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Mac OSX Noob thread of OSX noobs

E

Echoes

Member
What should I format it to?

3787c


(Didn't find 2TB so I got 2 1TB.)
 
C

cooljeanius

Member
Jasoco said:
A 1TB drive is $70-100. A 1.5TB is $90. They're cheap as dirt if you know where to shop. This isn't 2005. Drives are not expensive anymore.

Looking at NewEgg, they have dozens of 1, 1.5 and 2TB UNDER $100. Name brands in cases too. Hard drives are NOT expensive anymore! Unless you need a new 3TB or some RAID device, you're not going to spend a whole lot for security.
Click to expand...
I guess the bolded was my problem (I was looking in the Apple Store). I'll try to check out NewEgg, thanks!
 
B

BuggyDClown

Member
cooljeanius said:
I guess the bolded was my problem (I was looking in the Apple Store). I'll try to check out NewEgg, thanks!
Click to expand...
It is all about where and when you shop. For instance about 6 months ago I got myself a new drive for my video library.

2TB firewire 800 Lacie. 159$ Amazon. Thought I think the price is higher now. Amazing drive.

Just this week I realized I need a new 2TB as a backup to that one since I have 1.5 TB of TV and dont wanna lose it. So I didnt mind making it USB 2. Low and behold 9to5Mac reported on a deal ended today :( but I orderd it yesterday

2TB USB 2 Seagate 75$
 
S

Splash Wave

Member
That LaCie hard drive that supports firewire looks fairly attractive, though I could get 2tb from Western Digital without Firewire support for 50 dollars cheaper. I can't even remember how much faster firewire is at this point because I haven't used it in years. Should it effect my decision?


edit: and is there any disadvantage to buying an extern hard drive that doesn't require a power cable in terms if reliability? I would consider paying more for this because I doubt I'd ever fill up 2TB.
 
E

Echoes

Member
Formatted the iMac and installed a fresh Snow Leopard. Updated it and will be using it for couple of days. If there's no freezing, then I'll be sure it's not a hardware defect and will use Migration Assistant. If, after the Migration, there's freezing again, then I'll go the classic route of reformatting and installing everything from zero.

Thanks for the help guys. Oh and by the way, is it too much to have 2 1TB HDDs backing up? One with CCC and one with Time Machine. Do you think CCC's is enough?

(btw, I'm using a USB-powered Western Digital HD. I hope USB-powered drives aren't bad or something.)
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
Jimmy Stav said:
That LaCie hard drive that supports firewire looks fairly attractive, though I could get 2tb from Western Digital without Firewire support for 50 dollars cheaper. I can't even remember how much faster firewire is at this point because I haven't used it in years. Should it effect my decision?


edit: and is there any disadvantage to buying an extern hard drive that doesn't require a power cable in terms if reliability? I would consider paying more for this because I doubt I'd ever fill up 2TB.
Click to expand...
i would recommend a power cable. Definitely. And FireWire 800 is faster than USB 2.0 for sure.

Echoes said:
Formatted the iMac and installed a fresh Snow Leopard. Updated it and will be using it for couple of days. If there's no freezing, then I'll be sure it's not a hardware defect and will use Migration Assistant. If, after the Migration, there's freezing again, then I'll go the classic route of reformatting and installing everything from zero.

Thanks for the help guys. Oh and by the way, is it too much to have 2 1TB HDDs backing up? One with CCC and one with Time Machine. Do you think CCC's is enough?

(btw, I'm using a USB-powered Western Digital HD. I hope USB-powered drives aren't bad or something.)
Click to expand...
Nah. I have redundant backups of all my files.

I have all Western Digital drives too. Two MyBook's and two Essentials. My only problem with them is their sleep mode and annoying wait (and subsequent Finder freeze) for them to wake up.

Good luck.. and bon appetite.
 
E

Echoes

Member
Great! My two Essentials that I bought will both be for backups. I have an older 750GB MyBook which has anime and stuff. I feel awesome knowing that nothing would screw me over with all these backups. The reason I switched to Mac in the first place was because of the insecurity of Windows. 7 is good but I'm all over that. I can't for the life of me imagine my life without Alfred and FastScripts, for example.

Question: can I drag apps from my CCC HDD to my Applications folder? (instead of hunting down every app later on) because that would be fricken awesome. I did it with MPlayer OSX Extended and it worked, so I'm wondering.
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
Echoes said:
Great! My two Essentials that I bought will both be for backups. I have an older 750GB MyBook which has anime and stuff. I feel awesome knowing that nothing would screw me over with all these backups. The reason I switched to Mac in the first place was because of the insecurity of Windows. 7 is good but I'm all over that. I can't for the life of me imagine my life without Alfred and FastScripts, for example.

Question: can I drag apps from my CCC HDD to my Applications folder? (instead of hunting down every app later on) because that would be fricken awesome. I did it with MPlayer OSX Extended and it worked, so I'm wondering.
Click to expand...
From the most part yes. Very few apps will complain if you don't drag their other system files over too.

Remember. That if you want to set the apparently up exactly as it was, also look in /Library/Preferences and /Library/Application Support in both the user and root.

Also, when. You do get around to the migration, it'll probably replace any changes you made. So don't do too much changing until you are sure its fixed.
 
C

cooljeanius

Member
So my parents got me an external hard drive for my birthday anyway... figures I find out where to find them cheap today once they've already given it to me... I'm not complaining, though, I mean, 500 GB is fine for an external HD considering my current laptop's HD is only 250 GB, and I didn't pay for it myself...
 
Burger

Burger

Member
Jimmy Stav said:
Weird question, but would a 1TB drive be potentially more reliable than 2?
Click to expand...

Unlikely. HD's usually fail due to physical problems, like heads crashing. I can't imagine the density of the platters having any effect, though I could be wrong.
 
S

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
Jimmy Stav said:
I can't decide if Firewire is worth a fifty dollar premium (that LaCie HD). What sort of differences will I see for just streaming music from it? That's mostly what I'll use it for.

This is my non-Firewire option:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QEBMCI/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Click to expand...
While Firewire offers a roughly 2x performance improvement over USB 2, you probably won't notice it much if you're just streaming media. I have my entire iTunes library/media stored on a portable 500GB USB drive and notice little performance hit.
 
C

Chuck (Old)

Banned
Full Recovery said:
How does one password protect a file in finder?
Click to expand...
I haven't been able to find a first party method of password protecting a file, unfortunately. So what I did was installed TrueCrypt and made an encrypted folder that I could drop any file I wanted guarded into and voila! it's now password protected. If anybody knows of a legit OS implementation I'd love to know that too.
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
Burger said:
Unlikely. HD's usually fail due to physical problems, like heads crashing. I can't imagine the density of the platters having any effect, though I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Correct. When something goes wrong its usually the fault of the heads. Either the motor goes or the head hits the platter and scratches it. Shame because even if the data is perfectly in tact, it still costs an assload to recover the data. So always keep a backup, kids! ALWAYS! NO EXCEPTIONS!
 
S

Splash Wave

Member
Burger said:
Unlikely. HD's usually fail due to physical problems, like heads crashing. I can't imagine the density of the platters having any effect, though I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I wish I had seen your post prior to ordering it, because I went with the 1TB. I may send it back for the 2TB, but I honestly don't think I'd ever fill it. I still have 130GB available on a 500GB HD I bought over two years ago.
 
F

Futureman

Member
I think I'm officially in for the new iMacs. I've had my MBP for a year now and I don't think I utilize it enough as a laptop. I'd rather trade the portability for the huge ass 27" screen. It's gonna be so insane for drawing with Wacom tablet and doing video/photo editing. Moving in with the GF soon, so it will be an awesome entertainment hub as well (Netflix!). Any money left over could go towards a Nook Color or maybe iPad 2 for more portable needs like web browsing.

Are there any rumors, specifically on the processor side? I assume they will be getting Sandy Bridge? Will the Sandy Bride in the iMac have any advantages over the current MBP's Sandy Bridge (I know no one can truly know this, but basically I'm asking if there are more advanced Sandy Bridge processors that Apple could put in the iMac)? Last gen MBP and iMac both had Core i7s at the top of the line, but the iMac's was quad-core and the MBP was only dual.

also, looks like a recent rumor on Macrumors points to new screen sizes in the refresh. That'd be crazy if they kept the price the same but nudged the top of the line to 30".
 
M

mf.luder

Member
noire said:
Used Migration Assistant to move my old stuff from a Time Capsule to my new macbook. For some reason, my Safari bookmarks didn't make the transition :(
Click to expand...

Did you look under imported bookmarks on the left hand side of the bookmark window?
 
F

forknknife

Banned
charlemagne said:
I'm pretty jealous of you right now. Which one did you get?
Click to expand...

The 13 inch with 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 duo and 2GB Ram.

Seriously, it's light, fast, silent and runs cool. I am super happy with it.
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
Echoes said:
I migrated my account from my CCC back up. I got this message when I logged in to my user:

4a75d


What should I do?
Click to expand...
Do you see it in the list? System Events is an application that handles events. It is supposed to be in your "Startup programs" list. I think the application itself is located in /System/Library/CoreServices/ so look there. No big deal. It just lost the link or something.
 
P

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
Anyone have a program that is similar to Google Notifier, but works with multiple inboxes?

or if there is a way to have Google Notifier work with multiple inboxes? I like the little program, but it hasn't been updated ion a while, and this feature would be awesome.
 
M

Mr. Wonderful

Member
So last night around midnight, my Unibody Macbook sold on eBay for $1000 (which personally, I think was way too much). The guy is from California, and a new account on eBay. How long does it usually take for a buyer to actually make the payment after doing a Buy it Now?

In other words, how long should I wait until I start to worry that I'll never receive payment and should relist it?
 
E

Echoes

Member
Jasoco said:
Do you see it in the list? System Events is an application that handles events. It is supposed to be in your "Startup programs" list. I think the application itself is located in /System/Library/CoreServices/ so look there. No big deal. It just lost the link or something.
Click to expand...
Okay, cool. Everything was running smoothly. Left the house, came hours later -- freeze. So now I'm 100% certain it's a software issue and not a hardware one.

Goddamit. I wish I knew what's wrong.
 
M

mollipen

Member
Full Recovery said:
How does one password protect a file in finder?
Click to expand...

What exactly are you wanting to do with it? Your needs would determine the best way to go about it.

One option that I use for some things are password-protected disc images. Get an idea for about how much size you think you'll need, then create a new disc image to use for the stuff. Not the best solution if you're just wanted to encrypt one lone fine, but it's actually pretty nice when working with a set of stuff - it keeps everything together in one singular file, one password entry unlocks everything, and then all you have to do when you're done is eject the image and you know everything is back to being locked away.
 
F

Futureman

Member
I want a ~24" monitor to connect to my 2010 MBP for video editing, drawing, photo work.

Not looking for pro quality, just want a bigger screen for when I'm at home. Was thinking of doing an iMac (see above), but I thought it over and I think the better decision is to stick with laptops but have a nice external for home use.

So... is Dell still the champ for quality/price ratio?
 
W

Wallach

Member
Well, I just ordered my first personal Mac, one of the new 13" MBPs. Between that and my new iPhone 4 coming this week it's going to be all Apple up in this bitch.

Anything "out of the gate" I should be doing when setting up my MBP when it arrives? I'm getting these for iOS dev purposes so there's a bunch of crap on that side I need to grab but I'm not really a Mac guy, so these first couple weeks are going to be a learning/adjustment period. Any mega-noob tips to make that go more smoothly would be appreciated.
 
S

Splash Wave

Member
Wallach said:
Well, I just ordered my first personal Mac, one of the new 13" MBPs. Between that and my new iPhone 4 coming this week it's going to be all Apple up in this bitch.

Anything "out of the gate" I should be doing when setting up my MBP when it arrives? I'm getting these for iOS dev purposes so there's a bunch of crap on that side I need to grab but I'm not really a Mac guy, so these first couple weeks are going to be a learning/adjustment period. Any mega-noob tips to make that go more smoothly would be appreciated.
Click to expand...


Set up Expose to your liking. Hot-corners are one of my favorite parts about OS X.
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
Echoes said:
Okay, cool. Everything was running smoothly. Left the house, came hours later -- freeze. So now I'm 100% certain it's a software issue and not a hardware one.

Goddamit. I wish I knew what's wrong.
Click to expand...
Create a new user and play around in there. Or disable everything that is starting up at login. And look in the console.
 
C

cooljeanius

Member
Wallach said:
Well, I just ordered my first personal Mac, one of the new 13" MBPs. Between that and my new iPhone 4 coming this week it's going to be all Apple up in this bitch.

Anything "out of the gate" I should be doing when setting up my MBP when it arrives? I'm getting these for iOS dev purposes so there's a bunch of crap on that side I need to grab but I'm not really a Mac guy, so these first couple weeks are going to be a learning/adjustment period. Any mega-noob tips to make that go more smoothly would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Well, after you're done running all the initial setup stuff, open up Syststem Preferences and mess around with the different Pref Panes until you have everything configured to your liking. Also check out the built-in applications, a lot of them such as the iLife applications have tutorials when you open them for the first time that can be helpful to watch. Also browse the Mac App Store to see if it has any other applications that might be helpful for you.
 
Meus Renaissance

Meus Renaissance

Member
For Mac OS, is there an Address Bar within Folders and such? Or does it not work that way? I ask because on most Windows programs there is an option to save the file types in a chosen folder, and it then gives you the address to that location. How would this work on Mac OS?
 
A

Ashhong

Member
Meus Renaissance said:
For Mac OS, is there an Address Bar within Folders and such? Or does it not work that way? I ask because on most Windows programs there is an option to save the file types in a chosen folder, and it then gives you the address to that location. How would this work on Mac OS?
Click to expand...

You can have the path/address show on the bottom of the Finder window, though I forgot how since I moved onto Path Finder.

Quick sidenote, how do you do that in Windows? Set all of a certain file to go to a certain folder?
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
Does anyone know how Xcode 4 from the app store installs? Is it just an app? Or the whole developer folder under the home directory? Does it install over an existing 3.2.6 installation?
 
J

Jasoco

Banned
mrkgoo said:
Does anyone know how Xcode 4 from the app store installs? Is it just an app? Or the whole developer folder under the home directory? Does it install over an existing 3.2.6 installation?
Click to expand...
Probably the same way Lion does. It downloads a disk image and installs from there.
 
Meus Renaissance

Meus Renaissance

Member
Ashhong said:
You can have the path/address show on the bottom of the Finder window, though I forgot how since I moved onto Path Finder.

Quick sidenote, how do you do that in Windows? Set all of a certain file to go to a certain folder?
Click to expand...

I meant pogroms that save in a predefined location when you use that program. For example, I can write a document on Word and choose ton save that file in Folder X. Next time I create another file on Word, it will save in Folder X unless I change that. When you use a torrent app, you can choose where to save the files after they are done downloading. Every Windows app does this in my experience. But, downloading a word document from a website will go to the destination my browser chose, not Folder X. It's not about the file type but the program you use to access it and each program allows you to set your own unique locations
 
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