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Keep your Mac running its best using these simple tips.

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 | Author: OWC Brian and OWC Chris S.

Why does my Mac take so long to boot?

Have you upgraded your hard drive only to find out that the new drive is booting slower than the original? Or, maybe you haven’t upgraded the drive, but your Mac just seems slow to boot?

If your system drive is not setup as the Startup Disk, the Mac will take extra time at startup looking for a suitable drive to boot from. To make sure you have a startup drive specified, go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your boot drive.

Clean up your Mac from the inside.

If you’re in the habit of shutting down your computer overnight, such as in an office environment, your Mac isn’t able to run some of its maintenance scripts, which are set to run in the wee hours of the morning. These scripts do things like clean up system logs, clear out old “junk” files, and repair/update internal databases. These actions help keep Mac OS X running its best.

Fortunately, it’s simple to run these scripts manually (as well as perform other system-level operations) using the freeware utility OnyX. Alternatively, you can just leave your computer on overnight once a month.

Repair your permissions.

Every file on your Mac has a set of permissions that determines not only which users can access which files, but also what files the operating system itself can access and modify. Over time, these permissions can get corrupted.

Keep your Mac’s permissions healthy by repairing these permissions. The simplest way is to open up Disk Utility, select your hard drive, highlight the “First Aid” tab, and click the “Repair Permissions” button. Then, let Disk Utility do its thing.

Doing this at least once a month and right after installing/updating software will help keep things running smoothly.

Edit: Changed “Startup Items” to read correctly as “Startup Disk.”

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Performing Typing Magic

Friday, May 14th, 2010 | Author: OWC Glen

From authoring emails to creating websites and posters, we use text in just about everything. Here are a few easy short-cuts on your Mac so you can spend more time creating and less on typing.

Caught in a Spell

Even if you don’t have a clue on a word’s spelling, your Mac can give you a list of suggestions. If you can manage the first few letters, tap F5 (no need to highlight the word) and your Mac will give you a list of all words that start with those letters.
Some applications may use F5 for other functions. If so, try the ESC key or OPTION+ESC.
Article Continues…

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Top 5 Tech FAQs for Spring 2010

Monday, May 10th, 2010 | Author: OWC Devin

While providing the utmost in Technical assistance at OWC, we often hear the same question multiple times.

Below, we’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions from our Tech Support FAQ page. Hopefully, these will help you spend less time getting things installed (or configured) and more time using your new OWC goodies! Article Continues…

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Tech Tips: Spring Cleaning

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 | Author: OWC Devin

Spring means that its time to clean up for the new year. Based on my experience here at OWC, I would like to drop my top 5 EASIEST cleanup tips for the Mac.

5.) Dust your Mac. No, really – dust can reduce the life of your electronics by damaging the components. Laptops, Mac Minis and iMacs are virtually impenetrable but still need to be wiped off – and blow out those vents! Grab a can of compressed air and a scratch-free cloth like our Newer Technology Microfiber Pro (just $3.99!!) and keep that Mac free of dust!

4.) Clean your Mac’s Screen. OWC Larry has personally suggested the Lenspen VidiMax Ultra: Deluxe LCD / Plasma Screen Cleaning Kit in several OWC Newsletters and Blogs! The Lenspen kit is great for Laptops, Monitors, TVs, LCDs, Plasma screens, CRTs, Digital picture frames, & more! Just $14.99 on OWC Super Saver special.

3.) Remove Scratches in your Mac’s Plastic. Scratches in the plastic of your Apple devices can take in dirt, grime and stains which make it look down-right old and filthy. Our Newer Technology Clean & Polish Kit consists of a 3 easy-step plastic-polishing system. Absolutely the BEST way to remove scratches from your Apple iPod, iBook, MacBook (white) or any plastic surface! Just 3 steps – Heavy Scratch Remover, Fine Scratch Remover and lastly the Plastic Clean and Shine for a like new finish! Just $14.75 on MacWorld Expo 2010 Promo!

2.) Clean your Mac’s Keyboard. Oh yes – you know crumbs or dust bunnies have infiltrated before. This is a tip that not only keeps your keyboard in proper functioning order, but also fights germs. So, be hygienic! Pop off the keys, use a alcohol swab if you need – and when you’re done, maybe consider a keyboard protector like the OWC Clear skin protector for the Apple Aluminum Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - just $7.99 on OWC Super Saver special.

1.) Use Onyx on your Mac. Need I say more? After cleaning the outside, you need to clean the Mac’s inside! We posted a review of Onyx on the blog back in October 2009. Check it out for an overview of usage. As stated in the Tech Toolbox post – taking just a few minutes to run this maintenance utility can increase performance and even prevent disasters. Just jump over to VersionTracker.com – Onyx is available in versions for OS 10.2 or later. Did I mention that it’s FREE?

Now that you’re ready for another year with your Mac, don’t forget that nice and clean is possible without a shiny new purchase from Apple! Do it yourself, save on repairs and keep your Mac looking AND running like new!

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Use your keyboard to speed up your work flow.

Friday, February 27th, 2009 | Author: OWC Chris S.

No matter how often you use a computer, you never really know everything. Sure, you may have the basics down and may be amazingly efficient in your day-to-day applications, but there’s always that one thing that could, over time, speed up your work flow.

As Mac users, one of those things we often overlook is the use of keyboard commands. While MacOS has always been very menu-driven, most of the common menu commands also have a keyboard equivalent. Rather than moving the mouse to a particular spot, clicking and going back to your work, you can hit a key or two and continue mousing/typing/etc. without stopping. Over time, that results in time savings.

Recently, I came across a coworker who, in order to take a screenshot of a window, would open up the Grab application (Applications>Utilities>Grab), Select “Window” from the “Capture” menu and use that to select the window he wanted.

A much faster (and easier) method would have been to hit Command-Shift-4, then hit the Space Bar to turn the cursor into a camera. All you need to do then is click the desired window to get the screen shot.

Considerably faster.

Poking around Apple’s Knowledge Base, I found a nice little article that shows many of the major system-wide keyboard shortcuts in OS X. I even learned of one or two that I wasn’t aware of, myself. You may want to check it out for yourself.

Hopefully, this info can help speed up your work flow by utilizing both the mouse and the keyboard to get around OS X.

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