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Filed under: Wireless, Features, Airport, iMac, iTunes, Ask TUAW, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Nov 4th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we have questions about arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows via Boot Camp, AirPort networks, iMac rotation support, replacing the video card in an iMac, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Leah asks:
Is there a better way to arrange icons on my iPhone than by trying to drag them around on the phone itself. I can't seem to get it to work very well and usually mess it up.
Apple provided a better way of organizing iPhone icons in iTunes 9. In the past, I always tried to arrange my icons on the iPhone the same way you do, by dragging them around on the device itself. This isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you have larger hands.

Now, with iTunes 9 or higher installed and your iPhone connected to your Mac or PC, launch iTunes, click on the Applications tab, and you will not only see the apps you have installed on your iPhone, but the iPhone screens and the placement of the icons as well.

Simply drag the icons around in iTunes and put them in the desired order. The next time you sync, the icons are arranged identically on your iPhone as well. It's so much easier.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and more”

Tags: airport, ask tuaw, AskTuaw, boot camp, BootCamp, fusion, gmail, itunes, mailplane, parallels, prism, vmware, windows, wireless

Filed under: Hardware, Podcasting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Choosing an iPhone, used Mac disposal, wake from sleep, podcast software and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Oct 29th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about getting an iPhone, disposing of old Macs, wake from sleep issues, exchanging a recent Mac purchase, podcast hardware and software, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Tom asks:
I'm considering an iPhone but want to know what my options are. Is the iPhone the best smartphone if I'm a Mac user?
The short answer to that question is "Yes." The iPhone is the best smartphone for you if you use a Mac. It's designed by Apple to work seamlessly with your Mac and iTunes and for the most part, it does. For Mac users the iPhone offers the best user experience possible and keeps you, at least hardware-wise, entirely in the Apple fold.

That said, the iPhone itself may or may not be the best smartphone for your needs. One drawback is that it's only available if you are an AT&T wireless customer. So, unless you are already an AT&T customer, or are willing to switch, you are out of luck.

Plus, using AT&T on a daily basis can sometimes be challenging as it's network occasionally has issues. Also, the coverage in some areas is not quite as good as other networks such as Verizon -- even in larger cities such as Los Angeles, where I live.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Choosing an iPhone, used Mac disposal, wake from sleep, podcast software and more”

Tags: blue snowball, BlueSnowball, garageband, iphone, keyboards, podcasting, recycling, sound studio, SoundStudio

Filed under: Ask TUAW, iPhone

Dear Aunt TUAW: Recovering iPhone data and media

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Oct 26th, 2009

Dear Aunt TUAW,

I'm from the Philippines and I would just like to ask for your help. I don't know if the news had reached you guys but there had been some massive flood lately in our country brought about by super typhoons storming over our land. Anyway, I own an iPhone and thank God I brought it with me when the flash flood came which sadly destroyed my PC and laptop. Now I have a new desktop which leads me to my problem. I'm afraid to install iTunes in it because if ever I'd sync my phone with the new desktop, I'm pretty sure all my iPod files will be gone. Are there any work around for it (so that I can still save my files on my phone)? Will jailbreaking help (as a last resort)?

Thanks and more power! =)

Best regards,

Rand B.

Read on for Auntie's answer...

Continue reading “Dear Aunt TUAW: Recovering iPhone data and media”

Tags: Aunt TUAW, Auntie TUAW, AuntieTuaw, AuntTuaw, Data Loss, DataLoss, Dear Aunt TUAW, DearAuntTuaw, iphone, Typhoons

Filed under: Software, Features, How-tos, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Emptying the trash, migration assistant, Safari bookmarks, Mac mini server and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Oct 21st, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about the Trash, Migration Assistant, Safari Bookmarks, Mac mini Server, Windows and Mac file sharing and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

CL asks:
Is there any way to just delete a single item in the trash can? I only see options to empty the entire trash can?
Unfortunately, as they say in computer parlance "That's a feature, not a bug." At the moment, Apple only allows you to go for an "all or nothing" approach to emptying the trash. Of course, the best solution is to only put things in the trash you want to delete. But I'm sure you already thought of that.

Lamdavidortez asks:
I will be upgrading from my current February 2007 Macbook Pro that is running Leopard to a new October 2009 MacBook Pro that is running Snow Leopard I plan on transferring my data via the "Migration Assistant" but being that this is the first time I perform this type of operation ... I want to make sure that I do not run into any issues.

Are there any precautions I should take? My other concern is that I backup my current 2007 MBP via Time Machine to my Time Capsule. What will happen to that data once I switch over to the 2009 MBP? Will I still have access to that data? Will it be rendered useless?
Migration Assistant has been around for several years now and has evolved and become better with each successive update. There was a time when I would never consider using it and did things the manual way by copying each and every thing I needed individually from an old Mac to a new one. Now, Migration Assistant is good enough and, more importantly, reliable enough to be used on its own. So, migrate away.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Emptying the trash, migration assistant, Safari bookmarks, Mac mini server and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, Backup, BookDog, Migration Assistant, MigrationAssistant, Safari, SuperDuper, Time Machine, TimeMachine

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Joystick as mouse, remote access, PC friendly zip files, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Oct 14th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about using a joystick as a mouse, remotely accessing a Mac from a PC, creating zip files without the Mac-specific metadata, replicating certain Windows features, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine and which version of Mac OS X you're running (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Joystick as mouse, remote access, PC friendly zip files, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, busycal, controllermate, ergonomic, gotomypc, ical, idownload, logmein, mouse, sizeup, twoup, yemuzip, zip

Filed under: Software, Open Source, Ask TUAW, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: Photoshop alternatives, Windows and Mac file sharing, application switching and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Oct 8th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about Photoshop alternatives, Windows and Mac file sharing, graphics problems in Snow Leopard and quickly switching between applications, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Matt asks:

I don't have the money for something like Adobe Photoshop. What's the best, cheaper alternative?

For my money, the best Photoshop alternative at the moment, and one I use every day, is Pixelmator. It has many of the same features as Photoshop like layers, masks, level and curve adjustments and a whole lot more. Plus, it's a relatively simple program to use and is written to take advantage of your Mac's GPU when doing image processing.

It also supports most image file formats including Photoshop PSD files and has many useful Automator actions built in. Actually, because Pixelmator is such a good app and takes care of most of my needs, it's pretty rare that I ever open Photoshop anymore. Sadly, Pixelmator is not free, but at US$59.00, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than Photoshop.

Some other alternatives include the open source GIMP and its more Photoshop-like cousin GIMPShop. You can also check out Acorn, or if you need very minimal tools like crop and resize, ImageWell. Of course, Apple's built-in Preview.app can handle many of these low-end tasks as well.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Photoshop alternatives, Windows and Mac file sharing, application switching and more”

Tags: Acorn, file sharing, FileSharing, GIMP, Photoshop, windows

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Syncing, custom keyboards, sharing iPhone apps, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Sep 30th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got lots of questions about syncing, as well as customized keyboards, sharing iPhone apps, managing iTunes, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Syncing, custom keyboards, sharing iPhone apps, and more”

Tags: address book, AddressBook, google sync, GoogleSync, ical, iphone app, IphoneApp, itunes, keyboard maestro, KeyboardMaestro, mobileme, syncing, textexpander, todo, toodledo

Filed under: Software, iTunes, iWork, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Target disk mode, energy saver prefs, iTunes sharing and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Sep 23rd, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about target disk mode, energy saver prefs, Safari file issues, iTunes album artwork, iTunes sharing and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

computergeeksjw asks:

I have an old iMac Blue G3. The fliesystem failed, but I can't reformat because there is a disc in the slot-loading drive. I tried the tricks I know like Open Firmware (gives me a weird error) and holding in the mouse button (I hear the drive spin up but nothing else happens). I have a newer G4 Quicksilver. Will it be able to boot up into Target Disk Mode even though the filesystem is damaged? (Then I can try to repair with Disk Utility or reinstall from there) or will it fail like a normal boot does?

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Target disk mode, energy saver prefs, iTunes sharing and more”

Tags: automator, itunes, safari, target disk mode, TargetDiskMode

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Making contact sheets, adjusting multiple files' properties, using network locations, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Sep 16th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about making photo contact sheets, adjusting properties for multiple files at the same time in the Finder, automatically managing settings based on location, changing the spell check language in iWork and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Making contact sheets, adjusting multiple files' properties, using network locations, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, automator, bluetooth, contact sheet, ContactSheet, Internet sharing, InternetSharing, location manager, LocationManager, marco polo, MarcoPolo

Filed under: Features, Bluetooth, Ask TUAW, iPhone, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: Backing up photos, remove Boot Camp partitions, Snow Leopard and Windows 7 and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Sep 10th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about backing up photos, removing a Boot Camp partition, Snow Leopard and Windows 7, Bluetooth menus, iPhone search results and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Han asks:

What is the best way to archive photos without using iPhoto? I have about 100 GB of original photos and I have been saving them on my NetGear ReadyNAS Duo. Sometimes I leave the photos in the folder and just copy it to the NAS or sometimes zip them before I put it in the NAS. What I am worried about is if I zip the folder and somehow the zip file itself gets corrupted, is it harder to recover them? Is it better to just not zip and leave it as a folder then copy it to the NAS?

Because photos are pretty important and almost impossible to recreate I take my photo workflow and backup seriously. First, I never import photos directly into iPhoto and instead, using a card reader, copy the files to a folder I have labeled specifically for these photos which resides in my main "Photography" folder.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Backing up photos, remove Boot Camp partitions, Snow Leopard and Windows 7 and more”

Tags: Backup, Bluetooth, Boot Camp, BootCamp, iPhoto, SuperDuper, Windows 7, Windows7

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Connecting to a System 7 Mac, video management software, Apple's Up-to-Date program and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Sep 3rd, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about Apple Up-to-Date program, non-black LCD monitors, video management software, connecting to an old PowerMac 7200 to salvage files, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Connecting to a System 7 Mac, video management software, Apple's Up-to-Date program and more”

Tags: power macintosh 7200, PowerMacintosh7200, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, system 7, System7, up-to-date

Filed under: Features, iTunes, Ask TUAW, MacBook Air, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: Syncing notes, iLife '09, iTunes downloads, keychains and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Aug 26th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about syncing notes, iLife '09, iTunes downloads, the importance of keychains and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Scott asks

When I sync my iphone (3.0.1) with my Mac (10.5.8) and have "sync notes" checked in iTunes, I cannot find my notes synced anywhere in Mail.app - including under "Notes"...what am I missing?

To sync 'Notes' first make sure you have your iPhone connected to your Mac with iTunes open. Then, be sure to have "sync notes" checked in iTunes. Also, be sure to check "Sync Notes" in the MobleMe Sync options in System Preferences.

Then, sync your iPhone as normal. After that, check in Apple's Mail program under "Reminders" to see if the notes appear. You need to click on the little triangle to show the contents of Reminders. If they don't appear, close Mail and open it again. Also, restart your iPhone completely before trying another sync.

Also, keep in mind Notes sync works only via USB and not over the air. If you are not seeing notes appear, be sure you sync your iPhone via USB with your Mac or they won't appear at all. If the notes still don't appear in Apple Mail, it might be time to give a call to Apple tech support because at that point the problem may be something larger than the scope of what this column can answer.

Evan asks

I bought a new MacBook Pro last month, which came installed with Leopard and iLife '09. My purchase was within Apple's "Up-to-Date" program timeline, so I was able to order a copy of Snow Leopard for $9.95. I know Snow Leopard doesn't come with iLife '09 but considering my new computer already comes with iLife '09, I'm not going to have to re-buy iLife, am I?

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Syncing notes, iLife '09, iTunes downloads, keychains and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, iphone, itunes, keychain, mobileme, notes, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, sync, upgrade

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Aug 19th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got more questions on migrating user data when upgrading to Snow Leopard, expanding Apple's built-in Dictionary application, accessing iPhone notes without Mail.app, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more”

Tags: Airport Utility, AirportUtility, archive and install, ArchiveAndInstall, dictionary, dvd, iphone notes, IphoneNotes, keychain, migration assistant, MigrationAssistant, phoneview, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, upgrading, WDS, wireless distribution system, WirelessDistributionSystem

Filed under: Hardware, Ask TUAW, MobileMe, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: Recovering video files, moving from an old Mac to a new one, MobileMe Sync and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Aug 12th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about recovering video files from a corrupt SDHC card, transferring files from an old Mac to a new one, MobileMe sync, virtual machines and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Matt asks:

I recently shot video with a camera that records it to an SDHC card. Unfortunately, that card is now corrupted and when I try to download the video to my computer, it doesn't show up. How can I recover the video from the card?

I know how you feel because this exact thing happened to me recently. We shot a bunch of great video interviews for another site I work with, and one of the SDHC cards became corrupt. Fortunately, all was not lost but recovering the video, at least for me, was a two step process.

This is the method that worked for me, even though there are probably other tools available; I was under a deadline and needed to get this worked out fast so looking for the best free apps or the best deal wasn't an option. However, it did work and all the video was recovered with no loss.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Recovering video files, moving from an old Mac to a new one, MobileMe Sync and more”

Tags: ask-tuaw, data recovery, DataRecovery, migration assistant, MigrationAssistant, sdhc, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, vmware

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Migration, syncing, backing up, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Aug 5th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on migrating to a new Mac, using a Time Capsule for wireless backup, speeding up podcasts, syncing two Macs, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Migration, syncing, backing up, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, migration assistant, MigrationAssistant, mobileme, podcast, QuickTime player, QuicktimePlayer, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, time capsule, time machine, TimeCapsule, TimeMachine

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