Troubleshooting

While the use of the log-in window at startup in OS X is the more secure option to use, often people may prefer to have their systems automatically log in to a specified user account, especially if they are the only user on the system and the system is in a relatively safe location such as a locked study or office. However, there are times when users may enable automatic log-in for systems in more public areas, and you might wish to ensure this setting either remains off or can be quickly reverted with a script or command that can more

One of the commonly recommended maintenance routines in OS X for tackling system slowdowns and other performance problems or odd behavior is to run a "permissions fix" on the boot drive. This is done with Disk Utility, and because it will not hurt the system to perform it is often one of the first suggestions people offer for troubled systems.

Permissions in OS X are file and folder attributes that grant a specific user or group access rights to that file or folder. There are two types of permissions in OS X, the first being traditional UNIX permissions, which are more

In OS X when you connect a printer the system will configure it for use, which you can manage through the Print & Fax system preferences if it does not happen automatically. Once added, the printer will create a local print queue where jobs are sent when you print from various local applications.

In addition to this standard printing behavior, there are several additional features of the print system that may be useful, depending on your needs.

Default printer selection
When you install a new printer on your system it is set to be the default printer, and while you more

If you own one of Apple's MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air systems, you will have a power adapter that comes with the unit for charging it. Depending on your system, you may have a 60-watt adapter or an 85-watt adapter, which can be used to charge the system or run it directly from wall power; however, there are times when these adapters might not work properly.

Sometimes they get very hot when used, or sometimes they won't charge the system or show any activity at all.

While often the easiest solution for a faulty power adapter is more

One of the changes in OS X Lion from prior versions of OS X is its autosave and versions features, which offer a different approach to document handling within applications. Unfortunately these changes bring with them a difference in how users interact with their documents, and have resulted in the removal of the commonly used Save As feature that many have grown accustomed to. While Save As has been removed, the approach to it is not that different and you can still restore it to an extent by using the system's support for custom keyboard shortcuts.

Instead of a more

Apple's "Resume" feature in OS X Lion allows the system to save the current state of a program and, in conjunction with its auto-save feature, will restore both saved and unsaved documents as they were when you quit the program. This feature is convenient because it allows you to install application and system updates, or otherwise quit applications with little interruption to your workflow; however, in some situations it may not be a desired option to have.

Resume works by saving a profile of your current application's state within your user library folder in the /username/Library/Saved more

If you have been a subscriber to Apple's MobileMe service, there is little doubt you've missed news on Apple's transition to iCloud, but if you are still using the older MobileMe service, then Apple is issuing reminders to get your data off of the service before it shuts down.

While iCloud has been around for a while now as a replacement for Apple's less-than-stellar MobileMe services, you may have held off on the transition in order to keep using features like Web hosting and the iDisk online storage options. These and similar features are currently not more

The hard drive on most Mac systems is one of the user-serviceable components of the system, so you can follow instructions such as these provided by Apple to access and replace the drive to upgrade it, or swap a broken one out for a working one. The replacement of the hardware can be relatively straightforward, but sometimes you might run into hurdles when accessing files in user accounts and other locations on the older drive.

While Apple offers options to migrate user files, accounts, and settings to the new drive either from the old drive directly or from a backup, more

After updating OS X, some users have found they cannot access Web sites or other online content that is secured with a signed certificate. If you are experiencing this problem, when accessing such resources either through Safari or thorough applications like the Mac App Store, you may get an error stating that the Web site's identity cannot be verified, or that the certificate authority is an invalid issuer.

This problem is affecting a number of people who updated their systems from OS X 10.7.3 to the latest OS X 10.7.4 version. For some, it seems more