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Because Apple computers are so intuitive, you may be overlooking some simple but helpful settings. A few tweaks to your security settings, dock, Finder, and keyboard are really all it takes to make your MacBook even easier to use than it already is.

If you're a first-time MacBook owner, this how-to will introduce you to your computer's security settings and help you enable a few of your Mac's most useful features.

So before you say, "Hey, there's no right-click on MacBooks?!" walk through the following tips:

Rev up security settings. Go to System Preferences &… Read more

How many empty folders are in your system? Leftovers from uninstalled programs, temporary folders that moved in to stay. Wouldn't it be great if someone wrote a simple tool that finds and deletes all that junk? Someone did: Fast Empty Folder Finder scans folders, directories, and entire drives for empty folders, displays them in a list with previews, and deletes those you select.

At 111.5KB, Fast Empty Folder Finder is compact, and since it's also portable freeware, it requires no installation but runs as soon as you click its executable file. It has a very simple but … Read more

The Finder's sidebar in OS X is built to allow you quick access to resources such as network shares, your home directory, and custom searches, among other locations you can add to the sidebar. While the "Shared" section in the sidebar should only show you resources on the local network (i.e., servers, workgroups, individual PCs, and NAS devices), sometimes odd or unrecognized items may show up.

If you are on a public network or a large work network, you may see numerous unknown devices show up in the shared list, but if you are at home … Read more

Sometimes when managing files with various programs in OS X, you may experience a problem with the program such as a hang, crash, or some other odd hiccup that interrupts the program's read or write process. While most of the time this results in you being able to delete and recreate the file or otherwise reopen it to continue your work, sometimes it can result in a file being locked by the system so it cannot be edited or managed by any program, or even deleted.

Apple discussion poster "Spprrw" writes:

"I tried to download yahoo … Read more

If you want to rename a file in OS X, you can select it and then do one of several things. The first is to press the Return key and the name will be highlighted for editing, or you can get information on the file and rename it using the Info window. A commonly used alternative to these is to click the name of the highlighted file with the mouse and after a small delay the file's name will be highlighted for editing.

While I have found using the Return key is the fastest way to switch between selected … Read more

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

Fast Duplicate File Finder is a free version of a shareware tool. If you've tried duplicate finders before and are still recovering, not to worry: Fast Duplicate File Finder uses advanced algorithms that compare the actual binary content of a wide range of file types, not just name, size, and other attributes that may or may not be accurate indicators of duplicate files. It can search not only for 100 percent duplicates but also for similar files based on a variable level of similarity. As with all duplicate file finders, we recommend checking carefully before you delete anything it … Read more

Normally users should be able to add items to the Dock and move them around, but sometimes (especially after installing some third-party software) people may find that the Dock will become locked and they can neither move items around nor add or remove them.

There may be a few reasons why this happens, including faults with the Dock preference and database files in addition to odd settings that may be added to the Dock when you install applications.

The first thing you should do if this happens is to locate the Dock's settings files and check that they are … Read more

Disk images can be convenient ways to securely package and distribute files; however, there are a few issues that can crop up when using disk images. One of these is that depending on how the images are stored and used, they may automatically mount during normal system use.

When this happens it is likely because a file that is being stored on the disk image is being accessed. OS X will access a file by its full path, and if that path is to a disk image, then when opening the file path the system will try to open the … Read more