Iconology
Is there one folder that holds OS X ’s icon ? I ’d like to change the icon that come along in the Finder , but copy a new icon into a Get Info windowpane does n’t seem to work.—Adam R. Totten
The operation is more complicated than you might remember . you’re able to find many of the icons in OS X by go to System : Library : CoreServices and then control - clicking on SystemIcons.bundle . In OS X 10.3 , you’re able to then select Show Package Contents to rummage through the Resources leaflet within the Contents folder . However , the origin owns these icons , so you ca n’t delete them in place . Rather , you must make copies ( after making a full backup of the Resources folder so you could restore thing if necessary ) , edit the transcript , and exchange the originals with the edited versions . But there ’s even more to it than that , and because there is , I ’ll come to you toInterfaceLift , which spells out the procedure in all its command - line glory .
Or you may take the prosperous route : Purchase Panic ’s $ 13CandyBar utility program . Its drag - and - bead port lets you substitute an icon by cart a new icon into a well where the old icon lodge in . It ’s as simple as that . CandyBar also supports iContainers — prepackaged collections of icons — that you could load up with a dual - pawl . For tip on working with icon and images in Terminal , see this month’sMac OS X Hints .
Setup Assistant Redux
Is there a way to force OS X ’s initial Setup Assistant to run again?—Rick Roder
Yes , but unless you have a very good cause for execute the Setup Assistant — your Mac wo n’t start up because your drug user history look to be hose , for instance — don’t do it . And if you must , back up your datum first . Then keep these two head in idea : First , to keep back access to the Indian file affiliate with the current user — include music , e - post messages , contact , and calendars — the drug user you make in Setup Assistant must have exactly the same name as the current user . Otherwise , the transportation of permissions between your new and old identities will end up a jam , and , until you modify file permissions with a tool such asBatChmod , you wo n’t be able-bodied to open up some files .
Second , if you ’ve created additional users on your Mac — an invoice for troubleshooting or one for your married person , for good example — you wo n’t be able to access those user from the login screen .
Now that you ’ve been warned , here ’s how to launch the Setup Assistant again : re-start your Mac while hold down Command - S to reboot into Single User mode . When the prompt come along , type the following , compact the take key after each melodic phrase ( note the spaces ):
interlingual rendition : You ’ve navigated to the hidden NetInfo directory and rename the NetInfo database — which check the Mac ’s user mise en scene — in such a direction that the Mac will create a new database when Setup Assistant runs . You ’ve then removed the AppleSetupDone data file . When the Mac does n’t see this file , it runs the Setup Assistant that allows you to create a new user .
If you ’d like to put thing back the way they were before you undertook this procedure , boot into Single User mood again and typecast the following :
This gives the new NetInfo database the name local.1old and repair the original NetInfo database .
Away with Artwork
I ’ve heard that iTunes ’ art is engraft into medicine files . How do you back up artwork and remove it?—Dylan Drazen
nontextual matter is indeed plant in medicine files ( and justly so , as you ’d need the artwork to transfer when you move audio file to another computer ) . But iTunes is more than happy to allow you archive and take out it . To back up the nontextual matter , launching iTunes , select a track whose graphics you want to archive , press Command - I to produce the racecourse - data window , press the Artwork tab , and drag the art to the background , where it turns into a depiction clipping . To erase the artwork , cluck on it and then penetrate on the delete push button .
Old OS, Old iPod
Can you use an iPod with OS 9?—Ivan Manson
Third- and fourth - multiplication iPods and the iPod mini require OS X , or Microsoft Windows 2000 , XP Home , or Professional , but you could use the first two generations of iPod — which have piloting button range around the scroll roulette wheel — with OS 9 . Because Apple no longer sells these model , you ’ll have to find a used one .
To make the twist work with OS 9 , you need compatible reading of iTunes and the iPod software . you could download the last O 9 - compatible adaptation of iTunes — that would be 2 — from find.macworld.com/ 0107 . And you ’ll find the iPod Software 1.3 Updater for Mac OS 9 athere .
Mouseless Menus
With my Windows microcomputer at work , I utilise the keyboard to activate a fare . When I typecast a missive , the first menu entry that begins with that letter is play up . Then I can just agitate the enter key to pick out that menu option . I would care to do this on my Mac at home , but I do n’t know how.—Jason Kuebelbeck
Recent versions of OS X let you do the same thing . Just hold down the mastery Francis Scott Key and press F2 . The Apple menu will drop down down . To move to the next menu to the rightfield , press the keyboard ’s right - arrow or tab key ( press the left over - arrow key or shift - check to move to the leftfield ) . In atomic number 76 XTC 10.3 , typing a letter will take you to the first item that begins with that alphabetic character . you could utilize the up- and down - arrow key to move up and down in the carte . If a menu contains multiple items that begin with the same letter , type the first duet of letters of a particular dictation name to highlight it . If an item has a hierarchical menu , employ the right - arrow key to spread out it .
Upside-down iSight
I ’d care to find a more aesthetically pleasing way to incorporate my iSight into my workplace environment . I thought I had found the staring solution — mounting it under a bookshelf — but the image is thumb , and iChat does n’t have any control condition for rotating it 180 degrees . Is there a fix for this?—Blair Feldman
It ’s possible to flip the video recording ikon with software — for case , Ben Software ’s $ 50SecuritySpycan do it . But as you ’ve let out , flip out images is n’t among iChat ’s talents , and because Mac OS allows only one software at a sentence to use TV input , you ca n’t alternate the image in one programme and then use that flipped prototype in iChat .
I ’m afraid you must move around to car-mechanic to lick your problem . You could do it with mirrors — betoken your iSight at a concave mirror ( which flips your image , much as a shiny spoon would ) , and angle a second mirror so that the camera can see you . As deliciously scientific as this frame-up may be , it lend more clutter to your way .
Instead , search at MacMice ’s $ 30SightFlex . It features a FireWire line built into a compromising , 20 - in subdivision that ’s attach to a solid substructure . plug in the iSight to the top of this limb , point the base in a convenient spot , and twist the camera into a locating that express your good side .
Unsolicited Advice: Extras for Excel
I ’ve been using Microsoft Excel more ofttimes of late , and I wanted to travel by along a couple of spreadsheet tips .
And here ’s a nerveless way to make a pop - up menu : Enter values — Giants , Dodgers , Rockies , Padres , and diamondback , for example — in a series of out - of - the - way of life cells , such as J1 to J5 . select the cellphone you ’d like the pop - up menu to appear in . pick out substantiation from the Data card , press the options tab , and choose lean from the Allow pop - up menu . In the Source field of operations that appears , participate
Tip of the Month: Calendars Redux
In your August 2004 column , you suggest that in purchase order to print all your calendars to .Mac , you could print a compiled monthly calendar as a PDF file and then publish it to a .Mac home page . A more refined solution is to create a unexampled calendar , give it a name such as All Calendars , and export all your other calendar to the desktop . Then trail the .ics files from the background to the new calendar unveiling you created to lend all those events to the calendar . Finally , publish this individual calendar to .Mac.—John Moskalyk
