Perhaps this is something I should have done a very long time ago…
As most people know, I’m the resident “Mac expert” for many of my friends, and I’m often asked to help friends with their Apple-related problems (such as this past weekend when I helped MK get her PowerBook back to usable status). And since I’m always doing this, and most folks I know are artists, so they all use a Mac anyway, I figured it might be a good idea to list down all the things one needs to do in case of an emergency (or to hopefully prevent one).
The following list of helpful hints is applicable if the following applies to you:
a. You have a Mac (any kind: an iMac, eMac, iBook, PowerBook).
b. And you are running a version of OS X, most likely Panther (10.3) or Tiger (10.4).
… One can easily find out what version your Mac is running by selecting “About This Mac”, which is located below the Apple in the upper left-hand corner. Anyway, first things first…
1. BACK YOUR SHIT UP. ALWAYS.
The most common dilemma is, not surprisingly, when an important files gets wiped out, sometimes due to user error, or when a software update goes awry (more on this later). Unfortunately, one’s options are pretty limited in this area. Its also why I have to laugh whenever Apple proclaims that OS X is a “modern” operating system; if that was the case, why is there no built in un-erase? If you accidentally deleted a file and want it back, you can either mess around the terminal (if you don’t know what it is, trust me, you don’t want to, and you especially don’t want to go near it), or resort to some expensive recovery application which may or may not work. In either case, its very messy and a total pain. So one answer to all of this is ALWAYS BACK YOUR SHIT UP. ALWAYS.
The first step is separating what is important to what isn’t. Take what’s important and back it up, either by burning a CD/DVD or putting saving copies on an external hard drive. If something is especially important, then it might be worth to burn a disc and store it off-site (in case there’s a fire or your machine is stolen… hey, you never know, and what’s worse than your Mac going missing is all the artwork you’ve toiled away on being gone with it).
Some things are obvious and simply to isolate, while others aren’t. If you use Apple’s Mail program, Safari, the Address Book, or iCal, Apple’s calendar program, you may not know where to find such their relevant files. Thankfully, most are located in the same basic location:
- Go to your Home Folder… this is the folder which you created when setting up your Mac; it might have your name, plus the icon should be of a house. This is where all your documents, music, and movies are, or at least where it’s supposed to be.
- Simply hit Apple key and then the letter N when your mouse is on the desktop (it should say “Finder” in the upper left-hand corner).
- Then open the Library folder.
Once inside, you’ll need to look for several individual folders.
- The Mail folder is where all your email is.
- The Safari folder is where all the information related to your bookmarked sites is placed.
- The Application Support folder has resource files related to a whole bunch of programs. If you used Address Book, you will want to look for the folder that’s called AddressBook, and save it.
- The Calendars folder is where all the information related to iCal. If you use that program, then you should back this folder up.
- Look for the Preferences folder. This is where setting for all the programs you use are contained. You will want to save the following files, provided if you use the associated program:
AddressBookMe.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
… for Address Book
com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist
com.apple.iChat.Jabber.plist
com.apple.iChat.plist
com.apple.iChat.SubNet.plist
com.apple.iChatAgent.plist
… for iChat
com.apple.mail.plist
… for Mail
com.apple.Safari.plist
… for Safari
A note: you really don’t need to back up those iChat files, but in case you’ve organized buddy lists and the such, you may want to hold onto them; again, preference files record any sort of customization… so if you have created some sort of unique workflow in Photoshop, then nab those files too.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again, ALWAYS BACK YOUR SHIT UP. ALWAYS. Be religious about it. I try to make copies my important files at least once a month. As for non-essentials, such as mp3s, movie files, and the such, I don’t have the means to back everything up (otherwise, I’d have about 40 DVDs to contend with) but I do make copies of the more important, impossible to replace, stuff.
Now onto number two, which I dare say almost no one really care about…
2. BE ORGANIZED. AGAIN, ALWAYS.
I cannot stress the importance of being organized. Seriously. Being methodical and anal retentive might seem like a huge pain in the ass at first, but stick with it and the whole process will become second nature. And then watch it save your ass from a fire when you need something, and in an instant.
The first thing to do is to recognizing and utilizing the system which OS X already provides. As mentioned before, everyone in OS X has a home folder, which has ones for Documents, Pictures, Movies, and Music. If you have a Word file, but it in the Documents folder. If you have an mp3, put if in the Music folder. Pretty damn simple, right? Don’t just throw sit all over the place… because it will open up the potential of losing it, or even over-writting important files. And be smart about it as well. Don’t just put a bunch of pictures in a file called “pics”, and later put another bunch of pictures in another file also named “pics”. Trust me, at one point or another, you will get confused and disaster might happen.
Also don’t just throw it in the Hard Drive, because you might forget about it. But also, anyone can access it, unlike the Home folder which is only accessible to it owners. Which brings up my next point…
If multiple people are using the same computer, its a good idea to have each person have their user account. The result will be that each person will have their own Home folder, with their very own folders for documents and media. But furthermore, it will also retain their own personalized settings, such as Safari bookmarks and iTunes playlists. And all this is exclusive to the user, which not only means ease of organization but privacy.
Here’s the thing though… since items are the exclusive ownership of the user, nothing is shared. So if user A on a Mac downloads a song, user B on the same Mac cannot hear it if her or she is logged on. The solution to this is by putting things in the Shard folder:
- Click on the Machintosh HD icon.
- Click on the User Folder.
- You will see the Shard Folder. You can put anything from your Home folder into the Shared Folder to be shared among other users.
… Its sorta complicated, I know, but if done correctly, it can save a ton of hassles.
Okay, if everything is in their proper places, what else should one do? Make certain that things can run even smoother by doing some maintenance.
3. DON’T FORGET TO OIL THE MACHINE
Long technical story short: OS X is built upon Unix, an operating system that is based upon a series of privileges and permissions. This is to ensure that the user doesn’t do something that he or she shouldn’t do, like delete an important file that the OS depends upon. But after awhile, permissions can get messed up, so its important to fix them to ensure a smooth ride. And it’s pretty simple to do.
- Go to your Utilities Folder. There’s numerous ways, but the fastest is by hitting the Shift key, Apple key, and the letter U. The folder itself is also located in the Applications Folder (which is in the Hard Drive icon).
- Select Disk Utility.
- On the left column you will see all the discs and drives connected to your computer: the hard drive, any external hard drives, a CD if you have one in your machine at the moment. Click on the hard drive.
- To the right, some buttons will appear at the bottom of that window. You will want to choose “Verify Disk Permissions” first.
- After that’s done, choose “Repair Disk Permission”. And you’re done!
I would recommend doing this at least once a month, or whenever your notice your computer acting all slow or funky. There are other applications that do the same exact thing, plus more advanced stuff, which you can download for free. Perhaps the best one is ,a hef=”http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582″>OnyX.
4. IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, BE PREPARED
Okay, so there’s no need to lie around here. I know full well that many people who use Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, Quark, and all other applications don’t actually own them and they themselves are just copies from friends and coworkers who have access. And there’s no shame in that… most of those application are hella expensive, plus all those software companies make all their money in the educational and business sector anyway. But if there is one piece of software which everyone absolutely needs to have, its the operating system.
All Macs come with the OS on a disc (or sometimes multiple discs) when you buy the machine, so everyone is pretty much covered already. But if you’re going to upgrade to a totally new version, lets say from 10.3 to 10.4, then you should bite the bullet and just pay the full price. Why? Because the OS is basically the brains of the computer, and when making a copy, even from one CD/DVD to another, small flaw can occur. And you just don’t need that with the brain. And because one tiny flaw can possibly screw up the entire installation process, which could cause permanent damage to your system.
But if you are going to use a copy of an OS disc, make sure its a first generation copy, preferably one that you created yourself (or at least supervised), and on quality media. Speaking of, avoid buying blank media in bulk, because the cheaper the price, the cheaper in quality. I trust Fuji and Sony myself.
I know a lot of people might protest everything I’ve said in this part, but my experience has proven to me else-wise.
5. TO UPDATE, OR NOT TO UPDATE
… That’s a pretty important question. And a tricky one to answer.
Often, Apple will release updates to the OS, or to programs such as iTunes, and it may seem like a no-brainer as what to do. After-all, the reason why updates are created in the first place is add new features to software, and make things run smoother than before. Or at least that’s the theory…
I’d say as recent at last year, that was the case; with version 10.3, or Panther, practically every single update (10.3 through 10.3.8) brought with it a slew improvements from top to bottom, mostly to make it ran faster on older, slower machines, which was pretty fantastic. But starting with the very last update (10.3.9), things went awry; people began reporting strange problems…. many people’s Mac all of a sudden had a problem with sound, iTunes could crash immediately after starting-up, same with Safari. Some cynical people wondered if Apple screwed things up on purpose, as to prompt people to buy the next version of the OS, 10.4, or Tiger. Though it was later revealed that the 10.3.9 update contained a slight flaw that might mess with people’s machines if they didn’t have the proper version of Java installed already, and a small fix was later (and quietly) released, it was unfortunately a sign of things to come. Now more than ever, when Apple releases new software, or updates somewhat older ones, if you don’t have the very latest hardware, you might have a situation on your hands.
That being said, before you update, and especially before you upgrade to a newer version of software, or even hardware, do your homework! Make sure to check for compatibility by paying attention to the small print; what was applicable yesterday may not be today. For example, I know quite a few folks who got the video iPods this past Christmas. Unfortunately, most did not know that the new iPods have a USB 2.0 interface only, and its been standard on Macs only for the past year or so. Since most of them had older Macs that have USB 1.1, it will still work, but the transfer rate is going to be much slower comparatively speaking. Perhaps some assumed that they could just use Firewire, since that was the original means of connection between a Mac and an iPod, and even when USB 2.0 was adopted a few years back (primarily for the PC market, btw), you could still use Firewire. Well not anymore…. Apple dropped Firewire support, but one would only know that if they read the small-print.
Back to the OS, every-time you machine tells you that there are updates, via the Software Update application (which you can also call upon at any time by selecting it under the Apple at the upper-hand corner of the screen), there’s a detailed rundown of what it will do for your machine. If its not vital, then perhaps you may not need it? Ultimately, updating software is not suppose to do any sort of damage, but the bottom line is that many people have lost data (historically its been music) when upgrading, so proceed with caution
The best thing to do in this situation is to wait a bit before doing anything. There are places, like Mac related user forums where people discuss problems and offer solutions. They are also at the front lines and love to report to others, both the good and the bad. Places worth checking out are MacWorld, MacAddict, and ResExcellence. There are plenty of message boards out there, but these places concentrate on Mac related issues, and have plenty of experts poking around (perhaps more so than, say, a comic book or video game related message board).
Also, when you are updated your system, avoid doing too much at the same time. There’s a very small chance that it may screw up the process. So if your machine is in the process of updating itself, wait its finished before tackling that heavy-duty Photoshop file, rendering that Final Cut Pro project, and downloading those vids from that Java-heavy site.
As for getting your hands on the latest version of an application, a very good saying to keep in mind is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The truth is, most applications at version 10 is basically version 5, but with bells and whistles, and most people rarely use the extra stuff. Granted, Photoshop 7 might not be as pretty as Photoshop CS2, nor does it have nearly as many features, but if you are doing the same basic things as before, why upgrade? Remember, extra things come at a price… generally, you’ll need a speeder machine, more RAM, etc. To the point that doing the same old thing might actually take longer and be more trouble.
Though if you do decide to get the next version up of a program, don’t trash the older one immediately. Try to do comparison tests to see what works best for you.
… And I guess that’s basically it. I hope at least some people find some of what I’ve outlined useful and helpful. I know some of this may not be new to a few, but as I’ve discovered, most folks are not aware of all the super simple steps one should take in case of a catastrophe (which often will help prevent one in the first place).
If anything is unclear, please let me know, and I’ll edit and elaborate when needed. Or if anyone has any specific questions, please let me know. And feel free to pass this along to any friend who had a Mac. Even if he or she aren’t having problems now… trust me, there will be, at one point or another.
