Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Uninstalling, kickstarting the Dashboard, iSight replacements and more
In this round of Ask TUAW we're tackling questions about uninstalling Adobe reader, keeping OmniOutliner after an OS upgrade, playing just one track in an iTunes playlist, kickstarting the Dashboard at login, iSight replacements and more.As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. And now on to the questions!
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.
table asks
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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anonymous said 11:41PM on 10-25-2007
I think you meant to say the iSight works with iChat?
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jordan Merrick said 12:12AM on 10-26-2007
I've got the Xbox vision camera and it works great with my Mac Mini. I use it with a program called SecuritySpy as well and put the Mac Mini to use as home security when I'm out.
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a ham sandwich said 12:51AM on 10-26-2007
the question i've got is about itunes shares. since what seems like forever, there hasn't been any way to download music that shows up in the "shared" section of itunes. ourtunes and mytunes redux used to work, but don't anymore. anybody have any solutions that work with itunes 7 so i can share music with my family?
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bitweever said 3:29AM on 10-26-2007
I don't think he answered table's question. He knows how to sync just one playlist, but since it is a smart playlist based on a larger one, it wants to sync that one, too. I don't remember my Nano doing that.
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Peter Payne said 3:45AM on 10-26-2007
Any USB cameras that have a microphone built in, like the iSight? And which work with iChat AV and Skype?
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Peter Payne said 3:45AM on 10-26-2007
Any USB cameras that have a microphone built in, like the iSight? And which work with iChat AV and Skype?
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Sven Fechner said 4:35AM on 10-26-2007
I' am wondering which WebCams work for other applications on 10.4.9+ such as Skype. Will the USB Video Class ones work for this usage as well? Or the X-Box one? How about using inbetween drivers like macam? Where do they come in?
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Jak Logan said 6:05AM on 10-26-2007
I have a question about sharing movies locally through iTunes using Quicktime Reference Movie Files. When I save a non-standard Quicktime movie (.avi etc.) as a Quicktime reference file ending in .mov, iTunes will play it without hesitation if it is located in the iTunes Movie folder. I used the AppleScript Movie2iTunes to batch convert an entire folder of shows to the .mov format and created Smart Playlists to isolate the shows from my music. However, when I browse my shared library via Bonjour, the movie Smart Playlists are empty. I know the Reference Files and Movie source files are in the right locations, but I can't seem to get iTunes to recognize the .mov's for local sharing. Any ideas?
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olivegreen said 11:17AM on 10-26-2007
i got a question concerning leopard and the system language. the only reason why i am not celebrating the leopard day with the "shiny" disc is my hand is basically because i can't get my hands on an english install disc- i live in the netherlands and am currently in germany, and while i do understand both of those languages there, i'd much rather have and english os (those apple terms just don't translate well).
so the big questions: does it even matter what version i buy? is it possible to install a dutch os x and simply choose english as system language? does anyone know?
thanks in advance!
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Jak Logan said 11:43AM on 10-26-2007
@10
You can start celebrating. The first question Apple asks during any install is 'Choose your primary language.' You can choose any of the (around 50) languages as well as optional languages during an install of Tiger or Leopard. So pick up a copy and rest assured you'll be covered. Hope that helped!
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narles11 said 2:41PM on 10-26-2007
ShaggyDog -
This is just a suggestion but I know that my camcorders (Panasonic AG-DVX100 and Sony VX-2000) both have a feature where the camera will turn off if there is a tape loaded inside of the camera but no footage is being recorded and/or the tape isn't being accessed. You might want to try (if you haven't already) removing the tape from the camera and then using it as an iChat webcam. The cameras do this to protect the tape.
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Mike said 3:02PM on 10-26-2007
I'm a new convert to the Mac world. As I was getting my new iMac set up I took the opportunity of the fresh start to re-rip my CD collection to iTunes. Over the past few weeks I've gotten through three or four hundred music CDs and I'm concerned for my SuperDrive. I've been cleaning most of the CDs before ripping them but there must be quite a bit of lint/dust in the drive by now. Is there a recommended DVD drive laser cleaning kit for the Mac or am I worrying for no reason? Thanks.
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table said 8:41PM on 10-26-2007
Yeah, I didn't get my question answered.
I have playlist A that say, contains 100 songs. I create a smart playlist, B, that randomly picks 10 songs from A. If I set my iPod to only sync B, iTunes will only complain that it needs to sync A as well.
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damon said 2:04PM on 10-27-2007
I am looking for help with a TIVO solution. I am interested in getting a HD Tivo, but I want to know how well does it play with macs? I have a home theater downstairs with an OTA antenna. I was using a G5 with eyeTV, but I had nothing but problems with the program, it wouldn't record things I wanted. I would pause in the middle of a show, and go back to watch it, only to discover it wouldn't record. So will an HD Tivo let me watch shows on any Mac in the house? How about making them available to iTunes to upload to my iPhone?
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brett said 3:13PM on 10-28-2007
I'm looking for help with an annoyance in itunes. While in coverflow, some of the albums I have create duplicate "covers," so that I see 14 of the same album (one for each song). And sometimes, it'll create 2 or 3 groups of songs from the same album. How do I fix this?
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Adrixan said 4:58AM on 10-29-2007
Hi everyone,
I've upgraded from Tiger to Leopard. My Powerbook G4 used to resume from hibernation/deep sleep/suspend to disk just fine, while I was using Tiger. But now each time I resume Leopard the HardwareGrowler says that the Bluetooth and Trackpad devices are disconnected. A clean install doesn't solve the problem either!
Is there any chance I can use hibernation again with my Trackpad working afterwards?
kind regards,
Adrixan
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Kevin said 2:36PM on 10-29-2007
Question - A friend has 12'' Power Book 1.5 GHZ 80 GB HD 768 MB RAM. He backed up using CCC in preparation for Leopard, however, when he restarts holding "Option" the external drive with his copy is not found. Why? Is there another way he can do it? Thanks
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Jak Logan said 5:36PM on 10-29-2007
I'm dual booting Tiger and Leopard on my MBP in 2 partitions. While trying out Leopard's new Guest Account feature I notice that my Tiger partition is available for access in the Finder sidebar whereas the Leopard HD's files are protected. Is there a way to protect other partitions from prying guests? Thanks,
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Patric said 7:58PM on 10-29-2007
Question!!!!
I have an 8 gig iPhone, and a 12" iBook G4. I would like to be able to send songs and photos via bluetooth to my phone, threw my laptop. I've tried often to do this, making my phone discoverable, as well as using Bluetooth file exchange, but it always says that I do not have the necessary devices. What should I do?
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Adrixan said 2:06AM on 10-30-2007
Kevin:
The Powerbook will only be able to boot from the harddrive if it is connected via Firewire, no USB drives will work for boot on PowerPCs!
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