Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

Mar 2011

Can I delete Entourage?

iMac says there is not enough memory to back up to passport. Sent you an email last week, but was sending to wrong address!
Also, can't find iworks disk. Will they send me a replacement copy? Do I go to
apple.com for this?
Thanks!
___________


If your target backup disk is smaller than your source disk (hard drive) then you will eventually hit that problem. The best answer is to get a larger external drive to back up to. There are other solutions as well. I’ve dicsussed them here: Data is exceeding Time Capsule capacity | Backup, time machine | Sells Consulting

I can’t speak to what apple may do about the missing disks. You can always call applecare and plead your case. They may send out replacements. I just don’t know.

How to customize the toolbar in Safari.

Hi Scotty,
I take a lot of photos and have a lot of music - all of it is very precious to me (except the pictures of my mother-in-law). So I have taken your advice and now I back them up on my 1TB Time Capsule.

BUT - At some point my photos and music will exceed 1TB. 650 GB iPhoto library + 400GB iTunes Library = 1.05TB of original music and photos.
My worry is that my 1TB Time Capsule will begin erasing that extra 50MB of songs/photos.

What happens when my photos and music exceed the space on my Time Capsule?
___________

As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to have less backup space than storage drives. Currently time capsule only comes in 1 and 2 TB sizes. However, if your data exceeds 2 TB then it’s time to increase the size of your storage. A couple ways to do that...

1. Buy a 3 TB external drive.
2. Get a raid system like Drobo which I love.
3. Choose to backup only certain files within Time Machine. (temporary solution)
4. Use a different method of backing up instead of Time Machine.

Either way, you would eventually have to abandon the Time Capsule internal drive. Time Capsule will not erase any data on a separate drive. It can not. If it sees the capacity larger than it’s own it will display a message similar to this:

Screen shot 2011-04-01 at 1.10.13 AM

In that case, time to buy bigger drives.

Yahoo account compromised

I have updated my addresses on my computer and they are not updating on my palm pixi.  Everything synced to normal.  DO I need to sync again or should it autoatically do this.  Also, I do not know how to get my addresses onto my ipad.  Do I need to sync them with a usb? Or should it be doing it automatically.  My ipad doesnt seem to be remotely syncing with my computer/google account?
Thanks for your help the other day.  Just a few kinks to work out.
Thanks
___________


If you have google contacts set to sync within Apple’s Address Book, and a google account on the pixi, then it should work. But nothing’s never easy. First check in Address Book. Go to Preferences for Address Book and

Screen shot 2011-04-01 at 12.20.09 AM

You may want to uncheck then check again and it will ask for password and username. Reenter to assure these are correct. If all else fails, you can sync your contacts directly using Mark Space’s Missing Sync. But you shouldn’t have to pay for something that google offers for free.

Google’s contacts work on an exchange server. Here’s a way to make it happen automatically on the iPad:
Gmail iPhone Sync Review - iPhone Apps, iPad apps & iPod touch App Reviews | AppSafari
A lot of steps but usually works well.

Another method:
Sync & import Google Gmail Contacts on iPad

Screen Sharing gone haywire.

Thank you for all your help!

I have a question

1. I started using ical and it is not syncing with my iphone? Should I be creating events on the calendar in mobile me instead? Just easier to do it on desktop so would like to know can I just enter it there and have it sync to mobile me and iphone? as it is not syncing at all right now. any suggestions?

Thanks,
___________


MobileMe should be syncing these automatically. Having a new computer and iPhone 4, you are very likely on the most current or close to most current versions of software so that’s not it. A couple of things to consider and check:

Be sure that in MobileMe preferences you DO NOT have calendar syncing turned on.
Be sure you’ve upgraded your calendar at www.me.com. Log in and in the bottom left corner there would be a box saying “upgrade”. You have most likely already done this. After upgrading the calendar via the web at me.com, quit iCal then reopen iCal and the new method should automatically appear. You’ll want to delete the old calendar in iCal and only use the calendars listed under name@me.com as seen below:

Screen shot 2011-04-01 at 12.06.29 AM

If these are not listed under @me.com then you’ve not fully upgraded to Apple’s new method called CalDAV. Let me know if that helps at all. I can also take a look on Town Hall Monday evenings.
Other helpful links:
MobileMe: How to reset sync data
MobileMe: Troubleshooting upgrading to the new MobileMe Calendar

Password to MobileMe not responding.

Scotty,
Thanks again. AM doing my mail from Apple Mail. How do I delete entourage???
__________


Even though you’ve moved to Apple’s Mail program and away from Entourage, I don’t think it’s a good idea to delete Entourage quite yet. First, you want to make absolutely sure that you’re happy in Mail. The one thing you could do is go to Entourage’s preferences and turn off Sync Services. This will take one more step out of the syncing loop therefore reducing the chance of duplicates.

When you ARE ready to delete entourage you can do so by going into the documents folder, deleting the “microsoft user data folder”, and deleting the application from microsoft office folder in the applications folder. I suggest you just leave it however. You WILL want to select mail as your default email program. You can do so by going to mail’s preferences.
Screen shot 2011-03-30 at 11.05.31 PM

HDR photos result in multiple pictures

Scotty
The back button has disappeared from the top of Safari. How do I get it back?
Thanks
___________

With Safari open, in the menu bar under “View”, choose “customize toolbar”. You’ll now see a new drop down windows containing many buttons. Now drag the back button back up to where it was.
Screen shot 2011-03-30 at 10.55.06 PM

iPhone won't join Microcell



This can be a common occurrence. The number one priority is to change the password to the account. The computer does not have a virus. What is much more likely is that his yahoo account was compromised and a botnet (computer program) randomly guessed the password and is now using that account to send spam email. That happens quite often. This is a great reason to never email people with multiple addresses in the cc field. Always use bcc where your friend’s emails are less exposed. And above all, be very conservative on who you give your email to. He may want to remove the contacts from the yahoo database as well. Again, more likely that the account’s password was guessed rather than any type of “virus” on his mac.
HI Scotty,
Is it possible that my son's Mac laptop has a virus or would it just be in his Yahoo e-mail account? His yahoo e-mail is sending regular random messages to me and my husband (and possibly everyone in his e-mail contacts). Should we close this account?
Thank you for your response,
___________

10.6.7 broke the letterbox plugin for mail.app

Scott,

I cannot seem to get back to the remote screen that gives me access to the music on downstairs system. Was working fine until I hit one of the icons on the left above the playlists. That threw me into the remote screen that gave me no option to get back. Shutting down didn't work.  So I tried to go forward but only led to making me enter info for home sharing again. Now immobilized on that screen. Thoughts or visit?
___________


I’m quite sure what state you are currently in, but you were control your downstairs computer via OS X’s built in screen sharing function. We need to re establish that connection. I would first suggest restarting both computers. Next, you should see in a finder window, the name of the target computer along the left of the finder window. Select that icon and you should be re-presented with the option to screen share. You’ll have to enter the username and password of the target computer. I’m not sure I’m answering your problem however. The restart of both computers should clear each of whatever relationships that were going on between the two computers.

Security Certificate expired. What now?

I keep getting an error message that my user name or password are wrong for my .mac (or .me) account are wrong and it won't receive emails. only send them.
I have checked both in the settings, nothing is working. On my phone, pc, Ipad, nothing. Does this mean my Mobileme subscription is out of date or something?
___________


It’s possible. The first thing to check is to try to log in to me.com. If the password you assume is correct works there then the next step is to delete your account from Mail.app then re-add. If that does not solve the issue then the next step would be to delete the keychain holding the old mobileme password.

If the password does not work in the first place, then you’ll need to reset it at iforgot.apple.com.

How do I delete an email account in Mail?

For some reason, every time I download photos to iPhoto, 2 of each are downloaded. Any idea why?
___________

You may be shooting pictures in HDR mode if you are using an iPhone. HDR stands for high dynamic range photos. The camera takes a couple pictures at different exposures then combines them to make a better picture.

iCal reporting syncing error after upgrade

My iPhone is not picking up the signal and joining my AT&T mircocell.
___________


1st try powering your phone off then back on again.  You can do this by holding down both the top and lower "home button".  Then after the phone has turned completely off, hit the top button once again.  Let's see if that helps at all.  

Moving iMovie projects to DVDs.

Hey - the new software update broke our Letterbox plug-in. Do you have a trusted source for a fix yet for the latest update? 10.6.7
___________


Here you go: Harnly.net He’s the creator of the letterbox plugin. Apple is always breaking it and he’s always fixing it.

Outlook and MobileMe?

Hey Scotty - hope you guys are well man. Quick question - need your help. Why would I get this message? My wife keeps getting it on her browser as well when she tries to go to Facebook sometimes?
Screen shot 2011-03-22 at 9.22.39 AM
___________

So there are many possibilities. What it’s saying is that the security certificate jointly held by your browser and the website’s hosting company have expired. What is supposed to happen is that the hosting company is supposed to automatically issue another certificate. It’s sort of like a cookie but for security reasons. You have several things you can do.

1. Over ride the warning and accept or Trust the site regardless of its non issuance of a new updated certificate. If you select the Trust toggle, you’ll see a “always trust” setting. This will fix the warnings but you will open yourself up to a non secure communication between your browser and whatever website you are connecting to.

2. You could go to Keychain Access (spotlight search for it) and select the security cert and delete it. You should be issued another once the website sees your computer does not have the proper credentials.

3. Try using a seperate browswer like Chrome or Firefox.

4. Check the date of your computer to make sure it is correct. Change it to be wrong...restart...then right again...restart.

That’s all I’ve got.



How do I convert someone else's apps to my own?

How do I delete an email account from Apple’s mail program?
___________


 Go to your mail's preferences in the menu bar. Select the account you wish to delete, then hit the minus button below.

Screen shot 2011-03-22 at 10.13.24 PM

Is a tune up necessary?

Recovering from the iCal server error...
___________

A couple of things to try:

1. Turn off ical syncing in MobileMe preferences inside System Preferences. Now that iCal uses CalDAV as its technology you no longer need this checked.
Screen shot 2011-03-22 at 9.46.02 PM
2. Try reseting syncing services. Do a spotlight search for isync then go to its preferences in the menu bar. Now choose Reset Sync History.
Screen shot 2011-03-22 at 9.47.57 PM
If the problem persists after these attempts then we may need to try removing the following files:

~/Library/Calendars
~/Library/Application Support/iCal
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iCal

~/Library/Preferences/iCalExternalSync.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.helper.plist
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.iCal.helper..plist
~/Library/Preferences/comp.apple.iCal.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.AlarmScheduler.plist

No, I don’t expect you to remove them. They’re just here for me to reference in case I need to assist you.

User's internet speed is slow.

Scotty,
I have put together a slideshow on iMovie with scanned photos.  You helped me do this a few years ago and I was able to burn a CD of it to pass along to my son's team.  I have all my pictures together and in order set to music in iMovie, but I can't seem to find how to attach the song to the slideshow, nor how to burn it to a CD like I did last time.  The tutorials are all for the new iLife version which I do not have --mine is a 2007.

Could you direct me to the right button or tutorial?
___________


Under the share menu in iMovie, choose to "send to iDVD".  Apple will be at the front of the pack in leading the charge to remove CD drives from computers in the very near future and as a precursor to this action, they've hidden the ability to burn discs further away from users.  They prefer you share video over the internet.  But for now, iDVD is still alive and kicking.  It has just not undergone any major updates in several years.  

Screen shot 2011-03-21 at 1.12.55 PM

How do I transfer non purchased music from my iPod?

The latest upgrade of MobileMe Calendar does a real number on your outlook calendar if you are running Outlook 2007 on a PC.  The new upgrade basically hijacks anything that was in the Outlook Calendar folder and moves it over to the MobileMe folder.  Any original entries on your Outlook 2007 Calendar that were entered prior to implementing MobileMe are now completely wiped out the Outlook calendar.  All new events must now be entered in the MM calendar folder in outlook to work with the synchronization process of MobileMe – it doesn’t sync any other calendar folder but the MobileMe folder.  It appears now that PC Outlook users are permanently wedded to using MobileMe unless before they voluntarily end that service, they recreate (God forbid re-enter) the MobileMe calendar events into another Outlook calendar folder.  Clever marketing ploy by Big Brother Apple but it sucks to be pushed into that Calendar Corner.  Scotty is this assessment too harsh or inaccurate?
___________


It is common for mobileme to have problems with Outlook. Currently mobileme only support 32 bit Outlook. (as of March 21, 2011) I have to say that the large majority of my clients do not use Outlook on either Windows or Mac. That being said, I have not experienced the exact problem described above but from what I know of the relationship between Outlook and mobileme, as I said before, it doesn’t surprise me.

Every Hard Drive Dies.

When I touch applications on iphone and request update , it is giving me son’s apple ID. How do I change this to my own itunes account?
Many thanks again for coming out tonight and helping me find my contacts! YOur awesome!
___________

Since these certain apps were purchased under the son’s Apple ID they are forever associated to his account. Honestly, if these are free apps, then you are better off deleting them then re-adding them under your own ID. If these are paid apps that you would like to update, then you’ll need to provide his account password to update them then log back in on your phone to your own ID.

10.6.6 update fails

 Let me ask you, from time to time, does it make sense to have you come by and give my macbook  tune up?  it seems not to load as fast or start up as quick......
___________


A "tune up" is not really necessary.  However there are some maintenance issues you'll want to be aware of.  Freeing up ram, checking background processes, repairing permissions, checking login items from time to time.  You don't really need me for these things.  Just a matter of learning what they are, mean, and do.  

Feel free to join us on Mondays on my site to learn more and ask about maintaining the health of your mac.  

iTunes needs to authorize the new computer.

See below the results form the internet speed test and the comments from the installer.
1205256293
___________

Here are the results of my own home network taken 2 minutes ago. I use Road Runner basic package and pay about $42 per month for my internet access. Almost all of my clients who are using cable usually get between 8-15 megs down and close to 1 meg up. DSL usually clocks in much slower on the download at around 5-8 megs. And DSL’s upload speeds are usually a little faster than cable at around 1.5 up.

Screen shot 2011-03-16 at 8.34.35 PM

Look at the Grade speedtest.net gave his results. D+. That should tell you something right there. Granted, we are comparing business to residential, but business should be faster than home in my book. Note in the chart below the average speed of NC vs. USA vs. Me vs. where you are.
Screen shot 2011-03-16 at 8.49.16 PM

Am I backing up correctly?

Scotty,

I need some help. I have 2 iPods with stuff on them that both need to be transferred. Any recommendations?
___________


Try irip.  

iRip 2 – iPod and iPhone music transfer software for Mac or PC – The Little App Factory

___________
Scotty,

Thanks, it was quite easy and did the trick. For 20 dollars I was able to transfer about 70 gb of audio and 80 gb of video. Fun Stuff, time consuming, but nothing was lost.

Do I need to turn on my firewall? I'm getting lots of junk.

Hi Scotty,
My Lacie 500GB hard drive that sits on top of my MacMini in my living room, is no longer being recognized by the Mini.
I've changed the chord between the two, rebooted both systems, unplugged and plugged back in ... but all that happens is the little indicator light on the front of the Lacie just pulses on and off ... every once in while it goes solid again ... but in all cases it is not recognized.

Do you have a quick thought on how I might fix this, or do you think this is just a dead hard drive? This is my drive with all my songs on it (almost 10,000 songs).

In any case, for the last year I have had a blank 1TB External Hard DRive (for Mac) just waiting in its box for something like this to happen.

Any thoughts?

Is it as simple as unplugging the old and plugging in the new and just download the songs back onto my new hard drive?
___________


Every drive dies. It sounds like it was time for this one to go. In some cases it’s only the enclosure that has failed. You can try pulling the drive out of the Lacie enclosure and putting the drive into a new enclosure to see if you can get the data. Hopefully you had this drive backed up to another drive. I seem to remember we had time capsule pushing that data over. If this is the case then you might as well break out the new drive and get started with the transfer.

Should I wait for iPhone 5?

continuation from previous post here.
Screen shot 2011-03-14 at 11.26.43 AM
We’ve tried several things to solve the problem including downloading the combo updates directly of both 10.6.5 and 10.6.6 and install without using software update. We’ve tried increasing the kern file size allocation in terminal. We’ve repaired permissions. We haven’t tried running the update from another computer onto the target computer but you’d need me in the home to do that. So here’s what we have left that you can do yourself...

I hate to have to punt but this may be our only choice. I would suggest one of two steps.  Either a: wait for 10.6.7 to be released (next few weeks) and hope that 10.6.7 will update but it's doubtful.  Or b:  reinstall Snow Leopard from the disc then run the updates once again after installation.  You won't loose any of your data as Snow Leopard will only replace the System and not your user data.  However you just definitely be sure you've backed up first.  Time Machine should be running before you do this.  And it probably has been.  Right?

10.6 won't install


It's not letting me get to ITunes and it's using my old AOL address and won't let me change it.
Screen shot 2011-03-11 at 4.39.23 PM
___________

So the new computer has to be authorized to play content purchased on iTunes.  You can authorize up to 5.  So first you'll need to find out the password to your old apple ID associated to the aol email address. It's very common for people to have more than one apple ID.  Apple also has a pretty easy method of reseting your password.  Remember this is not your email password.  This is your apple ID that happens to be associated with that email address.  After you've authorized that computer for that account then you need to log into iTunes store from within itunes with your current apple ID, which in your case may be your mobileme or gmail address.  

You can reset your apple password here.

Time Capsule failed again. Do I have to use the ATT router?

Scotty,

Per your suggestion I have my external hard-drive connected 24/7. The question I have pertains to mobile-me and the external hard-drive...is iphoto and itunes backed up automatically on both? I noticed that on mobile-me preferences that iphoto and itunes were not listed.
___________


Since you are using time machine (apple’s built in backup system) all your data including pictures and music is now being backed up to the external drive. MobileMe’s main goal is to move contacts, calendar, and bookmarks to the cloud (servers controlled by Apple outside your home). So as long as you continue to use time machine you’re in good shape. The program use used to use called “Backup” which was the one with the umbrella as it’s icon, was a horrible program that failed more than it succeeded and I can’t recommend anyone ever use that.

Your MobileMe account has about 20 gigs of storage space online Apple calls iDisk. Usually iDisk, even with 20 gigs, is not enough to backup your pictures or music.

Upgrading iCal

Hi Scotty,

I am trying to remember if you installed some type of firewall on our computer.  And I think it may have expired - we are starting to get a lot of junk that we haven't received in the past year or so.  

I did find firewall under security and it is turned off.  I didn't want to turn it on until I heard from you.

What should I do?
___________


I did not turn on your Mac’s built in firewall. The purpose of a firewall is to block unwanted traffic over certain ports or pathways of the internet. For instance, Skype uses a certain port, iChat uses another, iTunes store uses yet a different one, and email uses a completely different set as well. There are many many ports however, since you use a router in your home that helps a lot and generally you are safe from things a firewall would otherwise be helping to block. The router acts as a shield for port traffic.

Now with all this being said, it sounds more like the junk you are talking about is email. Is that correct? If this is the case, then Firewall are irrealevent. What is relavent is who has your email address. The more we expose our email addresses the more probable junk mail becomes. Even when others send out email with your email as a recipient, your address can be compromised just being on the list. It’s very hard to keep your email address protected but you can use junk mail filtering to help limit it.

Update the new calendar on mobileme?

Hope you are doing well.  I need to change phone service providers to Verizon – lousy AT&T reception along parts of the SC coast.  Do you think it’s worth waiting for the iPhone 5?
___________


Yes.

Which Printer to buy?


thanks again for your help with our systems this week!  I did purchase the snow leopard $29 upgrade but having trouble with the install.  When I insert the disk, the system seems to engage but within 30 seconds it rejects the disk.  Nothing ever shows up on the screen.  I tried restarting the  computer and I confirmed that the disk was installed correctly.  I had a brief conversation with a store attendant and they seemed to think that you must have 10.5 for the $29 upgrade to work.  Any thoughts?  Thanks for your help!


It is actually not true that you have to have 10.5.  I have moved many systems from 10.4 to 10.6.  

Try installing by doing the following:

insert the disc.  
Turn off the computer.
boot the computer holding down the C key.  
follow the install instructions from there.  

That will force the computer to boot from the disc instead of the internal hard drive.  Above all else, back up first if you have an external drive!  You never know what can happen during an installation.  That is very important.  

If that does not work, then either the CD drive is having problems or the disc could be bad.  But the later is very unlikely.

Scotty, first, thanks for your guidance!

I determined that the disk was fine because it worked on my daughters laptop just fine.

I also checked my disk drive with another disk and it appeared to be OK too.

I used your technique below and it did allow me to get one step further than before but once I typed in our password and selected the install button, the disk was ejected about 20 seconds later.  I've tried multiple times but no luck.  Any other thoughts?

If you think another visit is necessary, I would rather fund that than purchase additional software so let me know.  Thanks for your assistance!


Scotty,  Please let me know your suggestion.  Should we get you back over to help us get this 10.6 upgrade installed or do you have any suggestions for me...the email below is were I sit today.  Appears that the disk and disk drive are fine...my machine just want let the upgrade take.  By the way, I installed the apple router and that has been fantastic!  Thanks
___________


Sounds like the computer is being pretty difficult in trying to get this upgrade installed. There is another way. We can use another computer to install 10.6 to the target computer by using something called target disc mode. It’s not a common practice so you may need a little assistance. I would be happy to take care of it for you if you prefer. Be sure you’ve backed your data up prior to me coming if you need. If you’d rather have the instructions and do it yourself, you’ll need another mac and firewire cable to do it. I can provide instructions if you need. Just let me know if you feel I can help.

Flash on the iPad?

Hi Scotty,

Hope all is well!  My second Time Capsule has died on me :((  I'm a bit reluctant to purchase yet a 3rd one...is there anything else out there??  I don't use it as a router since I have at&t Uverse and I have to use theirs..I only use it as a backup for my computers and my 2 kids'.  I do like the convenience of not having to plug in the Time Capsule :))  Anything out there similar to it??

Thanks for your help!
___________

I’m sorry to hear you’ve had more problems with your Time Capsule. First, there is a good chance you may be eligible for a free replacement from Apple. I would suggest taking it to the apple store and see if it qualifies for a replacement. It may despite being beyond a year old. If you decide not to go that route then you are limited to directly plugging up a hard drive to your computer. If it’s a desktop no problem. If it’s a laptop, then you’ll need to remember to plug it in periodically to backup via time machine. I currently favor the Seagate GoFlex drive although you should keep in mind that every hard drive dies.

Secondly, I do have several clients who’ve moved to ATT Uverse and are understanding that they can no longer use their Airport Extreme or time capsule as a router. This is incorrect. As a matter of fact, the ATT wireless router is inferior to the Apple routers. The ATT routers currently only support 802.11g whereas the Apple routers support 802.11n which means they are capable of moving data between computers or devices in the home at a faster rate. This does not mean the internet will speed up with the use of a different router but it does mean that signal could be stronger and data transfer between computer would definitely be faster. You just have to set it up along side the ATT router. I do it all the time.

Finding your passwords

Scotty:
I keep getting messaged from Mobile me that I need to upgrade my calendar.  BUt when I try to do it , it says I need to upgrade to snow leopard. 
DO I need to do this? If so Do I need appointment with you or is this something I can do without screwing up my mail and calendar (I am headed out of town MOnday am for a week of work and cant afford t loose anything)?
Thanks
___________

You will want to make sure all your devices are updated to 4.2 for iPad and iPhone and it is preferable to have 10.6.6 on your Mac. However, 10.6 is not absolutely necessary. You would just have to add the calendars back in manually. I would say for now, if it’s working ok for you and you are heading out of town, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. It can wait until return. 10.6 makes it easier but like I said, you can do it without it. Just more steps.

Video out on iPod Touch

Hello Scotty,

I am getting emails saying I need to update my mobile me before May 5 but I seem to recall you saying not to update if you use some applications.  Did I dream this or would it be ok to update?

Thanks,
___________


Upgrading to the new calendar sync method is inevitable so I’d so go ahead and do it. However, to make things work the way Apple wants them to, you’ll need 4.2 on your iPhone or iPad and 10.6.6 on your computer. You can still sync calendars on your computer with the new method if have only 10.5.8 on your computer but there are a few extra steps. Overall, at this point, I’d say go ahead and update. You’ll have to eventually.
This image is a theme.plist hack