Corrupted Desktop

Ann wrote: On my Mac how do I get back my desktop. I can login but only my desktop photo is there. All the other logins the laptop can access all of their applications and documents.

Answer: Unfortunately your login has corrupted Ann. The easiest thing to do is create a new login and copy the data files from your old login into the new one and then delete the old one. When the desktop gets corrupted this way it can mean that your hard drive is having problems and you might need to replace it in the near future and please make sure you back-up your data regularly on an external drive, memory stick or DVD. You could lose all of your data if the drive has a permanent failure.

For more answers to your questions check out JustAskEd.blogspot.com

Instructions To Connect To A Networked Mac

Here is a link to the instructions to Connect to your Old Mac from your New Mac (Right-Click or Ctrl-Click on the link and save the file to your computer before playing it)...

http://beyourownwebmaster.org/deared/downloads/ConnectToShareOnMac.avi

You can also follow these written instructions as well....

Click on the Finder Icon down at the bottom of the Screen on the far left (it looks like a two colored face)
Click on Go from the top menubar
Click on Connect to Server
Click on Browse
Click on the link in the browse window that says the name of your computer (e.g., Mac Powerbook G4) or something like that.
Click on the Macintosh HD choice for the connection.
Click Ok
You should now have a new drive in your drive choices that will let you look at your Old Macs Hard Drive.

Networking Your Mac

Question:
I have an old iMac G3 and would like to hook it up wirelessly to my DSL, can I use a USB or ethernet bridge? if so which one?

Answer:
You would need a wi-fi adapter for each mac that you want to connect to your wireless. Here is an example of the type of adapter you will need.
http://www.tekserve.com/store/420/Cards_Adapters/-152

You will also need a wi-fi router to connect to your DSL modem. I usually use Linksys but since you are using a mac you might want to use this one.
http://www.tekserve.com/store/417/Wireless_Routers/11640

Any Mac store should have these items so you don't have to order them thru Tekserve. Just make sure if you go to BestBuy or some other vendor that doesn't do exclusively Mac hardware that what they are trying to sell you says that it is Mac Compatible.

My Mac is sick

Bev writes: My Mac has recently been shutting down randomly while in the middle of use. No particular programs.

Answer: There can be many reasons for a computer shutting down randomly. Most likely causes are a faulty connection to power (check all of your cords and surge suppressors) or the power supply inside the Mac is defective. Based on their advertisement you'd think they never have a problem but their iMac line has had some power supply issues and of course since the unit is all self-contained (screen, cpu, power supply) in one case you need to drag the whole thing into the shop. In the NYC area I always recommend a store called Tekserve. They are the kings in getting a misbehaving Mac working again. Since I don't know what area you're in Bev you will have to lookup Mac repair in your area.

Good luck!
For more answers to your questions check out JustAskEd.blogspot.com

My Mac Won't Play Video

Cheryl Asked:
First - I don't know what OS means so I couldn't answer. My Mac is 3 years old and I've never figured out how to get the Safari news video clips to start. I get to the site but there aren't start buttons. What do I do?

Ed Answered:
Unfortunately it sounds like you suffer from a case of my OSX is too old to download flash and play video. The earlier version of OSX isn't supported by the latest Flash players. You should try upgrading to Tiger or later to get video working online.

external drive problem

Question submitted by Loree on Wednesday, July 9, 2009 at 07:45:48
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Question: All of my photos from iphoto have been sent to my Digital Western External drive, along with itunes and a few other files. All of a sudden my photos are not loading when I click on iphoto even though the external drive shows that that there are 29GB of info on those files. What happened to my photos? Yesterday they were there.

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Answer: When you move files from one drive to another your managing program needs to rediscover the files in the new location. Usually this is done from the File menu of the program. In that menu choose Add Folder to Library. Then you need to choose your external drive to tell it to look at your external drive for pictures and it will create a library of the contents.

The Audacity!

Here is a place for SourceCoded Software that works...
http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/

This is the site I use to download my favorite audio recorder Audacity. Real easy to use and works.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I have also become a big fan of OpenOffice.org for my word processing.
http://www.openoffice.org/

they have a version of each for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Pulling Addresses Out of Mobile Me

Give These Steps A Try

• Click on the @ symbol on the left side of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
• Click on the Gear symbol in the middle of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
• Choose Select All (this highlights all of the contacts in your list)
• Click on the Gear symbol in the middle of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
• Choose Export vCard (this starts downloading the contacts into a file on your Mac)
• Choose your Desktop as the Destination
• Open the Address Book
• Delete any Contacts in the Address Book
• Click on File
• Click on Import
• Choose vCards
• Go to your Desktop and Open the vCards.vcf file that was saved onto your desktop.
• All of your contacts should now be in the Addressbook.

I've also recorded it as a video to make it easier to follow.
http://computerguysecrets.com/macutilities/ForMobileMeAddressExport.avi

Also mac utilities for recovering lost or deleted files

http://computerguysecrets.com/macutilities/FileSalvage.dmg.zip

http://computerguysecrets.com/macutilities/pmac.dmg.zip

http://computerguysecrets.com/macutilities/mac-data-recovery.zip

Mac Mail to Outlook

This is the best way I've found so far.

Here's some instructions on how to make it work (note: you will also need Eudora + free edition installed on the PC):

Starting in Mac Mail do the following for each mailbox you wish to transfer (In, Sent, Deleted, etc.):

Select all messages and choose File -> Save As from the main menu. Choose "Raw Message Source" as the format and a name for the group of messages and click the "Save" button. Even though there are no obvious "export" commands from Mac Mail, this will effectively create a file in standard mbox format. However, Outlook Express will not directly import this file type so we'll have to play with it a bit.

Transfer the file you just created to the PC.

Open the directory C:\Documents and Settings\[Account Name]\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora (you will need to go to the View tab under the Tools -> Folder Options menu and select "Show Hidden Files and Folders" to be able to view this folder).
If appropriate, rename the file you created in step 1 to match one of the mailboxes in this folder (In, Out, Junk, Trash, etc). Assign this file a .mbx extension.

Copy the file from the previous step into the folder you opened in step 3. (Important! Only do this if you don't mind overwriting the email in your Eudora application).

Open Eudora and view the mailbox you just copied. This will firmly establish your .mbx file as a Eurdora mailbox. Don't worry if the text in your messages doesn't look quite right - this will soon be remedied.

Open Outlook Express. Select File -> Import -> Messages from the main menu. Choose "Eudora Pro or Light" and go through the rest of the wizard. This should properly import all your messages from the selected mailbox into Outlook Express.

Once it's in Outlook Express it's an easy import into Outlook.

Screen colors

G5 Screen Colors Have Gone Negative

From: Mark
Date: Mar 14, 2008 10:17 AM
Subject: Screen colors
To: Questions@JustAskEd.net

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
Mark on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:17:09
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Question: The colors on the screen of my I Mac G5 spontaneously switched to negative. How can I get them back to normal?

Answer: Check the connection of the video card to the monitor. There might be a bent pin inside the connection or you might have a short. Also check the card itself inside the G5 it might have gone bad or need to be reseated. If you want to check your display settings they are in the Apple menu under Preferences and Display but it doesn't sound like a simple display settings problem. It sounds like a connection or hardware problem.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net