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Macintosh OS/Questions Answered by Expert Steve Thompson
| Subject | Date Asked |
| Upgrading of mac osX 10.4.11 (tiger) to Snow Leopard 10.6 or + | 2/3/2011 |
| Q: I had bought mac pro quad core in 2007 which came with tiger 10.4 osX which I upgraded to 10.4.11 ... A: I would say that if 10.6 doesn't give you anything you need then don't upgrade. But to answer your ... | |
| Can i installed Window xp on apple model M5183 | 10/19/2010 |
| Q: I have bought an apple PC Model # M5183 from a local market in my city (Lahore,Pakistan) in which ... A: You can't install Windows on a G4 based machine - sorry! Windows only runs on Intel based Macs. You ... | |
| Word to PDF problems | 6/19/2010 |
| Q: I am having problems converting Word to PDF in OSX 10.6.4 using Office Word 2008 and Adobe Reader 9. ... A: If you add the attachment using the paperclip button, click the checkbox that says "Windows Friendly ... | |
| Macbook Pro 5.2 - Data Recovery - "Read Only Permissions" | 6/4/2010 |
| Q: I am an expert over on the Portugal forum of allexperts.com I also am a PC tech here in the Algarve ... A: You'd need to mount the disk first but it's likely it's not going to work if you're using a lite CD. ... | |
| MAC OSX - writing macros in Exel | 2/12/2010 |
| Q: I'm a new user on a MAC. No choice, what the firm uses. I want to create some macros in an Excel ... A: I thought you might say that. Microsoft no longer support Visual Basic for writing macros in Office ... | |
| Mac OS | 2/5/2010 |
| Q: Basically I am student of Computer Science and very excited to learn Macintosh Operating System. ... A: The OS X Installer checks to see if it's being installed on a Mac or not. There are ways to defeat ... | |
| Mac OS | 2/5/2010 |
| Q: Basically I am student of Computer Science and very excited to learn Macintosh Operating System. ... A: It's not free and you need a Mac to run it on. If you've got a Mac you don't need to download it. ... | |
| iBook G4 | 1/25/2010 |
| Q: when i power up my laptop iBook G4 i hear the chime...then the monitor goes white and does nothing ... A: OK, I may not have good news for you, but we'll try a few things first. Firstly, disconnect ... | |
| Help me find/name a classic Apple II drawing game...? | 1/12/2010 |
| Q: I've been trying to track down a game from my early youth that ran on an Apple II which we played at ... A: Based on the information you've provided it sounds like either Kid Pix or Jeepers Creatures. ... | |
| Time zone problems | 11/25/2009 |
| Q: I have recently moved from Ireland to New Zealand. Since arriving i have been unable to open my time ... A: Without knowing what version of OS X you're using, I can only guess at what's happening. If you have ... | |
| MAC 9.2 to OSX | 10/22/2009 |
| Q: I have an eMAC that runs Leopard. I think it's 10.4.1 but not sure. My stupid, stupid school tried ... A: Under the Apple Menu there's a thing called "Control Panels". In there, there's a control panel ... | |
| Macbook OS X Password | 9/28/2009 |
| Q: I hope you can help me, I need to reset the password for my Macbook OS X as I have forgotten it and ... A: I've got a way that might work but I've never tried it so apologies if it doesn't - if it doesn't ... | |
| Entourage | 9/18/2009 |
| Q: 3.9 OS. My Entourage stopped working. The top buttons don’t light up and don’t respond. When I ... A: Bill, Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. AllExperts either didn't send me an email or ... | |
| iMac 10.1.2 | 7/21/2009 |
| Q: Our son purchased a used iMac with a 10.1.2 OS that was previously owned by a school district. He ... A: If he has the administrator password for the machine and he's been able to put the files in the ... | |
| Windows OS | 7/8/2009 |
| Q: My boss has a dual OS in MAC (Windows and Tiger). I want to domain the windows OS to domain. Is it ... A: Do you mean "join the windows OS to a domain"? If so, it depends on how you have the dual OS set ... | |
| clamshell ibook booting into open firmware | 6/12/2009 |
| Q: i am working on an ibook clamshell for a friend. it is running os9, but it never even gets to the ... A: Sorry this is late - didn't realise you'd left another question! 17/ata-4@1f000/disk@0:5 ... ... | |
| clamshell ibook booting into open firmware | 6/11/2009 |
| Q: i am working on an ibook clamshell for a friend. it is running os9, but it never even gets to the ... A: Any kind of "DEFAULT CATCH!, code=300" error means that the firmware has failed its startup test for ... | |
| Chooser problem | 12/11/2008 |
| Q: I run a Mac 7500/system 8.6. Usually very stable but suddenly when I now open the chooser to select ... A: Coax cable has BNC connectors on it - the type you twist on and twist off. You also wouldn't have a ... | |
| fail to startup after power failure | 12/10/2008 |
| Q: I have had a repeating problem with my iMac G5 using OSx 10.4.11. I live in an area where there are ... A: Sorry about that. Clicked the wrong button. The grey screen shows while the Mac does a File System ... | |
| G4 restoration | 12/10/2008 |
| Q: I have a G4 Power PC: SPECS: Name: Power Mac G4 Model: Power Mac 3,3 CPU: Power PC G4 (2.9) 1 ... A: All the blinking globe means is that the Mac has gone to look at your network to see if it can find ... | |
| Password Reset | 12/9/2008 |
| Q: I have a preowned macbook that I need to clear/change the password for. I ordered the install disks ... A: Even easier :-) Put the OS X CD in to the drive of the machine and restart holding down the letter ... | |
| Password Reset | 12/9/2008 |
| Q: I have a preowned macbook that I need to clear/change the password for. I ordered the install disks ... A: OK - a bit easier. First of all, anything that is considered a risky or dangerous action such as ... | |
| Password Reset | 12/8/2008 |
| Q: I have a preowned macbook that I need to clear/change the password for. I ordered the install disks ... A: Can you confirm when the password appears? Is it right at the very beginning of the startup - within ... | |
| Dual Processor Macs & Virus | 12/4/2008 |
| Q: Do you know if Dual Processor Macs are susceptible to Windows virus? Thanks much! Ron A: In order to be infected by a Windows or Microsoft Based virus, you need to be running Windows ... | |
| MORE TIME | 11/20/2008 |
| Q: I was wondering would you please explain to me: how do our computers know when it's day light ... A: I'm in the UK. Here it's as simple as "last Sunday of March" and "last Sunday of October". There are ... | |
| External hard disc | 11/19/2008 |
| Q: I have bought an external hard disc (WD) to my Mac G5, sys. 10.5.5. I have also installed Time ... A: I thought I'd answered this question - I remember typing out the answer. I obviously didn't send it! ... | |
| How do you switch system preferences settings with AppleScript? | 10/25/2008 |
| Q: The computers in the computer lab are set to revert every time you log off. I change these settings ... A: Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you. I've been playing with this and I can't see a way to ... | |
| router compatibility | 10/22/2008 |
| Q: Can a laptop go wireless from a desktop computer if the laptop is tiger and the other panther? ... A: As long as both computers have Airport cards in them, you can go to System Preferences under the ... | |
| Leopard | 10/14/2008 |
| Q: Steve, I am about to upgrade to Apple's Leopard OS and please can you tell me when I do this do I ... A: You only need to disconnect an external drive if it contains an operating system. Even that isn't a ... | |
| spyware,virus,trojans. | 10/12/2008 |
| Q: My iMac with osX 10.3.9 has been acting really weird lately. seems very slow. When i open ... A: I'm afraid you can only do it with the CD. You can buy one from an Apple Store or you could find ... | |
| spyware,virus,trojans. | 10/12/2008 |
| Q: My iMac with osX 10.3.9 has been acting really weird lately. seems very slow. When i open ... A: It's possible that you may have those programs on your machine but they won't be doing anything. ... | |
| iMac commands and compatibility | 10/11/2008 |
| Q: I’m using an iMac, OS X v.10.5.4, and most of what I do is in Quark 6.1 and MS Office:mac ... A: 1) This setting is saved in the normal.dot template, not as a feature of the program itself. Find ... | |
| blocking users view of computers | 9/24/2008 |
| Q: We are attempting to stop students from seeing the boards computers from our mac computers. When we ... A: Depends on what you mean by "the boards computer". Could you clarify that for me? I'm guessing you ... | |
| Disk spins, won't boot, chime or beep | 9/11/2008 |
| Q: I am temporarily living in South America where I have no access to Apple repair, and all the more ... A: Couple of things: There's a manual eject mechanism to the right of the CD slot. If you insert a pen ... | |
| dead ibook | 9/9/2008 |
| Q: my ibook G4 recently died. It just clicked off and when I try to turn it back on, it clicks and ... A: I can't really answer this question and give you any confidence because "died" means so many things. ... | |
| UNTITLED | 9/5/2008 |
| Q: I was wondering would you please tell me: would a scratched CD/DVD ruin your computers CD/DVD ... A: I can't say for certain - a slightly scratched up CD that's been on the floor or something similar ... | |
| Mac Deleting Problem | 9/3/2008 |
| Q: 1. there are about 10 files in my trash that refuses to be deleted when i empty trash. i have ... A: For question 1, in the terminal type sudo chmod -R 777 ~/.Trash/ Enter your password when prompted ... | |
| Re: OSx & OS9 | 8/20/2008 |
| Q: I have a Powermac G4 which is running on OSX10. I am trying to re-install OS9 Classic again for ... A: Acrobat 4.0 is a Carbon application and will only work on OS 9. - If you just need to view PDFs ... | |
| Won't boot | 8/18/2008 |
| Q: I turned on my mac ii si this weekend and all I got was a pictograph of a disk and a blinking ... A: A IIsi is a very old machine - it's quite likely the hard disk has failed. However, the flashing ... | |
| Opening New Documents | 7/28/2008 |
| Q: I have Office 2004 and when I try to open a new Word document it always opens with my father's ... A: Do a search on your machine for a Word document called Normal and throw it away. This is the ... | |
| HOW MUCH IS LEFT - Mac OS X 10.4 | 7/27/2008 |
| Q: I was wondering would you please tell me: why can't I check my printer ink levels? P.S I have a ... A: I don't know the Epson 760 but on the last Epson printer I owned you could only check the ink levels ... | |
| xcode | 7/24/2008 |
| Q: I am running a running a Mac os X 10.3.9 1.6 GHZ powerPC G5 recently when using Safari Debug has ... A: The debug menu has appeared because XCode is installed. It can be turned off use Safari preferences ... | |
| Darwin | 7/14/2008 |
| Q: What exactly is Darwin? I have a PPC Mac running 10.3.9, and i just downloaded the Darwin Mac OS ... A: Darwin is the underlying Unix engine. It's the bit that drives OS X but it isn't OS X. You can't use ... | |
| Applescript | 7/14/2008 |
| Q: Steve, I am working on a script that includes extracting the names of placed items from an Adobe ... A: I've just had a play with this. It seems that although Illustrator returns file paths it has no ... | |
| imac G3 running OS 9.2 | 7/7/2008 |
| Q: ok..i've searched everywhere and it seems like you guys are the muses when it comes to this computer ... A: You do need an airport card but you're going to have trouble getting one for a G3 iMac. eBay might ... | |
| CHECK UP - OS X 10.4 | 6/30/2008 |
| Q: I was wondering would you please suggest to me: how often should I do a software update within ... A: Apple don't release that many software updates. If you're using a broadband connection there's no ... | |
| imac | 5/22/2008 |
| Q: i have been installing new programs on my imac and everything was running smoothly with no problems. ... A: Michael, Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you. I've been moving house. The beeping at ... | |
| Sharing Address Book (vcards) file | 5/18/2008 |
| Q: I need to email a Mac (10.4.11, single processor) Address Book file to some Windows-only family ... A: First, create a group in Address Book for the names you want to export and then drag those names in ... | |
| Face Recognition software | 5/18/2008 |
| Q: I am looking for face recognition software that would scan your face and then allow you to log in. I ... A: I haven't come across any software that will do that for OS X. There's a piece of software called ... | |
| Erratic mouse behavior. | 5/12/2008 |
| Q: I'm working on an iMac G5 that is some 4 years old and runs on OSX 10.3.9. For some 2 weeks now, ... A: Luc, Based on the information that you've given me it actually sounds like your keyboard is the ... | |
| Wireless network | 3/21/2008 |
| Q: . I am running an eMac V 10.4.11 with 38.16 GB capacity. Recently I upgraded to High Speed wireless ... A: What "high speed wireless gateway" did you upgrade to? When you say it's running slow do you mean ... | |
| Deskjet driver | 3/14/2008 |
| Q: I have a HP Deskjet 5740 which is printing OK except PDF files, which it won't print for some reason ... A: I've been looking in to this. Spoke to a few friends but I don't have a DeskJet or an OS 9 machine ... | |
| Deskjet driver | 3/14/2008 |
| Q: I have a HP Deskjet 5740 which is printing OK except PDF files, which it won't print for some reason ... A: 256 is not a lot of memory. What model Mac is it? You would only need to clear off stuff from your ... | |
| upgrade for 9.2.1 to osx | 3/14/2008 |
| Q: i have a mac g4 and am now running 9.2.1 and would like to upgrad to OSX...i have the disks for ... A: If you have a 10.2 disk and you're receiving this message, the disk you have is an Upgrade Disk, not ... | |
| Deskjet driver | 3/14/2008 |
| Q: I have a HP Deskjet 5740 which is printing OK except PDF files, which it won't print for some reason ... A: PDF files are a black art. A Deskjet doesn't have a PostScript interpreter like a laser printer does ... | |
| LOCK-UP 2 - OS X 10.4 | 3/9/2008 |
| Q: On Wednesday the 20th June 2007 I stumbled on how to lock your folders by going into get info and ... A: The concept is that you're proving you're really you. The method is analogous to the "self destruct" ... | |
| Applescript | 3/9/2008 |
| Q: Steve, I have an applescript that takes 2 text files created form filemaker text calculation fields ... A: It's easier to refer to things in AppleScript by where they are instead of explicit paths. This is ... | |
| LOCK-UP - OS X 10.4 | 3/6/2008 |
| Q: On Wednesday the 20th June 2007 I stumbled on how to lock your folders by going into get info and ... A: As you know, OS X is based on the Unix operating system. Unix has the concept of a "super user" ... | |
| operating system | 3/1/2008 |
| Q: I have an older blue clamshell mac ibook laptop with os9. Can I install osx in it? A: You can install OS X 10.0 and 10.1. You can also install 10.2 but it runs really slowly making it ... | |
| printer without network interface card | 2/25/2008 |
| Q: We have a printer without network interface card plug with a ASANTÉ Friendlynet adapter on our ... A: You say you have a Windows 2003 server. You can plug the printer in to the server's parallel port, ... | |
| loading new OS | 5/8/2007 |
| Q: My friend just installed a new (replacement) hard drive in his daughter's iMac. We have the disk ... A: It depends on which OS you're trying to install. If it's OS 9, you need to boot from the CD, use ... | |
| MAC OS9 | 5/3/2007 |
| Q: I have a MAC OS 9 and I am very MAC illiterate. My computer is running very, very, very slow. I am ... A: Restart the Mac and hold down the shift kay as it starts up. Under "Welcome to Macintosh" you should ... | |
| Transfering iTunes files to iPod | 5/2/2007 |
| Q: Steve, I just recently purchased a MacBook Pro and the largest iPod. I have a music library imported ... A: Connect your iPod and open iTunes. In the left hand pane, click on the icon for the iPod. Along the ... | |
| Transfering iTunes files to iPod | 5/2/2007 |
| Q: Steve, I just recently purchased a MacBook Pro and the largest iPod. I have a music library imported ... A: Have you connected the iPod to the computer yet? When you do that you'll be taken through a setup ... | |
| printing web page as pdf | 4/2/2007 |
| Q: I find that the pdf file created upon printing a web page from Safari, or Internet Explorer, or ... A: I'm afraid not. The Basic PDF renderer that's built in to OS X won't do the links unless they ... | |
| Colloquy | 3/21/2007 |
| Q: Would you please be so kind as to direct me to a tutorial for Colloquy. Sincerely, Angel A: Colloquy is still under development so the features it has can and probably will change quite often. ... | |
| I.E | 3/17/2007 |
| Q: Cany get I E to work it freezes up and never opens ANSWER: I'll need more information such as which ... A: You need to drag the icon for Internet Explorer, the blue letter e icon with a gold comet going ... | |
| mac password | 3/16/2007 |
| Q: friend of mine acquired a mac computer and it has icons for different user and she can't get pass ... A: If you don't have ANY of the passwords, your only option is to reinstall OS X from the CD/DVD ... | |
| Mac shortcuts | 2/8/2007 |
| Q: What keys are used in the Zoom In and Zoom Out keyboard shortcuts? The first key is the Apple key ... A: I can't remember the shortcuts but the symbols are as follows Flower - Command/Apple Key Hollow ... | |
| Uploading html | 2/1/2007 |
| Q: I have a domain - bannerchat.net . How do I do it? I have a Mac with OS 10.3.9. I guess I have ... A: You should really ask this question in the Web section of AllExperts. If you upload a text file to ... | |
| imac os x - wireless networking | 1/30/2007 |
| Q: I currently use netgear wireless adsl modem firewall router ( dg834gt) and a WG111T wireless ... A: You've got a couple of choices. You don't state which type of iMac you've been given but if it's a ... | |
| password protecting for security | 1/29/2007 |
| Q: Steve, I do not currently own a Mac but will be purchasing a Mac Pro when the new operating system ... A: There's two options. You can password protect the operating system - it's Unix so it's quite secure. ... | |
| Email for OSX | 1/25/2007 |
| Q: (I had a G3 before), with a 10.3.9 OS and am trying to get my email squared away. I tried the Mac ... A: Bob, Entourage is like OutLook but you have to pay for it. You haven't said what features of ... | |
| BACKUP 3.1 | 1/12/2007 |
| Q: Begin backup at 2007-01-11 12:32:11.814 -0800 Scanning files... Acquired a destination for the ... A: There's your answer: There is not enough free space at the destination for the backup. Space ... | |
| BACKUP 3.1 | 1/12/2007 |
| Q: When I run Backup, the result always is "Backup Failed'. I went to the Apple site and reinstalled ... A: Please launch BackUp, go to the Plan menu and chose "History". If you choose one of the failed ... | |
Macintosh OS
Answers by Expert:
Steve Thompson
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I can answer most questions on the Mac OS from version 4 to 10.5. I have particular strengths with AppleScript.
Experience
19 years working with Macs including 5 years at Apple (1991-1996)
Education/Credentials
Bachelors degrees in Computing, Maths and Business, Masters in Computing
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