Backing Up to Your External Hard Drive

Save yourself some grief; De Prez Allen Laudenslager will walk us through getting ready to back up to an external hard drive.  This is a must!
He introduces the subject, "Because of the complexity I will be doing it in two installments. This is the first and is mostly about how to format the drive when you first get it home so it will work with your Mac."

"Many of you will remember my hard drive failure way back in May of 2009. I was relying on my Mobile Me account with Apple to keep my back ups. Imagine my surprise when the backups clear back to February of that year were corrupt!

"I can’t begin to tell you how much stuff I lost because Mobile Me didn’t have any way to tell me that the backups were corrupted. I’ve been putting off buying an external hard drive and backing up to several DVDs once or twice a month for the last 2 months.

"I just got a new external drive as a birthday present and now I’ll be backing up using Super Duper AND time machine. This will automate the process and provide a lot more security.

"So, now I’ve convinced you to buy that backup drive for between $60 and $150 there is one important thing you need to do as soon as you get it home.

"Format the drive.

"Almost any drive you buy will be formatted for Windows and that is incompatible with OS X. Just connect the drive, go to Finder Applications and scroll down to Utilities. Once you open Utilities, look for and open Disk Utilities. The process is the same in Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard.

"In the top left hand column, you’ll see the computer’s internal drive listed first, followed by your brand new external drive. Highlight the external drive and the right hand column will give you the options to format the drive to work with your Mac. Select partition and then rename the drive.

"Why rename? To make it obvious which drive you are selecting a few weeks from now when you’ve forgotten the details of the process. There is, also, always the chance that you will have so much stuff that you will be connecting more than one external drive. Seem unlikely? I remember my first hard drive, 20 megabytes. Yes, that’s right, meg, not gig. If you have lots of photos, you may very well need several drives depending on the sizes you buy.

"I recommend setting the drive up as one big partition and then creating folders if you need to organize further. Next, select Mac format, extended journal. Then click apply. The process will take several minutes but once done, the external drive will show up in finder and you can transfer files just like any folder on your computer.

"In the next installment, I’ll explain why I am using both Super Duper and Time Machine to back up my files and how to set up to use either or both."

Free How-To Guides

Here are 15 free guides available for download, or you can read them online. Jim Hamm sends us a link to makeuseof.com  and goes on to say, "I'll start out by reading the following three guides:
The Incredible Free Manual for Every Mac User; The Underground Guide to the iPhone; The Big Book of iTunes. I'm going to post a note of appreciation and subscribe to their newsletter for their handy tips."

How to Do Screenshots

Here are helpful tips on screenshots from Small Dog Electronics Tech Tails # 694, sent to us from Jim Hamm. He explains, "I've used these tips quite often to take a screenshot of something, but one tip that I wasn't aware of was adding the control key to place the image on your clipboard instead of on your desktop. This makes it handy to quickly paste the screenshot onto something else. The downside of this is a PNG image is large. I usually take the PNG image and convert it to a JPEG before using it--a drastic reduction in the size of the image."

New Site for Sharing Info

Always on the lookout for info, David Passell has signed up for the Beta release from O'Reilly Answers. Their slogan is "Clever Hacks. Creative Ideas. Innovative Solutions." David has already submitted a posting under the Linux heading at Beta Forum which proclaims, "Share. Ask. Answer." Other PMUG members might find this a useful site, and some might have tips to submit there.

Postings in the new Forum cover a myriad of geeky subjects. David was describing how handy the ScreenShot feature of QuickTime 10 can be for recalling what he did. He wrote about his experience, sent it to O'Reilly Answers and was encouraged by Tim O'Reilly to set up an account and post it.  He says he suspects John Carter uses something like it in his dock description.

This latest version of QuickTime 10 (SnowLeopard, only) has a Screen Recording feature which allows him to easily review.  He can go back through the recording with speed up to 8X to see what he's done.

I asked David how he got involved with this Beta Forum.  Initially he wrote to tell how handy ScreenShot is for Floss Manuals. "Being a Mac user, the subject of 'Paths' was foreign to me.  When I was introduced to Linux I quickly got lost. Having an OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) computer with a VNC (Virtual Networking Computing) server program I found I could go through the various paths and view them on a Mac.  There I could make screen shots and comments in MS Word, (Pages probably would have been better, but I'm cheap!)

"Unless I had a WebPage I would find it difficult to upload one to anybody.  I can stop, though, and get ScreenShots of something significant."

Perhaps you saw David's little green and white XO computer from OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) at an earlier meeting.  He works through a VNC server program.

On his Mac David starts with a program called Chicken of the VNC. "When I enter the proper IP address for the server computer I see its screen on my Mac.  From there anything I do on the server computer shows on my Mac Mini.  I can do similar things between my Mac Mini and my other computers that are networked on my router."

His philosophy is "When I write manuals I always had the feeling that if I could understand it later, anybody could. Engineers and Programmers are probably the worst to write user manuals.  They are too close to the subject and fall victim to 'I know it, so everyone else should.'"

(All of this to say:  you will want to check out that O'Reilly Answers Beta Forum.)

Favorite 10 Tips

This just in from Jim Hamm, "The Favorite 10 Tips" from Kibbles & Bytes. See it here. Betcha find at least three things you didn't know! And to think that cent sign ¢ was hiding under the Option + 4 key all this time.

Screen Capture Problems?

Right after upgrading to Snow Leopard, John Carter discovered that he could no longer use the keyboard shortcut (SHIFT-CTRL-CMD-4) to take a snapshot of an area of the screen and paste it (CMD-V) into a Mail message (the snapshot is saved in the clipboard). However, he could paste the image into any other application. To verify the problem, John logged in as another user on the Mac and performed the same operation. The problem did not show up in the other user's login environment. So this meant that the problem was isolated to John's login.

Taking some lessons from an earlier call to Apple support, John began troubleshooting the problem by first working in the ~/Library/Preferences folder (the '~' character is shorthand for the home folder, or in this case, /Users/jcarter). After a short session of trials which involved pulling files out of ~/Library/Preferences and testing with Mail, John discovered that when the file "com.apple.screencapture.plist" was removed, the problem went away.

When a file is removed from the ~/Library/Preferences folder, the next time the user logs in, that file is recreated when the function/application it was designed for was again used. Of course, any preferences (other than the defaults) for that function/application are lost and have to be recreated. Removing the preference files is the basis for doing the test to determine which preference was causing the problem; remove a preference, log out and log back in, and perform the test again. If the problem goes away, the preference file removed was the culprit. If the problem persists, replace the file that was removed and repeat these steps until the problem is isolated.

John discovered to his amazement that the com.apple.screencapture.plist file was not recreated after performing the screen capture (snapshot) operation. This strongly suggested that that file is not used or needed in Snow Leopard.

So John called Apple support to confirm this finding. Sure enough, Apple support says that file does not exist in Snow Leopard.

That file may have been created in John's login environment by a third party application on John's machine (but definitely not by Jing - confirmed). Apple support cannot find any record of that file existing on any of their Snow Leopard machines.

It is recommended that if you have the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist, you should remove it.

John's closing advice, "Don't be concerned if any of this is confusing. If your Mac is working the way you want it to, pay tribute to the Apple gods."

By now I wanted to know more; I wrote John and he clarifies this: "Shift-Cmd-4 saves to the desktop with the Date/time label. Shift-Ctrl-Cmd-4 saves to the clipboard."

A Simple Suggestion

Frustrated with sites requiring registration? David Passell explains his simple solution. Maybe it's just what you need, too.

"I attempted to keep records on my computer, but a lot of times couldn't anticipate all the steps. I also had some of them on a PW protected file. It was hard to keep up to date.

"Then I had random pieces of scribbled paper which invariably got lost.

"Finally I reverted to a pack of lined 3 x 5 cards. When I encounter a site that wants registration (e.g. the FLOSS manuals) I get a card. I write the name of the service and include the full www or http:// web URL
The email that I use (some sites use them for ID, others don't).
ID that they ask for (some are case-sensitive, some not)
(Notes on other things requested}
Password: Be sure to indicate upper/lower case, numbers, etc.
My personal name ("nickname") that may be how I am addressed when I log in.

"Many sites will send a confirming email on the registration which you then have to respond to to "verify the registration." There will often be a follow up email.

"It is a good idea to set up an email Mailbox in which to save those messages.

"Some of these sites may be tricky: for example you might have a card titled MacFixit, but actually your registration and log in are with CNET. This is not to be confused with ZDNET which is an entirely different registration.

"After filling out the card, put it in a safe place. Over time you may accumulate a pile of them, which you can then sort as you see fit. Currently I have 29. As before mentioned, keep them safe. If you have a scanner you can scan a group of them. If you have a burst of enthusiasm you might even enter their content into some small files.

"When you go somewhere take the cards of sites you may want to visit (like at a meeting).

"I realize this may sound primitive, but over the last few days it has saved me a lot of time when I don't remember the PW and other details. Of course on your own computer, you can have the browser remember the password."

Art Gorski sends us his solution: He uses a smartphone (can't justify an iPhone in 3G-less Prescott!) and has a password safe application on it. Whenever he needs to login to a website or supply credentials for a shopping cart, he just looks them up on his phone. If he had an iPhone, he would use 1Password, which works on your Mac to store all this stuff and syncs the info to an iPhone application.

Now to hear from Bobbie Pastor: "In addition to Dave's and Art's solutions, I have a method that I use for keeping track of website passwords. I have a designated address book that I keep right at my desktop. It has my credit card numbers and the websites listed in alphabetical order. It works great for me."

Pictures Show How

Here's a mind-boggling (to me) site recommended by David Passell. He writes this "might be of interest to anyone that wants to read. write, publish, edit, or comment on free-source software manuals. See the site for Floss Manuals Foundation of the Netherlands here.

"Those who are interested in Video might like to peruse the Theora Cookbook. I haven't done it thoroughly yet; not that much time on my hands. I am registered with them (as you or anyone else with something to offer can. I got into it through wanting to find out more about my One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO computers. They do much of the documentation (a lot is incomplete) on it."

David closes with, "I might warn you that the site, links, and such seem rather complex. Once you get registered though it kind of falls into place."

Elaine's comment: "I scrolled through, enjoyed all the photos , but this photo from the Floss Manuals site is what I liked best!"

How Do YOU Backup?

"Hi all," begins Jim Hamm. "Here is an article, from Mac Tips and Tricks Newsletter, on creating a bootable backup for your Mac. We've had some other backup comments recently, and I'm interested in feedback on this process from anyone that would want to comment on a couple of questions I have:

1) do you have a bootable backup for your Mac?
2) did you purchase a separate external hard drive to do this on?
3) do you use Carbon Copy Cloner or some other program to do this?
4) how important do you consider doing this?

I've been using a Mac for 2 1/2 years or so, and haven't done this yet. I guess I'm at risk of losing all my bookmarks, addresses, RSS feeds, third-party programs, etc., if I should have a hard drive failure. A real pain--impossible?--to resurrect all this. I'm torn, in my mind, on whether to go to the expense of doing this or not. Comments appreciated."

Click to drop Jim a line here.

First up to reply is Art Gorski. He writes, "Hi, Jim.

1) I create one right before installing a major OS update.

2) Yes, but I've only got one drive and 3 Macs.

3) I used CCC years ago, but SuperDuper is free (for this purpose) and slicker.

4) I have both Chronosync backups and Time Machine backups on my network ReadyNAS, although not the System and not bootable. That's close enough for me."

Using Those Function Keys

Jim Hamm starts out with, "I was 'messing' (technical term) around with Snow Leopard and came across a feature that might be helpful. Say you've got four windows open (or any number, for that matter) and you click Function 9 (fn+9) on your laptop, to open all windows in a miniature version. Put your cursor on any minimized window, then tap the spacebar. That window will pop open to full size. Then start moving your mouse and cursor around. Each small window will pop open in full size. Keep moving your mouse around and around and each window will pop open. When you find the one you want, click it. It will stabilize then in a normal window. You can almost make yourself dizzy as you mouse the cursor around the screen and the windows pop open."

He says on Zee's iMac the key combination in fn + F8.

Trying to do this myself turns up a different scenario. Different Macs have different Function keys. On his G4 PowerBook running Mac 10.5.8 Don's favorite is F12 to bring up his Widgets. On my MacBookPro running Snow Leopard, it's F4 for Widgets, and F3 for that nifty feature Jim describes to play Hide and Peek with your open pages. Yes, it's fun!

Now for a summary of Function Keys, a list of key combinations, and 20+ links to additional info on modifier keys assignments go to this Apple Support page. No need to memorize the whole thing, just click on the tiny Plus sign on the left of the page's address at the top. Click to add it to your Safari Bookmarks. Function keys are very useful.

Solving a Big Problem

Here's something to copy and print out for yourself. It may solve a big problem someday.

Jim Hamm, (De Previous Prez) is always looking for helpful advice. He alerts us,"A friend's iMac wouldn't boot up and turn on yesterday. Following is an email she sent to me and the corrective action she took after a technician at AppleCare told her what to do with her iMac.

"If one has a Mac laptop — instead of the iMac like she has — I presume one would disconnect the battery to terminate all power to the computer. If it's a newer MacBook Pro, without a removable battery, I don't know what one would do to terminate the power. Call AppleCare, I suppose, and ask them. Or maybe laptops aren't affected this way since they are somewhat insulated against power surges by their built-in battery. I'm going to print a copy of this for future reference in case I ever need to do this."

Here Jim quotes a friend, Nancy: "Remember I told you that my iMac wouldn't turn on? I tried to force restart it, but that didn't work either.

"This AM I got up and she booted up perfectly. I then called AppleCare and here's what I was told — it was static buildup probably caused by a power surge. I was told this is 'normal' but not something you want to happen frequently. He gave me a remedy to be used in the event you suspect you have a hardware problem. But, again, it's not to be relied on as a permanent fix because it can ruin the logic board. However, on occasion it is OK to do and will actually purge the computer of that extra static electricity buildup. It's called a PRAM reset, i.e, 'reset the power chip.' Here's what you do (Remember the computer is not on):

Disconnect the power cord from the computer (not the wall, leave it plugged into the wall)
Disconnect keyboard and mouse
Disconnect any other peripherals

Wait about 30 seconds, then plug in power cord and keyboard with the mouse attached.
Hold down Command + Option + r with your left hand (keep them down)
Press the power button
Press and hold the P while still depressing the other keys

Wait to hear three slow "bongs" (they're about 20 seconds a part - the same noise the computer makes when it's booting up).

Release the keys
Shut the computer down
Turn it on again.

"And there you have it - resetting the power chip or PRAM reset for beginners! Something to share with the others." Thanks, Jim, for sharing this info from Nancy.

It's Terminal, You Say?

Did you know that the Mac has a Terminal application for entering commands at the keyboard? Why would you want to do that? What's wrong with the graphical interface?

John Carter has some answers for us. "Well, for one, when you use the terminal both hands are constantly in the same position - over the keyboard - instead of one hand moving back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse. But if you're not a good typist that probably doesn't matter much to you anyway.

"Secondly, and this is probably the most important reason to use keyboard commands, the graphical interface actually hides a lot of functionality and detail from the user. Using keyboard commands gives you so much more control over what you want to see and do.

"Now here's an interesting tutorial that just might help anyone new to Linux to get used to keyboarding (as we call it).

"By the way, this tutorial will take you from 'why use a keyboard' to almost forgetting all about what a mouse is used for." http://osxfaq.com/tutorials/LearningCenter/

Shortcuts from Jim

A list of "Mac OS X Startup Keyboard Shortcuts" comes to us from De Prez Jim Hamm. http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/qt/osxstartupkeys.htm After looking through the list be sure to scroll down on the page to "More Macs Quick Tips."

Handy Mac "Geeky" Tips

If you don't subscribe to MacLife there's an interesting article recommended to us by De Prez Jim Hamm. "Fifty Things Every Mac Geek Should Know" turns out to be an 8 page piece, with such subheads as "Why OS X is Better Than Windows" and "Spotlight Can Do Math." There are short handy lists about iPod, iPhone, iChat, Safari, Terminals, on and on. http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/50_things_every_mac_geek_should_know

Take a look for yourself.

That Pesky White Lettering

If, like me, your eyes grow tired of white lettering over dark backgrounds try two remedies. Enlarge the font (a lot!) by doing Command and + (plus) several times in succession. To go back to the original size do Command and the - (minus.)
Or, have a technicolor laugh as you hold down at the same time these three keys, Control, Option, Command, then touch 8. (Not the keypad 8, I mean the 8 in the line of keys above qwerty, etc.) To toggle back to the original color scheme do these same 4 keys. Try it, you might like it.

Breaking News!

Maybe you saw it already, but breaking news is Apple bails on Macworld Expo after the '09 show, and Steve Jobs will not be presenting at that event.  Phil Schiller will be presenting.

De Prez Jim Hamm alerts us to a site to bookmark,  http://macsurfer.com.  Here you can scan down an itemized list of headlines and links.  It lists news articles, troubleshooting info, how-to tips,  Op/Ed, press releases, hardware, price trackers/deals, analysis and editorial opinion.  It goes on to list articles of both Apple and Non-apple industry news.