hold down a key and get the character to repeat as say, aaaaa. Instead I get a menu of accented a's, such as àáâäæãåā. I can't find any thing in the System Preferences that allows my to turn this function off.

Back up all data before proceeding.
Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled NO
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered. You can then quit Terminal. Log out or restart the computer.

Aperture beachballs every load, unless I hold the shift key on boot

I am using the latest Aperture. I had recently re-done MobileMe password. Some unknown process kicks in a few seconds after starting Aperture.
If I force quit and then restart Aperture holding the SHIFT Key down, I can get into it in a normal fashion, but I can't find the process that creates the beachballing. Any thoughts and ways to determine this. I have redone permissions, etc.

If your sig is correct and you are indeed using a G5 iMac you have about the weakest box that will even run Aperture. Expect terrible performance. Sorry. Also, do update your OS to 10.4.11.
FWIW the Sandy Bridge MBPs with HD 6750M graphics are the first mobility-type boxes that are not limiting to Aperture. Strong new iMacs too will be out soon, very likely next week.
In any event here is some generic advice I posted in another thread:
Aperture is a heavy pro graphics app that is very demanding of hardware. Your Mac's CPU, GPU and/or RAM are probably limiting to Aperture so we need to do what we can to optimize. Some steps:
• Set Previews to only be built manually, and only tell Aperture to build Previews when you are not otherwise editing in Aperture.
• Keep the internal drive underfilled for speed, which sooner or later usually requires using a Referenced-Masters-Library with Masters on external drives. Back up originals before importing into Aperture or any other images app.
• The Aperture Library should be on an internal drive.
• Turn off Share Previews with iLife and iWork.
• Remember that HDs slow as they fill and keep the internal drive underfilled. Approx. 70% full maximum is a good guideline.
• If page outs increase significantly during operation, max out RAM and/or try to run Aperture by itself. On my C2D MBP with its max of 3 GB RAM I always did a restart prior to a heavy Aperture session to clear any memory leaks and make sure no other apps were open. Browsers in particular will often suck RAM Aperture would otherwise be using.
IMO all Aperture users who can should routinely bump RAM to at least 8 GB.
• Some users have observed that it can take a new Aperture installation time (weeks) to stabilize. So do not panic; and allow Aperture to continue background work by not fully shutting down the computer. Personally I never fully shut down Macs except during electrical storms.
• I recommend always repairing Permissions immediately _before_ and immediately _after_ every install of any kind.
Some folks consider it a waste of time but after years of listening to others have problems while I have had problem-free usage of heavy graphics apps (Aperture, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Painter, etc.) on multiple Macs I am fully convinced that although repairing Permissions is not a "fix" it is very useful maintenance for users of heavy graphics apps.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

My computer was rebuilt this week and I am in the process of setting up iTunes and have a weird setup issue. The music in my playlists plays but the same song doesn't play from the library. Initially, I opened ITunes while holding down Shift of control.

My computer was rebuilt this week and I am in the process of setting up iTunes and have a weird setup issue. The music in my playlists plays but the same song doesn't play from the library. Initially, I opened ITunes while holding down Shift of control key.

Scratch the post above - the musics that plays in the playlist also plays in the library and that is because i forgot that i imported from the cd yesterday. Basically, I see the rest of my music, but it doesnt' play and tells me it can't locate the file though the location in 'perferences' points to the correct location. Getting iTunes to play after a new computer or rebuild is a headache.

HELP! Is there a way to change column information in iTunes such as name of artist, genre etc, other than deleting them one at a time? Such as the way you delete an entire group of songs by holding down control keys or selecting the Select All command.

HELP! Is there a way to change column information in iTunes such as name of artist, genre etc, other than deleting them one at a time? Such as the way you delete an entire group of songs by holding down control keys or selecting the Select All command. Thanks.

If you select all the songs you want to change, Be it one song or an akbum, or an Artist, Or Genre, or playlist. Then Right mouse click and Get Info. You then get a slightly different from normal Get Info box as this is the One for Multiple items.
In there have a look at the tags and see if the one you want to changes is in there. There are a few tabs so if for example you wanted to change the Media Type from Home Movie to Movie go to the Options tab and select Movie and OK and it will change the whole selection.

What's happening on my iMac? There are two choices of selected start up disks appearance without hold down option key. On the other hand, it start up normally show apple picture when I hold option key.

There are two choices of selected start up disks:Main HD and Recovery HD, appearance without hold down option key. On the other hand, it start up normally show apple picture when I hold option key.

Hi artdiva28
Welcome to Apple Discussions
First go to *System Preferences > Startup Disk* > select the *Mac OS X 10.5. on Macintosh HD* > click the Lock > hit the Restart button.
Then if the iMac is still having trouble starting up, insert your Install Disk and restart holding the Option key. In Startup Manager select the Install Disk and boot into it, choose your language, skip the Installer and go up on the menu bar to Utilities and open Disk Utility. In Disk Utility select your Macintosh HD and hit the Repair button. Once finished note any errors and what was repaired for future reference. Quit Disk Utility and restart once again holding the Option key boot back into the Macintosh HD and eject the Install Disk.
Also see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2956
Dennis

I have a late 2011 macbook pro i want to reinstall os lion 10.7 so when i reboot hold down options key click on recovery hd then in the os x utilities screen it says reinstall mac os x is there any way i can save this download so i can burn to dvd

i have a late 2011 macbook pro i want to reinstall os lion 10.7 so when i reboot hold down options key click on recovery hd then in the os x utilities screen it says reinstall mac os x is there any way i can save this download so i can burn to dvd

steve359 wrote:
Sorry ... I read but was unfortunately distracted from your original post. You have a system that came with Lion. The Lion that is on your system is only for your computer and cannot be downloaded from the app store again because you never purchased it officially through the App Store.
Try this for making an external USB/DVD copy of Recovery on an external disk. internet is still required for reinstall, though, I believe: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848. But at least you have a separate Recovery Partition if you ever need a fully new and empty internal disk.
Your assumption is incorrect. Although he may not be able to download it from the App store he can download it directly for the Apple servers using the recovery partition on his original drive.
All you have to do is start the install routine and then point the install to an external hard drive. Once the download is finished the computer will reboot to start the install. At that reboot disconnect the external drive so the install can not start. Boot the computer back into the OS on the internal hard drive, which is what will happen automatically once the external drive is disconnected. Then connect the external and copy the files from it that were downloaded. Right click on that downloaded package file and select Show contents. In the contents of that package is a file called InstallESD.DMG. Copy that file out of the package and burn it down to a DVD or USB thumb drive and you now have the Full Lion Installer. I have several of them laying around on different hard drives and 2 USB thumb drives which I have used to reinstall Lion on my 15" MBP.
Sorry OP I should of just typed this out in my first post.

I have multiple iPhoto libraries and when I selecting which library to view (hold down 'option' key and launch iPhoto from the dock) it automatically closes another open apps window eg. Chome, Word. 1 app closes every time I launch iPhoto this way.

I have multiple iPhoto libraries on my Macbook Air 10.7.5 and when I am selecting which library to view (hold down 'option' key and launch iPhoto from the dock) it automatically closes another open application window eg. Chome, Word. 1 app closes every time I launch iPhoto this way.

If you're pushing Option at the exact moment you're clicking the Dock icon, it's supposed to do that. Wait until just after clicking it.
(112342)

Imac frozen at blue screen after i went into disk utilities and cleaned my free space. I tried holding down T key as it reboots and i get a message. Start up disk full empty it how can one emptie it if you cant get past the blue screen

Imac frozen at blue screen after i went into disk utilities and cleaned free space.
I tried holding down T key as it reboots
and i get a message. Start up disk full empty it how can one emptie it if you cant get past the blue screen?
to make matters worse we bought the IMAC of amazon uk on the 4/07/011 so what can we do?
please remember how frustrating it is when asking for help when the helper telling you to type something on the screen when its frozen
Tell us when you can type some instuctions to the software how do you get to the doss prompt so to speak to do this
Thanks

i tried all this thanks
i can not get past blue screen and message Your disk is full it needs to be emptied Please not I cant proceed past this message.
no matter what you tell me
Am i right ok in thinking that
when i went into disk utilities and chose to clean my free space i left it over one hour to do its stuff
i came back and there was no progress bar just the box so i quit the program and when i opened mac mail the system just froze i forced quit mail rebooted and blue screen death
Now when free space is being cleaned is it the same as windows dose the utility write lots of 0 on the hard drive then rebbot its self to free the space
basicly is my hard drive full of 00000 is this why im getting this message because the process was interupted
I need to know if i need outside help i bought the computer on line on amazon uk what dose one do next

Google Sheets: A browser error has occurred. Please hold the Shift key and click the Refresh button to try again.

Since upgrading to OSX Yosemite last night, I get this error message when I open spreadsheets previously created in Google Drive: "A browser error has occurred. Please hold the Shift key and click the Refresh button to try again." Following these instructions does absolutely nothing.
Word google docs open fine, as do spreadsheets that aggregate responses from a form and a select few spreadsheets; however most other spreadsheets display the same error message.
I've tried:
opening in Google Chrome - uninstalling and reinstalling Google Chrome: same issue
opening in Firefox: same issue
opening from sheets.google.com: same issue

moving tab doesn't work.

When i hold down a key instead of repeating it displays special characters

When i hold down a key instead of repeating it displays special characters, can anyone helpma resolve this issue, or is it something i cannot change?

False gets replaced by True
In terminal copy and paste:
defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true
Restart your Mac

I can no longer copy multiple files by clicking on the first file and holding the shift key and clicking on the last file. This worked until recently. I must have hit the wrong button at some point

I have been able to copy multiple photos on my Mac Book Pro by selecting the first picture and then holding the shift key while I select the last picture. This highlights all the pictures and then I can use the copy command. Recently that ability to select multiple photos (or files) has stopped working. I can only guess that I hit a combination of buttons that caused this feature to stop working. Any ideas on how to get this working again.
Thanks - Mike

Your Template code is incomplete / corrupted.
That's why you can't edit it.
Try opening your .dwt file in a plain text editor like NotePad. Remove the editable regions from code. Save. Open in DW.
You will need to SaveAs Template (same name as the one used by your child pages). Add editable regions to match the ones in your child pages. Save.
Nancy O.

I get this message when I try to open my google shared docs this week: "A browser error has occurred. Please hold the Shift key and click the Refresh button to try again." - but that click/refresh doesn't work either. What's up?

# Question
I get this message when I try to open my google shared docs this week: "A browser error has occurred. Please hold the Shift key and click the Refresh button to try again." - but that click/refresh doesn't work either. What's up?

The backend end is in serious pain....on many levels.
Try this: Connection Problems Form

Holding down Shift key gives me "no" symbol and gear

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