After all the eggnog is consumed and the gifts unwrapped, your new and old Macs may need a bit of holiday cheer themselves. Whether you’re trying to setup a new system or infuse energy into an old favorite, a few MacRx columns on such matters resonated with our readers this year.
Read on for refreshers about Fixing Startup Problems, Speeding up Slow Macs, Troubleshooting WiFi Issues, Making Hard Drive Clones, and Managing Your Safari Bookmarks. Some things to do over the holiday break!
How To Fix Common Mac Startup Problems
Nothing is worse to a Mac user than a system that won’t start, or gives the dreaded flashing question mark. That sinking pit-in-your-stomach feeling isn’t fun, but may not be as bad as you think – a bit of sleuthing is worthwhile.
Clues to the causes of Mac startup problems can be found by analyzing when in the boot process the system fails. Problems may be related to the power supply, battery, hard drive, logic board, OS corruption or an issue with a user account. Isolating where the problem is occurring is key to finding the solution
Read More: How To Fix Common Mac Startup Problems [MacRx]
Why Is My Mac Running So Slow?
Macs are solid machines, but like many of us they have a tendency to slow down and get more lethargic over time. Launching and switching programs takes longer, the dreaded Spinning Beach Ball appears more often, and soon even simple tasks become arduous. What’s going on?
Many things can decrease performance, but several culprits are common: not enough disk space, not enough RAM, and running too many apps at once. I see these in my consulting business regularly.
Read More: Why Is My Mac Running So Slow [MacRx]
How To Fix Common WiFi Problems
Weak signal strength, dropouts, and connection failures are not uncommon experiences for WiFi users. That’s partially because WiFi operates in unregulated portions of the radio spectrum. These frequencies are shared with things like microwave ovens, cordless phones, garage door openers and an increasing plethora of other WiFi devices.
What many WiFi networks face these days is like trying to tune in to a weak radio station in a busy city market. Here are a few tips and suggestions to try when things aren’t working.
Read More: How To Fix Common WiFi Problems [MacRx]
How (and Why) to Clone Your Mac Hard Drive
A clone is a bootable backup of your Mac’s hard drive that provides redundancy for both your data and the Macintosh Operating System. Cloning is easy to do and is complementary to other backup methods like Time Machine. The ability to get up and working in minutes after a crash or system update gone awry can be a very useful thing.
Clones provide a way to rollback your Mac OS X installation. You can keep your clone updated using synchronization software to perform incremental updates, and can use your clone to boot another Mac should the need arise.
Read More: How (and Why) to Clone Your Mac Hard Drive [MacRx]
How To Manage Safari Bookmarks Efficiently
As a Mac consultant I often run into clients who can’t find bookmarks they’ve added to their systems. Or, they have so many bookmarks saved that the list is virtually endless and unusable. All the more frustrating when most people only tend to visit a handful of sites on a regular basis.
Getting to know the ways in which Safari stores bookmarks, and coming up with a simple organizing scheme, will go a long way in preserving your sanity – or at least help save some time occasionally.
Read More: How To Manage Safari Bookmarks Efficiently [MacRx]
