MacFixIt

An ongoing issue for some people who have installed Mountain Lion is the inability to access their systems' internal optical drives. Once installed, inserting a disc results in a couple of noises before the disc is ejected. While this can sometimes happen for burned discs that are no longer readable, it appears to happen for all discs, be they home-burned or commercial.

If this is happening on your system, first try testing the problem with multiple operating systems to see if the problem is hardware or software based. If your system came with gray boot discs, try inserting them and … Read more

Apple's Preview program is the default PDF viewer in OS X, and has a number of options for annotating and otherwise managing PDF files. One of its features is support for Quartz filters, which can be applied to PDFs and image files to convert them, for example into sepia, black-and-white, or gray scale. A Quartz filter can be used to reduce the PDF's file size, but while it's effective at doing so, you may find images in the resulting PDF too grainy to use.

These compression routines are done by adjusting the embedded image quality of the … Read more

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

This week, readers wrote in with questions on the locations of the various libraries in OS X, the options for using an old internal hard drive from a MacBook as an external hard drive, and the options for managing Wi-Fi networks that span greater distances than their radios can cover.

I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: The location of various libraries in OS X MacFixIt reader &… Read more

When Apple releases Mac firmware updates, the system undergoes a special installation procedure in which it shows a progress bar on a gray screen and then reboots. If you have an update available but do not see the progress bar when applying it, it may not have installed properly. As such, you may see the update still showing in Apple's Software Update service.

There are some special requirements for handling firmware updates as opposed to standard software updates, and if they are not met, the system may fail to install the update.

The first requirement is to ensure that … Read more

Though OS X offers great multitasking features, having multiple windows open in multiple applications can sometimes hinder concentration. If you don't want to put the application you're mainly working with in full-screen mode, there are other options.

For example, you can minimize windows to the OS X Dock, but this has its limitations, including filling the Dock so it expands across your screen. Additionally, it requires you to click and expand the window from the Dock to preview its contents, which results in the documents being reordered in the Dock when you minimize it again.

If you're … Read more

F-secure is reporting on new malware found for OS X, which appears to be a backdoor application that so far is known to take screenshots of the user's computer and then attempt to upload them to remote servers. The malware is being called OSX/KitM.A.

It's a small application called macs.app and was found on the Mac of an African activist who was a member of of the Oslo Freedom Forum. When installed, the application is appended to the current Mac user's log-in items so it runs whenever the affected user account is logged in. … Read more

OS X is localized to a number of languages, and with a few settings changes, you can set the OS interface -- as well as many programs -- to display in a different language. This is handy for multilingual types, but if you have inadvertently changed it to a language you do not understand, you might find it quite difficult to revert.

Fortunately, while the languages change, the layout still stays essentially the same. To switch back to your preferred language, you will need to follow these steps:

First go to the system preferences by opening the Apple menu and … Read more

Since its move to online purchasing and distribution of its operating system software, Apple has no longer included gray recovery DVDs with its Mac systems. Instead, if you wish to reinstall OS X you simply reboot to the OS X Recovery HD and use the tools there to format your hard drive (should you choose to), then run the installer to download OS X from Apple's servers.

While convenient for those with fast broadband connections, sometimes you may find yourself in a location without fast Internet and would benefit from having a way to reinstall OS X from scratch. … Read more

The OS X Finder sidebar and Dock are convenient locations for favorite folders, documents, applications, and locations, and in addition the Dock offers a convenient place for minimized windows, as well as the Trash. For new user accounts Apple puts a default set of items in the Dock and Finder sidebar, but these can be customized.

The standard and perhaps intuitive method of adding items to these locations is to drag them there; however, it's not foolproof. If you inadvertently release your mouse before the cursor has reached the Dock or sidebar, then you chance copying or moving the … Read more