Mac OS X

Apple has released an update to the Boot Camp drivers for the latest MacBook Pro systems. This update addresses a couple of problems with Japanese and Korean keyboards in the system, and also fixes shutdown problems, according to the update's download page. The update is specific for Windows 7, so if you are using an alternative version of Windows, this will not apply to you.

The update should be available for Boot Camp users via Apple's Software Update utility, but it can also be downloaded and applied manually from the Boot Camp 3.2 Update Web page. The … Read more

When you lock a keychain in OS X, the system will make a brief sound like a latch closing, which indicates that the keychain has been locked. In most systems this will not regularly happen, but if you have created alternate keychains or have modified your login keychain to automatically lock, then this sound is a convenient indicator that you will need to reauthenticate to use your keychain. A number of people have found that after upgrading to OS X 10.6.7 they hear this keychain lock sound occur rather frequently.

This problem is likely happening mostly for people … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer e-mailed questions from our readers. This week there were questions about burned discs no longer being recognized, upgrading from OS X 10.4 Tiger, using a third-party PDF printer in OS X, and CPU temperatures spiking in MacBook Pro systems. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Burned CDs not being recognized anymore MacFixIt reader "Russell" asks:

When upgrading from a spinning hard disk to a solid-state disk in your Mac, you may experience slower startup times than expected. Solid-state drives should be booting your system in 15 seconds or less--a considerable upgrade from traditional hard disks--but failing to set your newly installed drive as the default startup disk can keep your boot times slow.

Apple Discussions commenter "Luis Ortega" writes:

I just installed a 256gb ssd drive (from OWC) into my 2007 Santa Rosa 2.4 core 2 duo 17" macbook pro.

I had done a clone from my old hard drive (7200rpm … Read more

A few people have reported that when using the latest version of iTunes in OS X 10.6.7 they experience errors in which the program immediately crashes when launched. When this happens, the program displays a message that states, "You do not have enough access privileges for this operation" and then quits followed by the OS X crash reporter.

As with most application crashes, people experiencing this problem have tried numerous approaches, including running in Safe Mode, removing the iTunes preferences files, loading a new user account, and deleting system caches with various maintenance programs; however, in … Read more

Right-clicking (or Control + clicking) on a Dock icon will bring up a contextual menu with available options for that application or file. This trick will allow you to customize the language of that contextual menu, further personalizing your Mac experience.

For example, when you have Safari open, if you right-click on the Safari icon in your Dock, the contextual menu offers you the options of New Window, Options, Hide, Quit (as well as showing you the current page name). You can change Quit to anything you want, like say, "End" or "Close."

This trick, from mactipsandtricks.… Read more

The Mac App Store in OS X 10.6 not only is a source of new applications, but also provides updates for the apps you have installed through the store. The store should detect the installed applications and notify you when an update is available, but for some people this does not work as expected and updates may not show as being available.

Recently a MacFixIt reader wrote in to us regarding this issue, and outlined a fix that was suggested by an Apple representative.

The problem with the App Store updates may be rooted in the store's use … Read more

One common issue that has affected OS X systems is when network interfaces are issued a self-assigned IP address, even though the system is connected to a network with a properly configured DHCP server. When this happens, other systems on the same network (often including similarly configured Macs) will be working just fine, indicating the problem lies with the Mac's configuration and is not a compatibility issue with the networking hardware.

Often when I encounter this issue, I find that people have recently made a relatively major configuration change to their systems, either by updating their OS version, performing … Read more

Printers in OS X are generally managed through the "Print & Fax" system preferences, and when there are problems with your printer setup one of the ways you can quickly revert back to default settings is to reset the print system. This can be done by right-clicking in the printer list and choosing the "Reset printing system..." option that should be available in the contextual menu.

Unfortunately, some problems with the printing system may result in the Print & Fax preferences hanging or crashing when opened, resulting in the inability to use the system's reset … Read more