Ask TUAW: Uninstalling, kickstarting the Dashboard, iSight replacements and more

robert asks

Using 8.1 on Tiger, and want to do a complete and clean uninstall. Adobe seems to scatter files all over the place. Any advice on how to do this or where I can find a good step by step for doing so?

You just need to use an uninstaller application like AppZapper ($12.95). AppTrap is a similar donationware alternative. Either will look for all the various files an application installs on your system.

Dev Gupta

I plan on upgrading to Leopard, however I have a few pieces of software that came with my macbook pro (such as omnioutliner). I would like to do a clean install, however how should I keep OmniOutliner, even though it didn't come with a serial key.

Omni's Lost and Found license page notes: "Software which came bundled with your computer does not have a separate license; you will need to reinstall from the discs included with your computer." So you should be able to use your original install discs to reinstall it,

I do have another suggestion as well. Try using AppZaper as above to find all files associated with OmniOutliner and save those files to a flash drive or something and then restore them on the Mac after you install Leopard. I don't know for a fact that this will work, but I would expect it to.

Tomahawk asks

If I wanted to play a movie which is part of an ITunes playlist, how can I get ITunes to play it and then stop once the movie is over rather then having it play the next movie in the playlist?

Use this Just Play This One AppleScript from Doug's AppleScripts. Once it's installed you just need to select the track/movie in question and invoke the script.

In iTunes, I have a few huge playlists that I use to group songs and albums. I want to set up a smart playlist for my iPod so that it randomly grabs x number of songs from these playlists. Is it possible to do this? I tried setting up a smart playlist for this but when I sync that smart playlist to my iPod, iTunes wants to also sync the playlist the smart playlist selects from... which means syncing all the songs in that playlist rather than a random few.

All you have to do is change your iPod preferences and select which play list(s) you want to sync. Select your iPod in the Device list, then slect the Music tab. Make sure that the radio button is set for "Selected Playlists" instead of "All Songs and Music." Then just de-select the playlists you don't want to sync.

Adam asks

Is there a way to get dashboard to load before you open it the first time after a system restart. The first time I open it, it always takes about 15 seconds to load all the information whether it just be system stats or if it has to grab stuff off the internet.

DashboardKickStart looks like it will do what you want. It will automatically start the Dashboard at login (it's not Leopard compatible, however). You might also like Dasher which will start the Dashboard after a user-selected period of inactivity.

Moose asks

Why is it that MacPro or other tower pro users are the only Mac users to have to do without an Apple camera solution? Is there a product planned for the future to fill this hole? Perhaps within revised Apple Cinemas?

ShaggyDog asks

I am aware the isight is a thing of the past. But I have been unable to find much in the way of a replacement. I never bought an isight, as I was using my DV camcorder, which has developed an annoying habit of turning itself off after about 10minutes. Is there any consensus on the best video webcam available for ichat?

An iSight enabled Apple Cinema Display has been long rumored, but there's no hard information. Given that other display makers are starting to integrate webcams into displays, I would expect to see this at some point from Apple.

I don't know that there is a "consensus" on the best webcam for iChat, but since the 10.4.9 update OS X has natively recognized USB Video Class webcams. Keep in mind that not all USB webcams are USB Video Class so if you go with a USB camera make sure it meets that specification. Wikipedia has a list here. Somewhat ironically, the Xbox LIVE Vision camera will work with iChat, and is widely available for only $40.