files

FileVault requires Recovery HD partition in OS X

FileVault, in OS X Lion and later, is part of a volume management technology called CoreStorage, which includes a full-disk encryption option that functions underneath the operating system, allowing it to be transparent to the operating system's functions and encrypt all data on the drive. This is a convenient way to secure OS X, but in order to work, it does need to have an unencrypted section of the drive that it uses to store the encryption keys for unlocking the drive.

Any drive encrypted with FileVault will have a small hidden partition that contains these keys, and for … Read more

Address document-handling frustrations in OS X

When using current programs on your Mac to manage files generated from an older system, you may run into some errors in which the libraries and services used in the current program cannot properly interpret details of the files. This usually results in a formatting issue similar to a missing font, but it can also result in crashes or hangs.

Recently MacFixIt reader John wrote in regarding such an issue:

I have been trying to work with some PowerPoint presentations in Keynote in order to covert them to a Keynote presentation. I keep receiving an error that PICTD has quit. … Read more

Convert files -- five of them, anyway -- with DeskPDF Pro

There are any number of utilities out there that can quickly and easily convert a variety of file formats into PDFs, so there's no reason to settle for one that doesn't quite meet your needs. DeskPDF Pro combines an efficient drag-and-drop interface with some useful features, but the limitations of the trial version are significant, and there are free programs with many of the same features.

Once installed, DeskPDF Pro appears as an icon in the Windows system tray; clicking it brings up a small interface onto which users can drag files for conversion. This launches a window … Read more

Is Spotify unfair to musicians?

Is $10, or the price of a few Starbucks lattes, really too much to pay for an album? Is $10 really too much to support musicians well enough they'll want to record more music? I still play LPs I bought when I was a teenager, and I can't think of anything else I still use from that part of my life. Those records are, if anything, more valuable to me now then they were then. I'm old enough to remember when record companies were freaking out about kids making cassette copies of albums, but producer and engineer … Read more

Apple: Jury foreman comments were 'balanced, not biased'

Weeks after Samsung filed paperwork requesting a new trial over objections with a particular juror, a big damages tally, and patent issues, Apple has filed its response.

As you'd imagine, the iPhone and iPad maker, which was awarded $1.05 billion by a San Jose jury as part of a sweeping legal win in August, isn't into a re-do.

In a 30-page filing tonight, the company attacked each of the claims made in Samsung's October 2 filing, saying the South Korean electronics giant "fails to meet the high bar to obtain judgment or new trial on … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions on hiding specific file types in the Finder, managing a program opening numerous documents when launched, dealing with "file in use" warnings in the Finder, resetting a Mac to factory default settings, and concerns about memory leaks in Apple's Dashboard feature. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Hiding files of a specific type in the Finder MacFixIt … Read more

Synch files across multiple machines easily and concurrently

Dropbox for Mac is a Web-based storage location that syncs with specified files or folders on your Mac, allowing you to access them from anywhere. If you have two or more machines using the same Dropbox, changes to a Dropbox-tagged file will be synced on the other devices. Working across Mac, Linux, and Windows, Dropbox for Mac lets you access files even when miles away from your main machine (and even when its off).

To use Dropbox for Mac you need an account, although setting one up is easy. A free account is available that lets you sync 2GB. The … Read more

MegaUpload rises from the dead as Mega

MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom has proven to be unstoppable. After the U.S. government's major takedown of the cloud-storage service, which came with charges of racketeering, copyright infringement, money laundering, and more, DotCom has escaped extradition to the U.S. for now and was given a formal apology by New Zealand's prime minister.

Emboldened, DotCom has announced that he is building a new file-sharing site called Mega. According to Wired, this new site will work slightly different than MegaUpload but will still let users upload, store, and share data files. DotCom also intends to make it raid-proof.

"… Read more

Pirate Bay ditches servers and switches to the cloud

In the midst of threats of a possible police raid, the Pirate Bay decided to armor itself and become literally raid-proof. It's ditched its servers and moved to several cloud-hosting providers in different countries around the world.

"Slowly and steadily we are getting rid of our earthly form and ascending into the next stage, the cloud," the Pirate Bay wrote in a blog post. "Our data flows around in thousands of clouds, in deeply encrypted forms, ready to be used when necessary. Earth bound nodes that transform the data are as deeply encrypted and reboot into … Read more

Handle RAR files on the Mac with RAR Expander for Mac

RAR Expander for Mac is a utility to create and uncompress files in RAR archives. Supposedly fully compatible with WinRAR, RAR Expander for Mac is a clean, simple app that installs in a few seconds and works flawlessly in the testing we did. Notably, RAR Expander for Mac also supports AppleScript, so you can create shell utilities to handle packing and unpacking RAR files in a larger environment.

RAR Expander for Mac works with both single and multi-part RAR archives. It also supports password-protected RAR files. To use RAR Expander for Mac you can either open the app and provide … Read more