Troubleshooting

The OS X Terminal is an exceptionally useful tool for getting to the underpinnings of OS X and troubleshooting problematic aspects of the system, developing and testing code, and managing remote connections among many other details. When you launch the Terminal, the system should load the default shell in which you can execute various programs and scripts, but depending on how you have configured your system the shell may not load and instead show a blank Terminal window.

There are a couple of possible reasons why this might happen, which are that the default shell configuration for your account may … Read more

The OS X menu bar is a central location for accessing system resources in the Apple menu, application-specific menus, and also a number of system settings through menu extras that can be appended to the right side of the menu bar. Some extras that are on by default include the time and date, battery level, and volume control, but others can be added to the bar, including VPN status, keychain, the script menu, and Bluetooth status.

Though these menu extras are convenient, there may be times when problems occur with this part of the system menu, such as freezes and … Read more

One of the major differences in how applications are handled between Windows and OS X are how the system presents them to you in the user interface. With Windows, each program will generally load in a single window that contains the program's menus and other details, and then be managed in that window. If you open the program again then often the system will launch a second instance of this program that runs along side the first, so each can be quit and managed independently.

On the other hand, in OS X applications are not isolated to a similar … Read more

Separate user accounts in OS X allow the system to sequester data, settings, and other details for individual users. To identify user account, there are of course the long and short usernames for it, but in addition OS X includes an account picture that while not functional is aesthetically useful at the login window, in Mail and chat messages, among other aspects of the system.

The generic account picture in OS X is a gray silhouette on a darker gray background, that can be seen by enabling the Guest user account in the system, but other accounts are randomly assigned … Read more

One of the features that OS X supports is the creation of URL links in the Finder, which much like aliases for files and folders provide a means of loading a particular Web page or other Web resource. Browser bookmarks and favorites are perhaps a more thorough and convenient way to manage your frequently accessed URLs, but the ability to access links via the Finder is still an option that might be useful to some.

To create a URL link, simply select the URL (or the favicon next to the URL) in the address field for your Web browser and … Read more

One relatively long-standing issue that a number of Mac users have been experiencing is an apparent incompatibility with Citrix services that have been installed on their Macs by IT departments at work or school locations. If this occurs users may experience slow systems with poor battery life, and find that the Activity Monitor utility shows a service called AGAdminService taking up 100 percent of the system's CPU.

Citrix offers a number of virtualization and cloud-based storage options for various work environments, in which applications and services for accessing secure databases (such as for health records) run on a central … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about a problem installing software updates from Apple's Software Update service, how to restore a deleted Notes application in OS X, and options for recording movies and video to your Mac. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Unable to install software updates MacFixIt reader Arthur asks:

Gatekeeper is a new security measure introduced in OS X Mountain Lion that allows the system to prevent the execution of code that does not meet certain criteria, such as possessing a valid digital signature from Apple's developer community. When setting up GateKeeper in the Security system preferences, you can set it so that only approved applications from the Mac App Store are allowed to run, additionally allow programs from approved developers to run, or you can set no restrictions and allow everything to run.

When the restrictions are set, you can still run unapproved programs by right-clicking them … Read more

Apple's built-in Help services in OS X are convenient ways to get basic information on how to use the operating system's various programs and services. To access these services you simply need to go to the Help menu, where you can search for Help topics in the menu or access the Help Center.

The menu's search function will provide a list of Help topics and available menu commands for the foremost application, but if you open a topic or choose the Help Center then a floating window will appear displaying said Help Center. If you keep the … Read more