Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

Ask TUAW posts

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Silencing iPhone notifications, remote control a PC, printing over the internet, and more

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

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about controlling a PC over the internet, silencing iPhone email notifications at night, replacing a MacBook Pro SuperDrive with a hard drive, printing over the internet, setting iCal as the default calendar, 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.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Silencing iPhone notifications, remote control a PC, printing over the internet, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, battery, bonjour, iCal, logmein, rdc, remote desktop connection, RemoteDesktopConnection, screen recycler, ScreenRecycler, share tool, ShareTool, vpn

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Auto-tagging music, iPhone VoIP apps, replacing a hard drive and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Nov 11th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about VOIP apps on the iPhone, auto-tagging music, Boot Camp, replacing a hard drive 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.

Continue reading “Ask TUAW: Auto-tagging music, iPhone VoIP apps, replacing a hard drive and more”

Tags: antivirus, ask tuaw, AskTuaw, boot camp, BootCamp, carbon copy cloner, CarbonCopyCloner, mail.app, pollux, songenie, superduper, virus, voip

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: 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: 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, 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: 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

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: AirPort Extreme bridge, iTunes smart playlists, USB drive backup, and more

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

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on using an AirPort Extreme as a wireless to ethernet bridge, automatically backing up a USB flash drive, building smart playlists in iTunes, migrating an iTunes Library 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: AirPort Extreme bridge, iTunes smart playlists, USB drive backup, and more”

Tags: airport express, AirportExpress, ask tuaw, AskTuaw, do something when, DoSomethingWhen, dsw, image capture, ImageCapture, itunes, migration assistant, MigrationAssistant, os x server, OsXServer, smart playlists, SmartPlaylists

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Case-sensitive file system, writing apps, universal remotes, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Jul 15th, 2009

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on using a case sensitive file system in OS X, applications focused on writing, controlling a Mac with a universal remote control, push email, using a MacBook with an external display, 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: Case-sensitive file system, writing apps, universal remotes, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, gmail, harmony remote, HarmonyRemote, imap, mobileme, scrivener

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: OpenCL support in Snow Leopard, Boot Camp, automatic importing into iPhoto, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Jul 8th, 2009

Wednesday means it's time for another Ask TUAW! For this edition we've got questions about what Macs will support Snow Leopard's forthcoming OpenCL acceleration, using Boot Camp with multiple partitions, connecting a Mac mini to HDMI, automatically importing images into iPhoto, 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: OpenCL support in Snow Leopard, Boot Camp, automatic importing into iPhoto, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, automator, boot camp, BootCamp, dvi, folder actions, FolderActions, graphics card, GraphicsCard, hazel, mac mini, MacMini, mini displayport, MiniDisplayport, snow leopard, SnowLeopard

Filed under: Accessories, Gaming, Hardware, Ask TUAW, iPhone, Snow Leopard

Ask TUAW: iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs and more

by Chris Ullrich (RSS feed) on Jul 1st, 2009

We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW. This time around we've answering questions about iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older 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.

Daneel asks:

I'm running OS X 10.5.7 and Windows Vista (via Bootcamp) on my iMac 24". I was wondering if there was any way in which I could make the iTunes apps in both Windows and Mac use the same iTunes library. File access is not a problem as I've got the ntfs-3g driver on the mac side and mac drive on the PC side.

I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive. To make iTunes use this particular folder, I create an alias of the folder on the external drive and replace my iTunes folder located in Users> "User Name" > Music with the alias. iTunes has no problem with this setup.

You should be able to do the same thing in both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes. Just set an alias of the iTunes folder you want to use in Windows pointing to your Mac iTunes library and you should be good to go.


Continue reading “Ask TUAW: iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, data recovery, DataRecovery, gaming, iPhone3gs, iTunes, monitor, mouse

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Online backup, Bluetooth with iPod touch and OS 3.0, converting DVDs for iPhone, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Jun 24th, 2009

In this round of Ask TUAW we've got questions about connecting a MacBook to a plasma TV, using a Bluetooth headset with an iPod touch, backing up online, ripping DVDs to watch on an iPhone and more.

As always, your suggestions 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: Online backup, Bluetooth with iPod touch and OS 3.0, converting DVDs for iPhone, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, bluetooth, carbonite, dropbox, dvi, handbrake, keyboard, mini-dvi, mozy, switchresx

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Return to open, messed up Mighty Mouse, PDF alternatives, Boot Camp expansion, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Jun 4th, 2009

It's time once again for Ask TUAW! For this round we take questions about cleaning a malfunctioning Mighty Mouse, opening files and applications with the return key, expanding a Boot Camp partition, finding alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, caring for your notebook battery, and more

As always, your suggestions 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: Return to open, messed up Mighty Mouse, PDF alternatives, Boot Camp expansion, and more”

Tags: ask tuaw, AskTuaw, battery, boot camp, BootCamp, carbon copy cloner, CarbonCopyCloner, chronosync, ip6, ipv6, martian slingshot, MartianSlingshot, mighty mouse, MightyMouse, pdf, pdfclerk, pdfpen, returnopen, superduper, winclone

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Switcher questions, WiFi stumbling, dual-band WiFi, hard drive upgrading, and more

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on May 28th, 2009

We're back with another shot of Ask TUAW! This time we've got a couple of common switcher issues, as well as questions about upgrading a hard drive, using WiFi stumbler software, setting up a dual-band WiFi network, and more.

As always, your suggestions 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: Switcher questions, WiFi stumbling, dual-band WiFi, hard drive upgrading, and more”

Tags: airport, ask tuaw, AskTuaw, gmail, microphone, mouse, sata

Next Page →

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.

Learn More

Follow us on Twitter!

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

Most Commented On (7 days)

Recent Comments

More Apple Analysis

More from AOL Money and Finance

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher