Windows SP3 update bugging you for more space? Fix it with this tip.

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Dennis
on May 9, 2008
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I ran into this message from one of my mailing lists today, and thought that it deserved to be shared.  This is useful to you if you’re using your Mac to run Microsoft’s Windows operating system. (What? You didn’t know Macs could run Windows too? Oh yeah, they’re great at it!)  Apple has a system called ‘Boot Camp’ that lets you choose between Mac OS X and Windows XP (or Vista) when you startup your computer.

So Microsoft recently released the third ‘Service Pack’ for Windows XP, but if you’re using boot camp, you might get a strange error when you attempt to install it.  Specifically, the error is that the updater asks for 4 additional megabytes of disk space in order to complete the installation. (No matter how much free space your disk has.)

Eric Browning wrote:

I tracked this down via google when attempting to install SP3 on a Bootcamp iMac.  It’s an error that SP3 throws saying it needs 4 additional megabytes of space.  Well having 55 GB free I figured this is yet another “Joy of Micro$oft” adventure.  Here’s what I found and it does fix the issue:

… Apple computers

This issue affects Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional operating systems running through Apple Boot Camp.

If you attempt to install this release candidate on an Intel-based Apple computer (Mac Pro, Mac Mini, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac) that is running Windows XP SP2 through Boot Camp, installation may fail with the error “Out of disk space”. …

To avoid this, manually create a necessary registry key as follows:

To create the registry key

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

On the Edit menu, point to New, and click String Value.

In the text box under the Name column, type BootDir and press ENTER.

Right-click the name BootDir, and then click Modify.

In the Edit String Value dialog box, type the drive letter for your system drive, and then click OK. For example, if your system drive is C:, type C:\.

Close Registry Editor.

After you have created this registry key (or if you created this key when you installed a previous version of this Service Pack), you can proceed with the installation.
–
Eric Browning
Systems Administrator

Unlock Your Mail

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Dennis
on March 12, 2008
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I got a call from a client yesterday who was staring at this message from his Mac’s Mail program:

Mail cannot access your mailboxes because they are locked

Your mailboxes may be in use by another computer using the same
network home folder, quit mail on the other computer or try again later.

Quit or Try again.

While he was on the line, I did a quick google search and found this link, where the solution was

1. Close the error message and Quit Mail
2. Open your Home Directory
3. Open your Library folder
4. Open your Mail folder
5. Select the file “Envelope Index” and if it there “Envelope Index-journal” and drag it to the trash
6. Open Mail
7. Apple Mail will ask if you would like to import messages say “Yes”

These steps worked instantly, and after a few minutes of Mail importing his messages, he was back in business. He hadn’t lost a thing.

His Mac was running 10.4 and he was using a Network Home Directory (NHD) Sometimes an NHD is called a Portable Home Directory (PHD) if it is used by a portable computer, like an iBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro.

OSXhelp.com — Another great site for Mac newcomers

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Dennis
on February 4, 2008
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I found another website designed to help orient people new to the Macintosh platform, OSXhelp.com this morning, and wanted to share it with you.

Many people who have been around Macs for a while tend to scoff at these kinds of sites, but I like them. Much like going to my local User Group meeting, these sites always provide a nugget of timely, practical advice. If nothing else, they give me a chance to hear how other people describe things, a critical function of my day-to-day business.

Check out OSXhelp.com and see what you can learn.

Mail-in service

Published
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Dennis
on February 1, 2008
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One of my regular customers, Roger, splits the year by living both here in Rochester and also in Colorado Springs. Roger called me a few weeks ago with some computer trouble. “The local computer shop says it will take three weeks to take a look at my iBook.” I was shocked. I was also over 1600 miles away. After unsuccessfully attempting some quick-fixes over the phone, he asked “It’s a laptop, can I just mail it to you?”

“Um, well, sure! Why not!”

Two days later my wife signed for the FedEx package containing his iBook and backup drives, and I got to work.

Needless to say, I revived his iBook, and because he had excellent backups, I was able to restore all of the items he cared about. I packed everything back up and sent it back west, and I didn’t take three weeks to get to it.

Mailing a laptop via FedEx isn’t cheap, but I figure I must be doing *something* right if Roger is willing to accept that expense to get great service fast.

Screen appears blurry and moves back and forth

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Dennis
on January 16, 2008
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Mary writes:

Hi Dennis, question for you. On my email, the print appears blurry and also my page moves back and forth. This does not happen on [my daughter's accounts on this same Mac] and was wondering if there is some way to fix this.

Thanks (I know I need glasses, but this definitely is not that)

Mary

I gave Mary a call and found out that by “page” she meant her entire screen’s image on her MacBook, not any particular window. She also elaborated to say that other text looks blurry too, not just in Mail.

And with that, I knew precisely what was going on.

Mary had inadvertently turned on “Screen Zooming”, a feature that Apple includes to help people read the screen more easily. Screen Zooming enlarges everything that is seen on the screen, cropping off the edges. At the same time, it (slightly) blurs the image.

It’s easy to trigger Zooming by mistake, especially if you’re a frequent user of word-processing applications like Microsoft Word. That’s because Screen Zooming is enabled by typing command+option+8, while the bullet character, •, is enabled by tying option+8.

I directed Mary to the Apple Menu (upper left corner of the screen), then to System Preferences. Once inside System Preferences, she clicked on ‘Universal Access’, then in the ‘Zoom’ section, she clicked the ‘Off’ radio button.

Immediately, her screen returned to a crisp image and her wiggle-issues went away.

Universal Access
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What application should I use to manage a mailing list from my Mac?

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Dennis
on December 27, 2007
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There’s a really great app for mailing-list-management out there called MaxBulk Mailer that I use to send out periodical mailings to my clients. I keep them informed about current promotions, share tips about fabulous products, and provide examples of how I’ve helped other clients recently. At $60, it’s definitely not free, but it’s a truly useful app to have.

GMail’s Spam Filter: 1400 Messages Blocked in 30 Days

Published
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Dennis
on October 23, 2007
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Sometimes, you have to be reminded just how good your life actually is.

A bit of background: about a year ago, I created a GMail account to act as a central repository for all of my other email addresses. Google would poll all of my other accounts, grab the email, and store it. Then, my Mac would go and get the messages from Google. If I happen to venture away from my Mac, my email is stored on Google’s website, and I can see it whenever I want. As an added bonus, GMail automatically scans all those incoming messages for spam. The flagged messages head directly for the ‘Spam’ folder, never to be seen by me. Any spam message older than 30 days is automatically deleted.

Back to our story: Today I logged in and saw that GMail had filtered over 1400 messages as spam in the past 30 days. If I were deleting messages manually at one message per second, It would take me 23 straight minutes — every month — to remove them. That’s over four hours per year of nothing but “delete, delete, delete”.

Incredible.

GMail has saved me over four hours in the past year that I can use any way I want. Today I used some of that time to write this post. What would you do with an extra 20 minutes a month?

If you’re ready to find out, make contact with me. I can get you set up with great spam filtering and automatic mail backups.

Mac OS X 10.5, Continuous Improvement

Published
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Dennis
on October 17, 2007
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Apple has published their list of 300 new features in Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard”. I found it interesting that they have actually categorized the new features. The biggest number appear in iChat (24!) with other strong contenders in Mail (15) and Preview (14) their new built-in backup system ‘Time Machine’ (11).

One of the features I’m most interested in is creating a to-do list in Mail. Apple describes it thusly: “Create to-do items directly from email messages or notes in Mail. Simply highlight text in an email, then click the To Do button to create a to-do from a message.” Seems like a good idea that will dovetail nicely with my ‘lose the paper’ progression.

Now there will be several features that won’t make a lick of difference in my day-to-day life, (Virtual Braile display, I’m looking at you.) but will still be useful to someone out there.

The bad news for me is that I’ll finally have to retire Ol’ Blue, the G4 tower that I’ve used for years and years. It doesn’t have the horsepower needed to make Leopard purr. The upside, of course, is now I can start looking at a new Mac.

Hello from the iPod Touch

Published
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Dennis
on October 10, 2007
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Thanks to the miracle of Wi-Fi, I’m writing this post from the iPod touch at this month’s CIDER meeting. I would not like to use this keyboard to do any serious writing, but it’s perfect for casual typing or text messaging. Nice job, Apple.

Mailbag: Network Cables Need Protection From the Sun

Published
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Dennis
on October 4, 2007
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Faithful reader Chuck writes:

Dennis, I’ve determined I need a 70-foot ethernet cable. It will also be running “outside the building.” What would you suggest here? (Inside is impossible; so we’re going to sort of trail along with the coax on the outside.) And where might I obtain such an item?

Thanks!

Chuck

Thanks for writing, Chuck!

When it comes to wiring your home or office, there are some times when you just *have* to go outside. The problem is that outside is a very inhospitable climate for your average network cable. The vinyl jacket of your garden-variety network cable breaks down in sunlight, eventually becoming thin an brittle. The drastic temperature changes throughout the year cause trouble too. Luckily, there’s a product built just for this situation.

What you want is a “UV Shielded” cable with a special plastic coating. After a bit of digging, I found Cat5eCableGuy.com wich has small (100 ft) increments of Outdoor Cat5e cable for less than $25. Good deal. Item “3A” on that page would be my choice.

If the cable will be running anywhere near power lines or electric motors, I recommend getting “Plenum” cabling, which will have a thin layer of foil surrounding the 4 twisted pairs of wiring. The shielding helps to protect against interference.

Finally, if you’re going to simply ‘zip tie’ the network cable outdoors to the existing cable TV line, make sure to use “UV Rated” zip ties. I found a 100-pack for $3.20 available at Monoprice.com.