Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

Sorting events in iPhoto

Scotty,
 
I have not been able to get this to work consistently for different reasons at different times.  Most recently, I tried to call my client and got a message that I didn’t have enough “Skype credit” to make this call.  What does that mean?  Then they tried to call me and got the same message.  Later that day I contacted my son who also has a Macbook Pro with no problem.  My client also has a Macbook pro.  Is there anyone anywhere who I could call on a telephone when I’m having trouble with this?  The internet cable people know nothing about it.  Microsoft no longer has a phone service for this.  I can’t figure out how to use your website or the icon you put on my screen.
___________


It sounds like you are making two separate type of Skype calls. Skype to Skype is free but Skype to a regular phone or cell phone requires $$$ in the form of “Skype credit”. That is most likely the reason you are able to call the son’s macbook pro with no problem but run into problems when you are trying to call the friend. This is because you are trying to call the friend’s phone, not his/her computer. I’m sorry you are having difficulty with the website. For monday night help, you can go to www.sellsconsulting.com/townhall at 7pm on Mondays then select the link titled “click here to join” and you’ll be in my weekly meeting online. It’s free and you may find other people have similar questions.
___________

Thanks.  I will.  Still I don’t understand how skype to skype is different procedurally. Isn’t your skype id…what you dial up, the telephone number you put in that dial thing that appears on the screen?  In other words, I still have the most important question.  How do I contact my client to skype without using the phone number?


He would need to have a Skype ID.  And a Skype ID is not his phone number.  It's a name of some sort.  My Skype ID is "tibookscotty".  If you typed that into Skype it would be free but if you typed my phone number in it would cost money.

What is the difference between iOS and Lion?

Hope that you are well.  I am having trouble with my outlook account.
I am unable to log in / my iphone is picking up the emails with no
issue and sending email out.  How can I reset the password, I think
that is the issue I am having.
___________


If you are sure of your password for your email account, then within outlook go to “Tools” from the menu bar and select “Accounts”. From there you’ll be able to re-enter your password for that account. It’s possible that the email server you are using requires either the prefix of the email of the entire email for authentication. There are many variables that could prevent email from sending and receiving. i.e.: port numbers, whether the email server requires SSL, etc...

hard drive full effect performance?

I just updated my phone to iOS 5. I just went to play a game and I find it's gone as are the others ihad.
How do I get them back? One of them I paid for.
___________

Luckily we can now redownload previously purchased items from the app store by going to the App Store on the iPad and selecting “purchased” in the bottom menu bar. That will then list all the apps in your purchase history and give you the ability to redownload them without having to pay again.

The Lion ate my Quicken

My X just left a really bad message on my iphone4.....is there anyway I can convert it to an mp3 file so I can email it to my attorney?
___________

Yes.

Check out PhoneView here:  
PhoneView for iPhone and iPad - Save SMS, iMessages, Voicemail, Call History, Music, Photos, Notes - Ecamm Network

iPhoto crashing after icloud update

Scotty, my pictures are seriously out of date order - can this be sorted into dates??  Its hard to locate photos from last month in 2002 section!
___________


There are several ways to sort events in iPhoto. As long as the camera used to take them date was set correctly then you can select to sort by date and your pictures should rearrange. Note that you can choose ascending or descending order as well. Under View in the menu bar within iPhoto, choose “sort events”. ex:

Screen Shot 2011-10-31 at 9.56.00 PM

Removing iCal duplicates.

How do I get Lion on phone and iPad.  I  synced it but it didn't load??
___________


Lion is the operating system for the computer, like an iMac or a laptop. It’s actually Mac OS X 10.7. You are thinking of the operating system for your iPhone and iPad. That’s called iOS 5. The way you get iOS 5 on your devices is to connect them to iTunes on your computer using the cable and you should be prompted that there’s an update available. It’s pretty large so it can take some time to download. After you’ve updated all devices then you are ready to move to iCloud. iOS 5 on you iPhone and iPad is free. Lion was a download from the app store and you would have paid $29.99 for that.

When is the next iPad coming out?

At times when I attempt to open certain programs (like MS Word, or iMovie) i get the beach ball (more than I'd like).  I have only about 68 free gigs on the HD and was wondering if you thought It might speed it up a little bit if I removed 100 gigs worth of movies and stored them on an external drive instead.  Do you think this would speed up the system at all?
___________

Generally that amount of space available on your internal drive should not impact performance. You may consider opening the same programs without an external hard drive connected as these programs will first check externals for additional data. It’s possible an external drive may be the cause of your pause in performance. Of course you may also consider increasing the amount of ram in your machine as well.

Lion cut off Entourage 2004. Now what?

I just upgraded to Lion without realizing that it doesn't support Quicken. I've been using quicken for many, many years, with all our data. Not sure what to do. Glad you are here to ask!
__________

The problem is that Lion kills all PowerPC based software including Quicken.  The only way to move forward with Quicken is to get the latest version called "Quicken Essentials".  That will do it.

Homemade Berimbau

Hi Scotty,

I have a problem.  After Lion install and iCloud upgrade, for whatever reason, when I open iPhoto it fails and shuts down.  I can't open it all.  I have turned the computer on and off several times and still the same issue.  What should I do?
___________


Be sure you've run all updates first.  Be sure you've updated iPhoto via the App Store.  Then restart.  If that doesn’t solve it then we may want to toss out the library plist file. To accomplish that, while in the finder, go to “Go” menu item in the menu bar and while it’s selected, hold down the option key. You’ll now see “Library” and one of the options. Now select Library and you’ll be taken to the user’s library folder. Next find the preferences folder in that directory.

Now find the com.apple.iphoto.plist file and any other com.apple.iphoto preference list file near the same. Delete those 2-4 items then restart and see if iPhoto will open. Let me know if that helps.

iPhone not syncing music in iTunes

. I have recently noticed that my ical is duplicating every event I schedule. HELP!
What should I do. It is only on the big desktop, not the ipad or the iphone.
___________


There’s a great freeware tool that may solve ical duplicates for you. Check out
ical duplicate remover. Always backup your calendar before doing anything. Under File in the menu bar select, export>ical archive

iWork still asking for serial number even though I bought it.

Hello Scotty,

I was wondering if you could enlighten me as to whether an iPad purdahs is wise now or should one wait for the anticipated upgraded? I have some folks saying the iPad 2 is it, it's the latest and greatest and yet, I've read that the new one will be unveiled in early 2012.

Suggestions? Thanks.
___________


The age old question: Do I wait or do I buy? The first and best place to look is at this
buyers guide. It analyzes Apple’s distance between product cycles and gives you a good idea of what to estimate when looking for the next big thing to be released. We can all assume that Apple will release the next version of the iPad in 2012 and we can most likely narrow that down to between April and July. Best guess.

Does iCloud keep up with Google's services?

I downloaded the lion software on my MAC and entourage is gone. I can't get any emails now.
___________


Most likely you may have been using office 2004 and when you installed lion all old apps based on PowerPC code from 5 years again ceased to function
___________


I got email to work through a trial version of office 2011! Are you going to be able to locate all my old saved emails with entourage? The message just keeps saying lion doesn't support PowerPC stuff.
___________


In Outlook you should try the import feature. I may work but if Entourage has to launch then it won’t of course.

Screen Shot 2011-10-18 at 6.42.09 PM

If those emails only exist on your computer and are not on a server then there’s still a chance we can recover everything. It would be a bit of a process but should be able to be done. I’d have to use a computer running a prior version of OS X 10.6 and Office 2008 then import from the 2004 entourage, then move the data base over to your Lion machine and go from there.

Scotty you are very confusing.


HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my lil man must make a musical instrument that vibrates for a parade on friday.  what can i do that would be cool and creative?
___________
Ok.  Make him a berimbau.  It's a Brazilian instrument like a bow and arrow that has a gourd as a resonating chamber.  Of course you don't need an actual gourd.  Here's what they look like...

Berimbau-Parts

So how would you make one?  

Get a branch or stick and some wire.  Bend the stick slightly and tie the wire to both ends basically making a bow and arrow.  Next take a plastic bow and drill or poke two holes in it.  Now run a string through the holes of the bow and around one end of the bow and arrow part.  Tie the sting in a loop shape as to compress the string slightly.  Now hit the string with a small stick. and use a rock to push against the string as you strike. It will change the pitch slightly.  You've got a berimbau.

More pictures: berimbau - Google Search

Homemade Berimbau - YouTube
Berimbau with bamboo - YouTube (more bad ass)
First homemade berimbau - YouTube you get the idea.

Blue texts vs. Green texts

I got the new iPhone, and have had no problems converting except one. For some reason it will not sync my music. I changed the settings to allow for it, but it gets to about 25 songs copied (out of 1500), and stops with a message “cancelling sync”. I've tried a bunch of times, but no dice. Any suggestions?
___________


This could be a weird problem but the first thing I would try is do a random check through your music library to see if there are any songs in your music library inside iTunes that were purchased under a different AppleID. To do this, go to the song, select command I and look next to “account name”. As below:
Screen Shot 2011-10-18 at 12.32.37 AM
If you find music purchased under other accounts, next in iTunes go to “store” in the menu bar and select to authorize that computer. Now try to re-sync iPhone. This may not fix it but we’ll be on the right track.

iPhone 5 speculation and Multiple Apple IDs

I recently bought Pages and Keynote on the Mac App Store and even though I purchased them, sometimes I can't print or save my documents because it says my 90-day trial is over and I need to enter the serial number. Because I purchased them on the Mac App Store, no serial number was provided.
___________


Try going into the application folder and deleting the iWork folder then go into the Library/Application Support/ and delete the iWork 09 folder there as well. Finally select to reinstall from the App store. Let’s see if that works.

Localhost permissions incorrect

Thank you for your recent email about iCloud.  It sparked a renewed interest in trying to resolve my time management delima.

For many years I used Mac Mail for my email and Palm desktop for appointments and tasks lists.  It worked great since 99.9% of my work was in an office.  I am now more mobile and have gotten a smart phone (unfortunately an Android since I couldn't afford a Verizon iPhone).  I now have the need to access my email, appointments and tasks while "on the road."  The only thing I have found that really works is Google.  So I use Google Mail for harvesting my email from several accounts, Google Tasks for my "to-dos" and Google Calendar for my appointments . . . but it gives me a headache since it is not user friendly and I really don't like the way it looks.

Does iCloud have the capabilities that Google has?  I like it that on Google Calendar my wife and I can see each others appointments.

I'm not writing expecting you to answer these questions just for me . . . but I was wondering (if you have not already done so) if this might be a topic for one of your future webinars.
___________


Good question. That is exactly what iCloud does. In a way, iCloud is Apple’s step to catch up with many of the services that Google was offering for free for the past few years while Apple charged $99 for MobileMe for essentially the same services. So you can now sign up for a free iCloud account and as long as your wife has also signed up for one, you can share calendars between the two accounts. But really, it sounds like you don’t need to move to iCloud because you already have these services on Google. If you leave the Android then these will all still work fine on iPhone. We can absolutely discuss this on town hall.

Keyboard keys not responding.

Many thanks for your comprehensive response. Apologies but I'm still confused for a basic lingo reason. Don't laugh but I'm not sure which measurement you mean when you recommend "2.2 or higher" to make Lion work well.

I see three measurement numbers with "twos" in my hardware profile-

Model Name: MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,2
  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz

Which hardware measurement should I compare with your recommendation? In other words, do I meet or flunk your 2.2 threshold? My guess is that I flunk because you're referring to my Processor Name (Core 2 Duo) rather than my Model Identifier (2.2) or Processor Speed (2.33). Just want to be sure.
___________


It must have been may have been my fault.  When I say 2.2 or higher I am referring to processor speed.  I should have said 2.2ghz or higher although Apple only requires a Core 2 Duo processor regardless of speed of the processor.  Lion supports all Core 2 Duo processors, not to be mistaken with Core Duo processors.  You do not flunk my personal threshold for Lion. I would give the go ahead on that machine.

My router is failing? What other routers are out there besides Apple?

After I upgraded the software on my iphone4, some of the texts I sent are shown in blue and some are still green.  What is that about?
___________

The blue messages mean they’re being delivered via Apple’s new free texting service called iMessage. These count as data only and are not considered text messages with your carrier. Green messages are official text messages delivered by your carrier and fall under your text messaging plan.

Well, how do we covert them all to iMessage type texts?  What determines if they are green texts that cost us money or blue texts that are iMessage and do not cost us more?  Does it have to do with the carrier we use?  Like if I send a text to a person with an ATT iphone, will it always be a charged text(green) and if I sent texts to those with different carriers, are they blue and therefore I do not pay for them?
___________


iMessages can only be sent between Apple devices. Mac to iPhone. Mac to iPad, Mac to iPod Touch, iPhone to iPhone, iPhone to iPad, iPhone to iPod Touch, iPad to iPad, etc… If you are sending a text message to or from a phone without an Apple logo on it, then it’s going to fall under your carrier’s text messaging plan only. You can’t convert one type to another. With that said, nothing in life is free so while you can send an iMessage to another Apple product without counting against your text messaging plan, you are still counting against your data plan, UNLESS you are using wifi and not a cell tower, but even then someone is paying for wireless access. Hope this clears a little of the confusion.

Scotty, I thought you didn't like Lion? Now you are recommending it?

Hey Scotty, with iCloud just released and all, I was wondering if I created a new AppleID for myself, would my purchases and downloads from my old account transfer over? Also, I have the iPhone 3GS, should I upgrade to the 4S or wait a year a get the next new version?
___________

No. Your old purchases would stay associated with your old email address. Many people end up with multiple AppleIDs as they change things throughout their lives. But there is not way currently to change the digital rights from one ID to another. Maybe in the future. You would join everyone else who has some songs from one ID and buys songs from a new ID.

I would project the next model iPhone being released sometime after June of next year. If you are using the 3GS, it’s a good time to upgrade but if you feel you can hold out until the middle of next year then you’d be even better off. If all us Americans like getting new cell phones every 2 years, then it’s better to be on the next cycle rather than the middle “s” model cycle. Apple has developed a pattern of major update, minor update, major update, minor update. I would rather be chaining iPhones on the major update personally.

Does iCloud replace Dropbox? no.

I recently switched from Windows to Mac and I'm having major difficulty setting up my local server. Need help w/ XAMPP/MAMP local server

All I need is to develop Wordpress websites on my computer.  Once I've built out the Wordpress theme and added the content, then I package up the site and upload to a remote server on my Dreamhost VPS account.

This morning I found a workaround, but I'm still running into file permission issues. For some reason, my folders keep reverting back to read only.  I've researched for solutions online and I keep seeing suggestions for editing in the terminal… but honestly, I'm not comfortable with making edits.  I'm afraid I will do more harm than good.
___________


I do do server work for companies in Charlotte usually 15 seats and under.  For larger scale jobs I usually push out to other businesses in the area that are geared for that.  XAMPP is in beta on the mac so you may want to consider other options as well.  You mentioned your home.  Do you have a static IP at your home?
___________

I do not have a static IP.  All I need is to develop Wordpress websites on my computer.  Once I've built out the Wordpress theme and added the content, then I package up the site and upload to a remote server on my Dreamhost VPS account.

This morning I found a workaround, but I'm still running into file permission issues. For some reason, my folders keep reverting back to read only.  I've researched for solutions online and I keep seeing suggestions for editing in the terminal… but honestly, I'm not comfortable with making edits.  I'm afraid I will do more harm than good.
___________

Try storing the site's folder on an external hard drive.  That may negate the permissions issue.  (short term fix but may solve the issue).  Also, on the parent folder of the site files in question, get info (command I) on that folder and set the permissions for you to have read/write access then apply to all enclosed items.  That may also solve it.  If that doesn't work, then go one more folder higher and do the same thing.  

Firmware update failed during install. Big problem

I have two of them. both doing the same thing  I know they are not NEW but i don't like the new one its smaller and i type very fast and make too many mistakes. The space bar sticks and two other keys don't type I can probably take it to the apple store. last time i did they just handed me two keyboards from the secret space behind the door  ;-)  Thanks Scotty i sure enjoy your pages of info
___________

I'm not sure what your question is.  If you are having trouble with your keyboard it may be covered under the computer's original warranty.  The only thing I could tell you would be to check with Apple.  You may also try zapping the parameter ram as one of our users discovered during a town hall session recently who had the same problem.  To do this, hold down the P+R+command+Option keys at start up.  Wait for the chime then continue to hold down the combination of keys.  Let the computer restart with a chime 3 times then let go.  The key functions missing before may return.  Worth a try before a trip to SouthPark.  If the issue is physical then resetting the parameter ram will not help.

Don't use dropbox to sync iphoto or aperture libraries

My Apple router needs to be replaced.  Any recommendations?  I think I need a stronger router than the Apple one...before it stopped working the signal was not strong enough to reach all the Mac's in our house.
___________

I'm sorry to hear your router is failing.  I've dealt with them all and I still can really honestly only recommend the Apple router as the top of the mountain.  It's rare to see them fail but routers do fail.  I'm wondering if there is actually a different problem.  My general rule is one router per 1200-1300 square feet of living space.  Of course the construction of a home can effect this rule.  Old homes built in the 20's and 30's often have plaster laid over wire mesh.  This can be a big problem for wireless routers.  I digress.

The thing I really like about the Apple routers are their ability to extend one another.  The Airport express compliments the Airport extreme so that your network can be stretched to cover a wider area.  

Another general rule is that if you are going to look into extending your network wireless, then you need to realize that most router manufacturers will only build extenders that support their brand of router.  In other words, a DLink router will not extend a Linksys router.  (not without some altering of code which we don't need to get into)

If you are leaving the Apple router family then you could look at the Netgears.  They're less expensive, descent routers.  I can't recommend Linksys (Cisco) routers.  Among the geek community, asking your favorite router is a very touchy subject so don't be surprised if you ask 3 geeky friends and get 3 completely different answers filled with ridicule other's choices.  

Will my machine run Lion?

I see where you suggested that we go ahead to Lion.  When I read your report on it a month ago seemed to me it was a no go.  You seemed more negative than positive.  But now you are saying ahead?
___________


Overall Lion is a go. No software is ever a go in version .0. And that is always my first effort. Don’t adopt version .0 of anything. Lion has gone through 2 updates since being released and is now mature enough for most users to move to. What I do not like about it is the look of the calendar and especially the address book. Mail seems to still not be what it could. I stand by my statement that Apple changed the design of these programs for the sake of change and not because it was an improvement. They made it so iPad users would feel more comfortable on the Mac I suppose. The above mentioned programs have been altered to look exactly like the iPad versions. Where the failure occurs is the idea that an application designed for a touch based 10 inch screen is the best answer for a 27” iMac. The two platforms are completely different experiences and both have limitations and advantages. Take for instance, the address book design. In the old address book you could see 3 panes of information. Group lists, names of contacts, and contact information. In the new iPad designed address book running on the Mac under Lion, you can only see 2 at one time which leads you to “turning the page” constantly. They changed the layout when they didn’t need to. In the calendar, you now have to manually choose to view your calendar list. Design over functionality. It’s prettier but not better in my opinion.

Now that I’m off my rant, to answer your question: no matter what, you can’t stay in an old operating system for too long. Sooner or later, the internet is going to demand that you upgrade. iCloud is such an example. If you want this new fruit being dangled in front of you then you’re going to have to move to Lion. It’s not horrible, just unnecessary change. Overall, the benefit of iCloud’s new features make up for Lion’s misgivings.

Removing duplicates in Address Book

What are the benefits that my business could possibly realize through this conversion and how similar is iCloud to Dropbox?
___________


iCloud and Dropbox are two completely different things. One doesn’t replace the other. iCloud currently has no folder that syncs across computers. It is a service that, along with syncing your calendars and contacts just as MobileMe did, it syncs documents created within the iWork suite. It also syncs iPhoto’s folder called photo stream. You might think of the iPhoto stream folder as a dropbox folder inside iPhoto but it only syncs pictures and only inside iPhoto. Your business deals with gigs of data sorted in great detail within folders. iCloud does not work like that. There’s no folder structure (currently). It’s just an engine that syncs data within certain applications. Stick with Dropbox for now. It’s still the best way to move documents and data around multiple computers.

Do I have to buy iWork twice?

Hi Scotty,
I have had a huge problem with the laptop. I was downloading new iTunes, the EFI Update, and 10.7.2. I left the computer on so it could download it all. When I came back to it, it gave me the message that there was nothing to boot from. I panicked and booted into recovery mode. The HD is fine so when I clicked restore lion from the menu, it stayed on verifying computer forever so I cancelled it. I then decided to use my install disk for 10.6.7 (snow leopard). I restarted holding the option key a booted into the disk. I chose to install SL and it worked and told me to restart. But every time I shut down and power back up or restart it just freezes up while the circle under the apple logo is spinning. I just cannot figure out what has happened.

Here are some things that happened differently than normal

•in recovery mode, it made me agree to all these terms and conditions and it was scrolling all these languages around it
•it did not wipe my HD because it still can see my partition and it knows that I have 260 gigs left
___________


Sounds like you really got yourself in a mess.  The only way to downgrade from 10.7 back to 10.6 is wipe the entire drive.  The newer 10.7 users folder is full of files that 10.6 has no idea how to read so it sounds like since you've taken the step of reinstalling 10.6 you may have no choice but to reinstall 10.6 again and completely erase the drive, create a test user, update to 10.6.8, reinstall 10.7 from the app store, run all the 10.7.2 updates, then recover from your time machine backup.  You do have a time machine backup right?

The issue is not that the information is lost. Your data is still there but it may be useless because the current OS 10.6 isn’t mature enough to understand it. And you can’t simply update 10.6 because the current users aren’t just going to show back up in Lion. I would be interested to know if the recovery partition is still active. You may try to give it one more shot to boot to the recovery partition and reinstall Lion one more time.

It sounds like the EFI or firmware update failed. Always have your computer plugged in during an EFI update.

Why aren't my calendars syncing?



Using Aperature on a laptop and desktop.
1) Have been trying unsuccessfully to sync library between two via Dropbox so I could use with device and be up to date....maybe don't need to anymore with iCloud? Maybe should consider moving back to iPhoto?
___________
I'm sorry I don't have any availability on 10/16.  Dropbox may not really work well for syncing two iPhoto libraries.  I can be done but there are other factors involved like plist files that would not be synced but the larger issue is that dropbox is only 2 gigs and your iPhoto library is very likely to be much larger than that.  iCloud will not be any better either.  Syncing iPhoto libraries is a major weakness on the Mac.  There are programs on the market that claim to do the job and I've paid for and tried several but I can not recommend any of them at this point.  They are just too risky to use.  I've deleted my libraries accidentally more than once in trials.  The same rules apply to Aperture.  Nothing beats an old fashion external drive (being backed up of course) that you move between two computers.  

My mac isn's seeing my backup drive

Scotty:

I read your Oct 13 Q&A posting re Do I need a new Mac for Lion. Please look at my hardware overview below and tell me if I'd be wise to spring for a newer MacBook before upgrading to Lion. I'm uncertain about whether I meet the cutoff you used in your posting ie, "2 Duo 2.2 or higher". You kindly upgraded my hard disk a while back.


My MacBook Pro will be four years old in January. Since I got an iPad, I've never untethered the MacBook Pro for use as a portable device. Therefore, I would probably replace it with an iMac of maximum in-store disk, memory and speed. I'd ask you to specify the description and whether I should look to you or to the Apple Store to help port my programs and data over to the iMac. I'm a heavy user of Microsoft Office for Mac 2004 Edition and read your posting that I'd need the 2008 Edition to work best with Lion.

I'm upgrading today from iPhone 3 to the 4S and want to switch as soon as sensible to iCloud from MobileMe for syncing my data in iCal, Address Book and Safari bookmarks to and from iPhone and iPad. Must I install Lion on my MacBook Pro before converting to iCloud?

  Model Name: MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,2
  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
  Number Of Processors: 1
  Total Number Of Cores: 2
  L2 Cache: 4 MB
  Memory: 2 GB
  Bus Speed: 667 MHz
  Boot ROM Version: MBP22.00A5.B07

___________


I guess I need to be clear. My recommendation to really only move to Lion if you have a 2.2 or higher is only my opinion. Apple states that the oldest supported processor is any Core 2 duo. This is the bare minimum. More requirements can be found here. There are other factors to consider as well. Mainly: what type of graphics card does one have? You are using a MBP whose Graphics care will do an adequate job of handling all of Lion’s new transitions and effects such as creating a new email or switching to full screen mode. The processor and the graphics card, along with how much ram you have, all come together to produce the experience Lion gives on a given piece of hardware. Your machine’s 2.33 processor is fine but you would definitely want to increase the amount of ram you have. 2 gigs was fine for Snow Leopard and earlier but Lion requires at least 2 which means you have no head room for programs to run. Yes, they would run with only 2 gigs but they will feel sluggish.

Office 2004 will not run on Lion. No PowerPC based program will run under Lion. Lion only supports software written for intel processors and Office 2004 is not one of them. Therefore, Office 2008 or 2011 is required. I’m not sure of Apple’s position of data transfer at this point so I can’t really speak to what they can and can’t do and what time frame they will quote. I would be happy to assist if you feel you’d like assistance moving data.

Lion is required to take advantage of iCloud services.

How do I save your icloud instructions?

Hi Scotty,
I need to get my mobile me straightened out first..When I went from and Android to the IPhone my contracts multiplied so many times, I went from 2500 contacts to 17000!  What a pain in the neck!
___________

You should be able to choose to find duplicates in Apple's address book.  Under "card" in the menu bar, select "look for duplicates".  Then select to merge duplicates as well as cards with the same name but different information.  At 17,000 it will take a while but Apple's address book usually does a very good job and fixing that problem.  

Screen Shot 2011-10-14 at 12.57.58 AM

What operating system to I have?

Scotty, when I bought my iPad-1 I bought Pages, Numbers and Keynote.  Do I have to buy them again for my iMac?
___________

Yes. The iOS versions of iWork will not give you the OS X versions and vice versa. Each must be purchased separately. You might want to visit www.apple.com/feedback and let them know your thoughts on that. The good news is that each app is transferable or “re-downloadable” on up to 5 iMacs or iOS devices. (respective of their platforms of course)

I spilled coffee on my mac. Help

Hi Scotty- hope you are well.... I am having same problem as a few months ago....some calendar items are automatically syncing to iphone, others are not....can't figure out why some are/are not.  I have gone in to manually sync and checked mobile me info...all looks fine...any suggestions?
___________

The most likely cause is that you have accidentally created two families of calendars and are adding events to the wrong calendar. The first family of calendars should be under “MobileMe”. These calendars should be syncing however the second family may be called “on my mac”. If you have any of these calendars listed then most likely those are the problem. In 10.6 you should see your calendars on the left hand side of iCal. In 10.7 you need to click the “calendars” button in the top left hand corner of iCal and it will list the calendars as a drop down menu. Subsequently you should check on your iPad or iPhone under calendars in the calendar program to see if there are multiple families of calendars there as well. You may also want to look in the settings apps on your iOS device and go to mail, contacts, and calendars. Scroll all the way to the bottom and check to see what calendar is your default calendar.

If this is true and you’ve accidentally created a “on my mac” calendar (taking for granted that you were using MobileMe) then we’ll need to re-migrate those calendars back to the MobileMe calendar family. Hope this makes a little sense.

Do I need a new mac for Lion?

My time machine is not working and the message I get is that the backup disc is not available.  I am wondering if I need to buy a new airport with 2 TB so that the back up will have somewhere to go???
___________


If your computer can’t find your time machine drive, first make sure it’s plugged in. You may want to unplug then plug in again. If it’s a hard drive and not a time capsule, you should see it appear on your desktop. Go to system preferences and then time machine. Next choose disk. Your drive should show up even if it’s a time capsule drive unless you’re not on the same network as the time capsule but that’s very doubtful considering your home network and the distance to any other network. If you are using a time capsule drive and you are prompted for a password, try “public” if your normal pw doesn’t work. “public” is the default password for reset or factory default time capsules. Just fyi.

If you are using a stand alone drive, another trick you could try would be to open disk utility (search in spotlight for “disk utility”) and your stand alone backup drive should show in the left hand column. Select it then choose “mount” in the top bar to see if you can get the mac to bring it to life.

Or your current drive could just be dead. It happens all the time.

You need to be backing up!!!

How do I upgrade to Lion?

Thanks for the heads up. I have working for the last couple of hours just to update my phone I can not imagine doing the cloud. Question. How can I save your information so when I go to do the cloud I will have it in front of me
Also if I buy the new phone do I have to do this all again and where would you go to get the new phone AT&T or Apple. In buying a new phone do you have to let AT&T know or can you just continue on with what they have from the old phone?
___________


The easiest thing to do would be to print the run down out however if you don’t have a printer you can always just open up a second browser window using the key command (command + N) in safari. You will now have two safari windows. One for the iCloud work and a second one with your notes.

Still no good way to sync iPhoto libraries

Hi Scotty,  how do i discover if i have Lion  i think i still have Tiger?  10.5.8  thought i would send this so you can see what is here, do you think my remote apple keyboards can be fixed, the keys stick, the space bar sticks  i don't like the new one its so teeny.  quiet though I looked at logitech at Costco but didn't buy it what do you think about that? I type all day long   so it gets really used.  thanks Scotty  Judith Fain          
Hardware Overview:

  Model Name: MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,4
  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
  Number Of Processors: 1
  Total Number Of Cores: 2
  L2 Cache: 3 MB
  Memory: 4 GB
  Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
  Boot ROM Version: MBP53.00AC.B03
  SMC Version (system): 1.49f2
___________

To find out what operating system you are on, go to the black apple in the top left hand corner and select “about this mac”. There you should see what version of the OS you are currently running. If you are at 10.5.8 then we need to get you to 10.6 so you can use the app store to buy Lion. You can check at the Apple store to see if they have any more copies of Snow Leopard. 10.6 (Snow Leopard) must be installed via a disc. Only problem is that a copy of SL is difficult to find at this point. If you are unable to locate a copy then you could always buy a had copy of 10.7 on a USB flash drive. If you have difficulty let me know.

It’s often possible to clean out the older keyboard keys to get them working once again. You can pop off the keys and clean underneath and around with a qutip. They usually pop right back on again. Most keys are easy to deal with except the space bar key. It can be a little tricky.

Is iCloud worth the upgrade?

Husband spilled coffee on his computer, battery won't charge. I took it to apple they said $800.00 to fix
Want to see if you have part.
___________


I'm so sorry to hear of the liquid spill. I no longer do major repairs due to the overall cost and time involved.  You can try www.powerbookmedic.com or www.macservice.com.  Call either first and talk to them.  

What iPhone to buy and iPad 1…will it work with iCloud?

I have not update my Macbook Pro to lion yet I have been reading about some problems with ones that are  over a yr or two old that go to Lion with them freezing up. Is that your experience also?  Should I just wait or go look for a newer Macbook? What is your thinking about Macbook Air?  I do mainly Photo editing. And running Fusion with windows so I can log into my office.  The Macbook I have  is the one you increased the hard disk size for me a yr and a half ago. And added more RAM 3 gigs. I think.
I could not hold off any longer had to get the new I phone even though its only an 4S and not the 5
___________


Every major software upgrade is going to have problems but overall I think Lion is very reliable and can recommend it. You’ll need at least 2 gigs of ram and 4 is a lot better. Whether to wait or buy a new machine depends on a few factors. I’d need to know what the processor speed of your current mac is, how much ram is installed, what size hard drive and is the drive almost full? The answers to these questions would allow me to better recommend what to do because the cost of upgrading ram and hard drive could be less cost effective than purchasing a new computer. I installed a 500 gig drive so you’re probably not close to running out of space, 3 gigs may be the max ram for that computer so that’s fine for Lion. In my opinion the cut off for processor speed on whether to install Lion or not would be around core 2 Duo 2.2 or higher. You can install Lion on 2 ghz Core 2 Duo or higher but my experience has seen Lion run a bit too slow on the baseline requirement 2 ghz processor. I would say 2.2 or higher. Just my opinion.

The Air is a cool machine but not for me. It’s a nice compliment to another computer but I can’t say I could ever see using it as my main machine. Not enough hard drive space and I need ports.

What Mac should I buy?

How do I upgrade?  Can I download an upgrade on-line?  Do I need to purchase it?
___________

You can upgrade to Lion via the App Store in 10.6.  It costs $29.99 If you want to use the new features of iCloud, you’ll have to have Lion.

What ram do I need?

Hi Scotty

Photography question.
A friend of mine is a professional photographer. He has a rather inelegant solution to my photo storage and sharing question. His solution:

3 portable hard drives
Take my 1500 photos off my iMac and put them on all 3

Keep one at work; give wife one (she's always getting on my computer for photos) and use one on my imac.

I guess as long as I have room, I don't need one for my imac.

What do you think?
___________


The real question here is how to sync iPhoto libraries and I’ve tried all the solutions out there claiming to sync iPhoto libraries but I’m not ready to recommend any of them. However, there is new light. The photo stream feature of iCloud allows for instant access to shared pictures across multiple iPhoto libraries and iOS devices. This folder is only temporary however. Regardless, the user still has to do something to keep their libraries synced. You don’t really need an external hard drive for only 1500 photos. Even 15,000 or 150,000 is still not a huge number comparatively to what other heavy iPhoto users have in their libraries.

We’ve talked about photo sharing between libraries in your home and I still think that’s the best and most convienant way to move a small number of photos between computers. Photo sharing is not the best way to move all pictures at once but once both libraries are equal then photo sharing is a good way to keep them up to date.

10.6 is needed to get to 10.7 unless...

man, this sounds complicated.  My question is do I have to do this or can just continue with mobile me.  I am completely backed up and don't have that issue.  What are the advantages and disadvantages to making this move.
___________

It’s not really complicated. Just a lot to update and anytime apple releases a major software update, it’s better to just wait a while. The steps are not difficult, it’s just that each step takes quite a while to process.

The disadvantage to any software update is that often the new software is more tasking on your computer or device so the result is a slightly slower experience.

The advantage is that you can take advantage of the new features. The new notification center on iOS 5 is very nice. Wireless syncing is also great. Photo Stream is a nice convenience. Sooner or later, you have to go there so you might as well go ahead. You just need to make sure you have enough ram. Lion requires 2 gigs of ram but it’s best if you have at least 4.

If you choose not to upgrade, MobileMe will continue to work as normal for at least a while longer.

The only real major new feature of the new iPhone 4S is the Siri voice activation. Faster processor but the old iPhone is fine for now. If you have the 3GS or earlier then it’s a great time to update. If you have the iPhone 4, then I say just stay where you are.

Should I update to Lion?

We will hold off on the "cloud" for a time.  I was going to order myself an I phone 4s today from Verizon, where we have a corporate account.  Any recommendations on specifications for that phone?  We will see how we do with the cloud next week, but we may need your assistance to get all of our devices on it.  We did get the Appple TV hooked up!!  We have only scratched the surface of its capabilities however.  Do we have that version of Lion?  You installed Lion about 4 months ago.  Also our I-pad 1, will it work?
___________


I would suggest buying only the 16 gig smallest capacity iPhone. So much is streaming these days that a large drive is not a major necessity Just an opinion.

To find what operating system you are on, go to the black apple in the top left hand corner and select “about this mac”. It will tell you whether you are on 10.6 or 10.7. If you are on 10.6 you can use the App store (blue circular icon in dock) to upgrade for $29.99. You iPad will work with iOS 5 however video mirroring to your AppleTV 2 is not supported on the iPad 1.

Is iCloud a replacement for iTunes?

It is just about time for us to upgrade our computer.  I would love for you to let me know which one to purchase.  Also, Neville left our ipad on the roof of the car....
I am not sure we need the 3G since we never used it in a year of using our ipad, but which one should we get?
___________


Sounds like since you never used the 3G service then you can stick with the Wifi only model.  Personally the only iPad I would buy would be the entry level 16 gig for $499.  You can always sync if you want to move other content over.  Besides so much is now based on streaming and not requiring content to be stored locally.  

If you are looking for a new iMac I think the low end 27" ($1699) is a great way to go.  You can join me on Mondays at 7pm online at www.sellsconsulting.com/ to discuss this very issue.  However, I may not be on this Monday but may move to Tuesday for next week only.

Apps not compatible with iPad? Update iPad.

I currently have 186 GB free on my Macintosh HD.  I am running Parallels 6.0.  Below is a summary of my Hardware Overview and Memory section of About this Mac.  Does this give you the information you need for RAM?  I could not find anything else. Please let me know if there is another place to look.  I will check out crucial.com and see if I can assess what I think I need (I value your opinion more !)

Model Name: iMac
  Model Identifier: iMac8,1
  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
  Number Of Processors: 1
  Total Number Of Cores: 2
  L2 Cache: 6 MB
  Memory: 2 GB
  Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
  Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
  SMC Version (system): 1.29f1
___________


I think you have a 20" iMac so this ram should be what you're looking for.
4GB kit (2GBx2), 200-pin SODIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 upgrades for Apple iMac 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (20-inch) MB324LL/A Desktop/PC, CT817141 from Crucial.com

Does Lion kill Microsoft Office?

Yes, there seems to be problems with my server... every time I send an e-mail, it bounces back and then asks me to select another server???  Sometimes it takes 3-4 trys to get the e-mail to send.  Is this the iCloud transition or something else?

The operating system I have is Mac OS X 10.5. 8.  I would like to have the newer system.  What do I need to purchase?
___________

Most likely the outgoing email server issue is being caused by the iCloud transition. If you are at 10.5.8 then we need to get you to 10.6 so you can use the app store to buy Lion. You can check at the Apple store to see if they have any more copies of Snow Leopard. 10.6 (Snow Leopard) must be installed via a disc. Only problem is that a copy of SL is difficult to find at this point. If you are unable to locate a copy then you could always buy a had copy of 10.7 on a USB flash drive. If you have difficulty let me know.

What is the default password for time capsule hard drives?

I will wait to update the iCloud but should I go ahead and download 10.7 Lion?  Last time we discussed this you didn't like the iCalendar and I was hesitant to change for no apparent reason because I use the Ical quite frequently and I was not looking forward to the  unfavorable changes so I never updated iCal or to 10.7 Lion.
___________

Go ahead and go to Lion. It’s inevitable. I’m still not a big fan of the calendar or address book but you’re going to need to get to 10.7 sooner or later. The calendar and address book are not great but they’re not deal breakers. Update away.

What is my network name?

Is iCloud trying to replace itunes?
___________

No. iTunes is the central location for everything. iCloud is a set of syncing services that work independently of iTunes but iTunes is not going anywhere any time soon.

Will upgrading to Snow Leopard mess up Parallels?

I have received updates for Pages & Keynote but it then says that they are not compatible with my iPad at this time.  I assume that when I update to iOS 5 they will then be compatible, I hope...
___________

Yes, it’s very likely that the Apps that are not compatible are expecting to see the newest version of the operating system. The way it should have been designed is for the updated apps not be allowed to be installed until the required iOS has been updated.

Removing an email account in the Stamp

Scotty:  I hear that the new 10.7 lion will not permit Microsoft Office.
True?  I have had trouble with mobilmee as well.
___________

Partly true. Lion eliminates the transitional software called Rosetta that allowed PowerPC written software to run on Intel computers. That means that Microsoft Office 2004 will no longer run under Lion since it was PowerPC only. You’d need Microsoft Office 2008 or higher.

iCloud transition is still bringing me.com email down.

What is the default password for a time capsule hard drive?
___________


That is the default password for time capsule hard drives and if we reset the time capsule (which I feel like we did) then it may be expecting the word "public".  

Go to system preferences then select time machine. 
choose "select disk" and your time capsule drive should show up in the list.
Once you've selected that disk you may be prompted for a password.  Use the word "public".

What to expect moving to iCloud

please send me my network name and security string, thank you,
___________
There is a possibility that when I was onsite I joined your network and selected to have my computer remember your password in my keychain. I can look it up but I will first need you to find out what the name of your network actually is. In the menu bar at the top of the computer, select the fan icon (shown in Blue below) then wait a few seconds for an updated list of all available networks in your area to appear. One of them should look familiar. Tell me that word and I’ll see if I have the password saved.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 9.47.57 PM

What 750 gig 2.5" drive do you recommend?

Hi Scotty
Hope you are well.  You helped me a few years ago install Parallels on my mac so that I could run Windows.  All is working fine for the most part (it does not move at lightning speed but I have learned to live with it).  I have learned though that if I want to run Face Time I need to upgrade my operating system to Snow Leopard.  Do you know if this will have any impact on my Windows environment, etc.?  Please let me know when you can.
___________

First, to address the slow speed issue, check to see how much ram you have. If you are running Parallels then you’ll want to increase the amount of ram to the computer’s maximum. Check out www.crucial.com to order the most ram you can.

Now, I would need to know a couple of things”

1. how much hard drive space to you have left
2. how much ram does your computer have (or will have)
3. what version of parallels is running

Depending on those factors, I could then safely say yes to moving to Snow Leopard or not. Parallels Desktop for Mac - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia states that even up to Parallels 7, you can run 10.4.11 Tiger and still be able to use Parallels so you should be ok. Looks like most builds of Parallels will run in Snow Leopard.

Do not use "rapport".

Can you please tell me how I can quit receiving any e-mail on my laptop.  Somehow all the AOL mail to my "real" computer comes in on that mail site (the stamp logo) on the laptop, and in trying to erase it, I've erased every bit of saved mail I had, plus a bunch of other mail.  I keep getting messages from Roadrunner that my system is 70% full and I think it has something to do w/the laptop.    I don't want to get any e-mail on the laptop, and I've gone into Mail Preference and can't see how to undo it.  I'm read to take a hammer to the whole thing.  Any easy way?

Thanks.
___________


To remove an account in the Stamp program (apple’s email application) first open the program then under the word “mail” in the menu bar, select “preferences”.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 9.21.30 PM
Next, in the newly opened window, select the email account you wish to delete. To do this, click on the accounts picture across the top then select the road runner account. Finally, hit the minus button in the bottom left corner. That email account will no longer appear in the stamp.
Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 9.23.28 PM

If you want to remove multiple accounts, just select the next account and hit the minus button again.

MobileMe is up and down due to the iCloud transition.

Our computers are having fits sending emails.. keeps saying problem with smtp outgoing server.  Looks like its hung up on my email account even when I am sending and not sending to or from his email address.....  could this be related to the new cloud?  I have rebooted all computers and the ATT network box.  BTW, never could get Apple wifi to work after you were here last....
___________

It’s been widely reported that the transition to iCloud has been bumpy today. Many clients have reported email outages. Things seem better this evening. Join me on Monday evening at 7pm and we can work on the networking issue.

Don't use passwords that are easy to crack.



iCloud Transition:
Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 6.11.59 PM

The move to iCloud is a rather large one and should be done only when you have ample time to complete the transition. Like hours! You’ll need be running Lion 10.7.2 in order to use it.

1. Backup all your data. If you’re using Time Machine, great but it’s still a very good idea to export copies of your calendar and address book. To do so open iCal and in the menu bar: go to File>export>iCal archive. Save to desktop in case of an emergency. In Address Book go to File>export>address book archive. Save to desktop in case of emergency. These can be thrown away in a couple of days once you feel comfortable that iCloud is obeying.

2. Next, run your software update. Under the black apple in the top left hand corner of the screen choose “software update”. Allow everything. This should get you to Lion 10.7.2, iTunes 10.5 and a few other miscellaneous printer updates etc… Expect your computer to run slower. It’s just a fact of life that when you update to a newer version of any software, it’s very very very very likely that the newer versions of software are asking your computer’s processor to do a little more. You may not notice one update’s effect on your hardware but over time and several updates, you’ll start to notice.

After the first set of updates are run, you should go to software update once again because there will be another update for iPhoto that wasn’t available before. Run that update. You should now notice an iCloud icon in the system preferences.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 5.17.10 PM

3. Now connect your iPad or iPhone up to iTunes. You should be asked to update to iOS 5. If not, then simply select the iPhone or iPad on the left hand side of iTunes then choose “info” from the buttons across the top of the iTunes window. Next choose “update”. iTunes will backup your device then start the slow process of downloading about 700 megs of iOS 5 updates.

4. Now go to iCloud.com and attempt to log in. You’ll be prompted to go to me.com and log in to initiate the move of data from me to iCloud. Have your lawyers look over the new terms of service that Apple pushes by you and allow. You’ll notice that Apple is taking some features away that were present in MobileMe; iDisk, MobileMe galleries, iWeb publishing, certain syncing information that nobody used. (Hopefully Apple will replace the gallery feature with some photo stream branch later) You’ll be told that you need to update all your computers and iOS devices. but you will have already done this in the steps above.


5. After iOS 5 has downloaded and your devices are updated you’ll be walked through a simple iCloud setup once you start up your iPad or iPhone. Notice in iPhoto that you now have a folder called “photo stream”. Pictures will now sync automatically without using a cable. Your iWork documents will begin syncing without using a cable and you’ll be able to move songs, movies, etc… to and from iTunes without the cable. It’s magic. Hopefully it will all work.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 5.49.35 PM


6. Open the App Store app and check for even more updates to iMovie, iWork, etc… There’s also a cool new update to AppleTV second Gen that allows photo stream sharing, NHL, Airplay from iPad 2’s and a little more.

7. Finally, be ready for setbacks.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 5.58.38 PM


The smart thing to do is to do nothing at all right now. Wait for the crowds to update to iCloud this week then at the first of next week take your turn. The servers are up and down in the beginning. Be patient.

If all goes well you’ll get a notification from your system preferences that your MobileMe account is ready to be upgraded to iCloud. After allowing, you’ll see message stating success.

Screen Shot 2011-10-12 at 7.46.22 PM


Good luck!

Pages auto backup

Although upgrading to 500 GB would buy us another year or two of time before reaching that capacity, we figured that (with the rate that we are continuing to load and store additional large photo files on our computer)  going to the largest hard drive that is made to fit in our Macbook Pro might be advisable?  Do not want problems with the new drive, that is for sure!  Our time machine back-up external drive is 3TB I think, so no limits there with how much we can back-up.  

1. and 2. below are the products I came up with when I searched the WD Caviar Black internal hard drive you mentioned our possibly ordering.  Neither sounds correct and the WD Caviar black series does not seem to be offered at all in the necessary 2.5 size for our computer~ only in a 3.5 size.  

Could not find any internal G drives, only external.  Did find 3. below.  Is this the best quality hard drive for us to order?

Still unsure what to order before proceeding with our appt.  If the 500 GB replacement internal drive you mention having in stock is the very best quality/reliable option existing out there over any available 750GB replacements, then I suppose we could go with that ~ but we would really love to go higher to around 750GB when doing this (if you think a really good quality replacement hard drive exists for our MacBook with that much storage).  

Will look forward to hearing your thoughts and any recommendations as to how we should next proceed/what to order.
___________


First and foremost, when dealing with drives never trust one.  I can't overstate this.  No matter what the age or make of the drive, you need to be prepared for it to fail at all times.  And don't be shocked when it does.  If you are prepared (by having backed up) then you can be at peace with the idea that your drive will die.  

Here are the two I would recommend.  
Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus ST9750420AS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I've seen them both fail but these fail less often than most other drives.  

How much ram can my MBP address?

Hi Scotty,

I just wanted to ask a quick question regarding a message I am getting to download rapport (a theft protection update?).  Do you recommend I do this?  It is free.

Thanks,
___________

No. Stay away from it. Just always use common sense by not clicking on links in emails you were not expecting to get.

When is iCloud coming?

Scotty - 

I think we talked about my having trouble with outgoing email last week. I thought the problem was that I had too many addresses in my to: field. Actually it is happening again with only one address. 

This is what it says:

cannot send message using server smtp.me.com:name removed

sending message failed...


select from list...


edit....


I went to a help page and it said to check the outgoing mail server ( I assure you I haven't altered this in any way recently...)

that page says that my outgoing mail server is:


smtp.me.com:name removed

What happens is it offers to try again later, edit the email, or cancel ( I think) - I believe you saw this page last week and we put the email in my draft folder for me to reduce the addresses and try again. I was able to do that and have sent many emails since you were here. Just started doing it again today.

Is there an easy fix or do I need to have you back over??
___________


I’ve had several clients contacting me all day over the last 2 or 3 days saying they are unable to send email. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Apple is bringing the MobileMe mail servers offline and back on again at random as they make the switch to iCloud coming up later this week. Many people are reporting outgoing mail problems. If you’ve check the email address you’re sending to and it looks correct, then it’s probably a problem on Apple’s server side and should be back up within a few hours. Not all accounts are affected. You can also check the MobileMe status online at me.com then select to view your account settings in the top right hand corner after logging in.

Here’s a quick list of just a few of the recent outages:
Screen Shot 2011-10-10 at 11.26.53 PM

Change Graphics card on MBP? no.

Hi Scotty - My nephew has a problem with his computer.  It sends out an e-mail like this almost every day.  He doesn't have anyone who can help him.  Is there something you could do if I schedule you to see him?



Begin forwarded message:


Date: October 10, 2011 2:19:15 PM EDT
Subject: Re: Fwd: I DID IT!!

Hello.
I was ready to throw in the towel my luck had finally turned around these days im making my way to the top this could be your big break (link removed)
see you

___________

It sounds like he needs to change his password to that hotmail account asap.  Then stop using hotmail.  Email services to avoid are Yahoo, AOL, HotMail, Road Runner, BellSouth.  Use gmail.  I've never heard of any of my client's gmail passwords being compromised but I hear it all the time with the above mentioned addresses.  

His password was most likely a word or combination of words that could be found in the dictionary.  And a spammer was able to throw the dictionary at his login until he hit the correct word or combination of words.  He then sold that access to an advertising company and they are using his account to send out ads for crappy stuff posing as the email account holder.  Happens all the time.  Change the password to something not found in the dictionary.
___________
Hi Scotty - I think we got the answer now.  I found two other issues that were similar in the "virus" section.  He's going to change his password.  If that doesn't work, he'll remove our addresses as well.

Here's another question for you.  Will the bots program keep our addresses and sell them or use them even without having our nephew's address as the host?  Will we need to change our address...I don't really want to do that unless it's necessary.

Thanks,
___________


Yes, once a spammer has those email addresses they will continue to use them. This will have nothing to do with your account from that point so even if you change your email address, you’re not helping anything. The damage is already done. The “bots” and spammers would no longer need your nephew’s email address as a host. All you can do is change the password and let people know you’re not stranded in Russia asking for a few dollars to get a bus ticket back to England.

Home Wireless not covering area.

Hi Scotty - I hope that you are well.  Thomas is working on research for a homework project.  Pages just crashed and he's lost the unsaved portion of his work.  We've been looking on your website for answers to if/how he can retrieve the lost information.
___________

It depends on how long the project was on the computer. Time Machine could help to recover the document. You could navigate to the documents folder, assuming that’s where you’d last saved it, then enter time machine from the menu bar (icon like a clock) and try to recover the previously saved version. Lion now autosaves documents so in the future (with Lion installed) this can be avoided.

If he had not saved and he’s not running Lion and not running Time Machine, then the data could be lost.

iPad apps didn't sync

Hello Scotty,

Since upgrading my MacBookPro to Lion, I have been seeing the beach ball spinning more than when running with Snow Leopard.  I think it may be time for looking into options to increase from the standard 2 GB of RAM to 3 or 4 GB. 

I saw on
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/stats/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.33-15-specs.html that Apple supports a maximum of 3 GB with the note below regarding replacing the two 1GB memory modules with two 2 GB memory modules giving 4 GB RAM (subject to the limitations outlined, so not all of the extra 1 GB of memory is usable).
*Apple officially supports a maximum of 3 GB of RAM but third-parties have been able to upgrade the system to 4 GB of RAM using two 2 GB memory modules with some
limitations.

Have you done any similar replacements and how much would it run to upgrade to 3 GB RAM versus 4 GB RAM?  I'm trying to get an idea whether it is worth upgrading the RAM or upgrading the whole system.

I copied some of the System information at the bottom of the email.

I see some memory modules out at
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade but am not sure I want to opt for the DIY replacement on a laptop.

(Rightmost of 3 columns near the bottom of the macsales page):
Up to 4GB Memory
MacBook Pro 15" 2.16GHz
MacBook Pro 15" 2.33GHz
___________


It’s true that many 2005-2007 Apple computers weirdly would only recognize 3 gigs total of ram even when you put 4 gigs in. This was a hardware limitation of some but not all. The 2.16ghz MBP would only recognize 2 gigs total. Computer memory upgrades for Apple MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo (15.4-inch) Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com and the 2.33ghz would address 3 gigs total regardless of putting 2 2gig chips in. Computer memory upgrades for Apple MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core Duo (15-inch) Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

To answer your question, replacing ram on those laptops is very simple and the cost of the ram will run around $30 total per machine. Lion needs a minimum of 2 gigs so you have none left for applications. That’s why things have slowed down so much. You can do the replacement yourself. Youtube has video instructions or you can meet us online every Monday at 7pm for Town Hall and I can walk you through it as well via video.

Getting a CD to show in Windows under VMware.

Any update on the cloud? We are still wanting to set everything up on that to sync and have you come back. Let me know what you think. Thank you.
___________


Apple announced the release of iCloud will be October 12th in the U.S. You’ll want to run all updates to iTunes, your iPod touch, iPad or iPhone, and the Operating System. There will most likely be updates for Pages, Keynote, Numbers and iPhoto as well. I would suggest waiting a few days after the initial release of all the new updates so you avoid any potential problems that could arise on version one.

Linux on a Mac

I have recently bought a refurbished MacBook Pro with OSX Lion 10.7. It has a 2.3 Ghz Intel Core i5 processor with 4 GB of memory and an Intel HD Graphics 3000 card.. All of these stats are really good except for the graphics. I know the graphics card is built into the motherboard, so how much would it generally cost to upgrade my graphics card to something like an nvidia or AMD Radeon? I'm trying to figure out how but it seems to me that I am going to need somebody who really knows what they are doing to help. Thanks for the help!
___________


Hate to be the bearer of bad news but there’s no way to upgrade the graphics card on a Macbook pro. It is permanently embedded onto the logic board so the only way would be to change out the entire logic board (a process that would be extremely expensive). While there are sites that would suggest it possible, I strongly advise against it. To attempt to break and re-solder the connectors which are only fibers wide would surely damage the board beyond repair.
This image is a theme.plist hack