filesystem

Our utilities update report is a column on 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 past week there were only updates to two utilities: a popular OS tweaking and maintenance tool, and a file recovery tool.

The first utility updated this past week is FruitMenu which is not a troubleshooting tool, but has been the … 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 past week there were only updates to two utilities: a popular OS tweaking and maintenance tool, and a file recovery tool.

Maintenance

In maintenance utility updates this week, MacPilot was updated to include a number of new features and tweaks … 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 we have had updates to a couple of maintenance tools, a few process management tools, a number of filesystem and file management tools, and a benchmarking suite.

Maintenance In maintenance utility updates this past week, Cocktail has been updated … Read more

In the classic Mac OS, colon characters were used to separate folders in a file path, but in Unix-based systems the folder separator is a forward slash character. These characters are prevented from being used in file names because it would confuse the system when trying to access the file. When Apple developed OS X, the use of the forward slash was adopted because of its Unix underpinnings, so in OS X you cannot include a true forward slash in a file name.

This may cause some confusion, since in the Finder you can rename files to include a forward … 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 past week there were updates with maintenance tools, some popular ones for managing disks and filesystems, and an open source Unix port management utility.

Maintenance

The first updates this week are to OnyX and its stripped-down sibling "Maintenance," … Read more

Sometimes people who have just reinstalled OS X on their systems or migrated to a new boot device may find a folder entitled "Boot OSX" appearing on their desktops. The folder cannot be removed, and only seems to disappear when the system is restarted. In a nutshell, these folders appear because of a glitch that recognizes a residual boot helper partition that is used on non-standard filesystem setups.

On nonstandard filesystems such as RAID disks (including those used in an Apple Software RAID setup through Disk Utility), the system will create the main storage partitions, but in addition … 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

One question that has been brought up recently is which disk-checking practice is best when performing maintenance on your system. When a Mac either has problems booting, is experiencing slowdowns, or has just recovered from a crash or power outage it's good to at least verify that the file system structure has not been compromised.

There are several common ways to do this, which include booting to Safe Mode, Booting to Single User mode and running "fsck," or booting to the installation DVD and running Disk Utility. The question that has been brought up is, what is … Read more

As mentioned in an earlier article by MacFixIt's Topher Kessler, users may encounter issues when attempting to download Apps or App updates from the Mac App Store. Apple has now posted a knowledge base article describing a likely solution for most users.

When clicking the updates icon at the top of the Mac App Store window, the application may become unresponsive. This issue could be related to third party NTFS software including partitions with certain Windows NTFS file systems.

To alleviate the issue, navigate to System Preferences > Spotlight and click the Privacy tab. Add any of your NTFS … Read more