Utilities

Last Saturday Apple released a number of EFI firmware updates for various Mac models, which addressed problems with NetBoot features, the use of HD displays for protected HD content, and boot drive selection when external drives are plugged into the systems. The updates were for Mac Mini, MacBook Air, iMac, and MacBook Pro systems.

After releasing these updates, Apple has issued another update for the MacBook Pro (version 2.7 was released on Saturday; this is version 2.8), which addresses a problem in which 15-inch models from late 2008 developed flickering displays. This fix is only applicable to the … Read more

Apple's move to Intel processors for its Mac systems in 2006 opened up many opportunities for Mac users, one of which was the ability to install and boot Windows directly on the Mac hardware without any emulation. To facilitate this for those who needed it, Apple introduced Boot Camp to easily partition the hard drive and supply drivers to the Windows OS for various features like iSight cameras and multitouch trackpads.

Boot Camp is a great option to have on the Mac, but unfortunately its support from Apple is rather limited, especially if you need to migrate from your … Read more

Apple has released a small patch to fix a problem a number of iMac users have been experiencing with network connectivity on their systems after waking from sleep. Apparently, after the latest OS X 10.7.3 update, people with iMac systems from late 2009 or newer found that the system wouldn't connect to their preferred wireless network, requiring the user to manually select the network from the Wi-Fi menu.

While not a serious bug, it was a problem that caused a bit of frustration with users. MacFixIt readers wrote in asking about this issue, and while some have … Read more

Apple has released new firmware updates for a number of its early- and mid-2011 Mac systems. The updates, which require OS X 10.7.3 or later to install, address problems with NetBoot features, and fix problems with HDCP authentication after rebooting (which may prevent HD content from being displayed on certain monitors). The updates also fix a problem with the selection of the boot drive when a USB drive is plugged into the system.

The updates should be available via Software Update for iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air systems released in early to mid-2011, but you … Read more

After having some major problems with Windows Vista that left me stranded with blue screen of death, I decided to upgrade my PC to Windows 7. Everything seemed to go smoothly, but when the upgrade was completed, there were some display and audio issues with my newly updated PC, so I called on my tech support buddy for help. After a few tweaks here and there with my machine, everything was working beautifully, so I just had to ask. What was the problem? Did I do something wrong? Well, turns out it was just the outdated drivers that needed some … Read more

When multitasking in OS X, sometimes the programs you are using might output notification sounds or otherwise use the OS X audio system in ways that could interfere with your other tasks.

If you increase the volume to watch a movie while you have Mail open in the background, then when you receive a new message, Mail will output a loud New Mail sound. While you can disable Mail's notification sounds or quit the program, you might wish to keep it open and hear when the Mail arrives, but just not as loud.

Other similar scenarios might also benefit … Read more

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New Mac systems support the ability to boot to Apple's Internet recovery service that provides Lion users with an option to reinstall OS X over the Internet, instead of using a local boot disk to reinstall OS X.

In an effort to bring this ability to some earlier-model systems, Apple recently released EFI firmware updates for 2010-model MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini systems that enable this option.

In a new round of EFI updates released yesterday, Apple appears to be filling out support for this feature in all of its 2010 models, now bringing this feature to the … Read more

Yesterday's news of Passware's ability to decrypt FileVault-encrypted Macs in under an hour may have some people concerned about what this means for Mac security. After all, the purpose of encryption is to keep people from easily accessing the data on your drive, and yet Passware shows that in the hands of a capable person, your drive's encrypted contents might quite easily be uncovered.

Security experts speculate that the 128-bit XTS-AESW encryption used in FileVault would take millions of years to crack with a brute-force approach, so while Passware's approach clearly does not employ a brute-force … Read more