Utilities

How to read OS X system messages without the Console utility

The OS X Console utility provides a very useful window into the ongoing messages and log entries that applications and system processes output as they perform various tasks. This information can be invaluable when troubleshooting problems with numerous aspects of the system, but if the Console utility is not available or is broken and not loading then you may have a difficult time reading the logs and console entries.

The Console utility is essentially a viewer for a collection of log files, which are just basic text files that can be opened in any text editor. These are located in … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were only a few updates to troubleshooting utilities for OS X.

The first is Disk Drill, which is a tool that can be used to recover data that has been accidentally deleted or otherwise lost. Disk Drill is … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there are updates for maintenance utilities, display management tools, and file-renaming utilities.

Files and filesystem This week the majority of updates are for utilities that help with managing files on the filesystem, including duplicate files, hidden files, and file … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there are updates for maintenance utilities, display management tools, and file renaming utilities.

Maintenance

The first maintenance utility update this week is for MacCleanse, which is a popular utility aimed at removing unused files, caches, duplicates, and temporary files … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there are updates for maintenance utilities, file recovery and file system management utilities, and some temperature and hardware monitoring tools.

Maintenance

The popular "TinkerTool" utility is a useful option for finding hidden settings in OS X and … Read more

Apple updates AirPort, Time Capsule firmware

Apple has released a couple of firmware updates for the AirPort base station and Time Capsule Wi-Fi units. The updates fix a number of features, including overall stability, settings issues, and AirPlay compatibility (the iTunes update earlier this week also addressed AirPlay problems).

The specific problems addressed are the following:

General fixes to Wi-Fi base station stability

Fixes some issues with AirPlay streaming

General fixes with USB interoperability, including connection to external storage devices

Fixes some issues with NAT port-mapping settings

Disables TKIP security with 802.11n rates per the Wi-Fi Alliance specifications

In addition to the firmware updates, Apple … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there are only a few updates for filesystem utilities and a popular maintenance utility.

Filesystem utilities The first update this week is to a filesystem utility that is exceptionally useful for managing the size of volumes that hold a … Read more

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You don't have to be technical whiz to know how to zip files and folders. Clear and logical right-mouse menus, drag and drop procedures, and suggested naming features bring incredible convenience to your fingertips. TurboZIP is … Read more

How to use Secure Notes to store secret information

There are many times when people may have items they would like to keep secured, which can include banking account numbers, software license information, or a secret Coca-Cola recipe. One way to keep these items secure is to save them to an encrypted disk image, but another option available is to use the OS X keychain's Secure Notes feature.

If you open the Keychain Access utility, you will see a Secure Notes section for each keychain; here you can add any bit of text, and it will be securely saved to the keychain. Here are the steps to do … Read more

Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there are updates for several maintenance utilities, and one hardware utility for managing custom display applications.

Maintenance

This week MacPilot was updated with new options to disable the spotlight menu in Snow Leopard, along with a few tweaks to … Read more