Past Meetings

1 - 14 - 2005

Our meeting was attended by Tom B, Bob S, Jack H, Ed K, Jim P and Rich M.

The main demo was how to reformat (and partition) an existing hard drive using the Apple utility Drive Setup. Tom used an older Performa Power PC running OS 8.1 with a 1.2gb hard drive to show the steps. The entire process took about 15 seconds, as far as initializing the disk goes. This procedure is basically the same for all systems from 7.6 to 9.2. With OSX, Apple's Disk Utility can be used for formatting and partitioning (although partitioning isn't as beneficial as it once was).

Other topics and tidbits of information that surfaced in the meeting:

How to allocate more system memory to an application that keeps freezing or running out of memory when working with very large files.

How and why to create a temporary Ram Disk for faster computing.

How to reposition the Control Strip at bottom of Desktop.

How to network two Macs to transfer data files via an ethernet cable.

Reviewed some helpful Keyboard Shortcuts (especially the greatest Mac feature 'Command-Shift-4'). Convert the resulting PICT files to JPEGS
or GIFS with Clip2gif.

Bob S showed how, in OSX, you can quickly find the Serial Number of your computer by opening 'About This Mac' (under the Apple), then click on the Version Number under the Apple icon- amazingly, it reveals the Serial # (plus other info). Sort of like one of those infamous Easter Eggs! Thanks Bob S for this little gem. Who would have known?

Some discussion on where nearest Apple Stores are located (Buffalo and Syracuse). Although CompUSA has a nice display of Macs, software and accessories in corner of their store in Rochester (South Town Plaza).

Tom shared his experience of recently upgrading his Powerbook G4 with a new Toshiba 40gbHD (replacing the original 10gbHD). Only cost $95 at OWC. A great tutorial is available at XLR8 for step-by-step HD replacement in Powerbook laptop. Also found a neat portable FireWire case for keeping the original 10gb HD as backup or bootup disk (see how to do this) . Upgrading to a larger 40gb HD enabled Tom to partition it into 30gb and 10gb partitions to accommodate both a copy of the original HD data (w/ OSX Jaguar 10.2.3) and installation of Panther 10.3.7 onto the larger partition. A cool freeware called Carbon Copy Cloner worked slick as Dick's hatband to easily copy the original data to new disk in a few seconds.

If anyone is looking for a good alternative browser, try the free Opera 7.54u1 for OSX (4mb to download). It seems about twice as fast as Safari and IE. For OS 8 & 9, download version 6.03. There is a small, unobtrusive ad band at top of browser window. But lots of nice features, especially the data stream at bottom of window that gives you mucho info on site downloads (transfer speed, file sizes, images, etc). It automatically imports previous browser favorites during install.

A great website with a wealth of info regarding Mac systems and software can be found at Indiana University here.

New email address to contact the Hammondsport MUG is hammondsportmug@gmail.com

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