New to the Mac scene, help me out!

Well, got my MacBook Pro i7 in August to use for graphic design/3D animation (my bachelor's program) and I love this thing! I'm sure I don't have it all down 100% yet but that's why I figured I'd join up and get some tips and tricks down.

First thing, is there anything I should worry about security wise? Any programs I can use to keep my system clutter free? Akin to defragging or cleaning out the registry on a PC? Just don't want this baby getting cluttered up and slow, thus far it's been phenomenally responsive and my favorite feature on this thing is easily the multi-touch trackpad, the newest iteration is AMAZING. I used my girlfriend's new HP (lol) notebook today and I tried clicking in the middle of her trackpad... lol.

Another thing, this is more of a hiccup, but my system seems to have issues playing Netflix streams in full screen mode, any ideas why?

Thanks!

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Download Onyx and run the cleaning and maintenance programs on say a monthly basis.

Can't help with Netflix - do not have it down under.


http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/onyx.html

Well, I watched a Netflix movie in fullscreen just now (only for 2 minutes to test it out) and no problems. And I have a lesser spec MBP than you do.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's either your internet connection, your router signal strength, or everyone is trying to watch the same movie as you at the same time.

Thanks guys! I'll keep trying with Netflix, right now I have Maintenance installed... is Onyx any better or am I okay with Maintenance?

Thanks again!

Maintenance = simplifed version of OnyX, made by the same people. You're good to go.

I address security in my this essay for new Mac switchers. Basically, all you need is a little bit of ethics and common sense. No anti-virus or anti-malware "protection" is really needed IMHO beyond a functioning brain.

As for Netflix, I don't use it but RAM may play a role in that. You might also make sure nothing else is running at the time -- maybe a background program is stealing resources (or RAM) that you're not aware of. I find that most PC switchers are unaware that they're leaving programs open, because most Mac apps don't actually QUIT when press the CLOSE button (it just closes the active window -- which is actually more logical, but confusing to Win people). Bottom line: make sure all your other apps (apart from Finder, which is supposed to stay open and can't easily be quit) are actually quit and perhaps that will take care of the issue.

Have fun!

That's true, chas. I can always tell when a Windows user has been using my MBP because all the applications they used are still open.

chas_m said:

...I find that most PC switchers are unaware that they're leaving programs open, because most Mac apps don't actually QUIT when press the CLOSE button (it just closes the active window -- which is actually more logical, but confusing to Win people). Bottom line: make sure all your other apps (apart from Finder, which is supposed to stay open and can't easily be quit) are actually quit and perhaps that will take care of the issue.

Have fun!

Click to expand...

Oneironaut said:

That's true, chas. I can always tell when a Windows user has been using my MBP because all the applications they used are still open.

Click to expand...

Kind of depends I don't use the mouse to "Quit" applications within Windows. I use keyboard commands such as Ctrl + Q or Alt +F4. Keyboard commands are where it's all at. ^-^"

⌘ + Q or Command + Q to quit on OSX. Linky to more key commands.

Oneironaut said:

That's true, chas. I can always tell when a Windows user has been using my MBP because all the applications they used are still open.

Click to expand...

Haha! YES! My wife does that - it drives me crazy!

ME - "Why is Adobe Reader, QuicktimeX, and iTunes still open when there are no active windows open?!"

HER - "Oh, I forgot. Sorry."

liagalli scvo

Thanks guys! Guess I'll stick with Maintenance, it seems to do it's job just fine. And I'm aware that applications don't actually quit out xD it was something I picked up fairly quickly, something my sister (who's had her MacBook since 2008) never picked up on... I recently asked her if hers was slow at all after so long and she said yes, so I installed maintenance without thinking to check the apps, and when it had to quit them all out it took FOREVER!! Needless to say with that out of the way and the maintenance program having taken its course, her MB is now a lot faster!

Chas I read your sticky, that's actually why I went ahead and installed Maintenance to begin with, very good advice!

Thanks for all the input!

Same sort of question- Dirty mac?

My Macbook Pro is slow, sluggish and a total pain. If it was a Windows system I would run a registry clean, delete cookies, check for malware & defrag. Really I would be pretty convinced it had malware. But this beast? I just downloaded "Maintenance" and it keeps crashing.It asks me to relaunch, then crashes again. Earlier I downloaded Xcee and couldn't get it to do anything. Only have Finder & Safari open at present. I've had it for 9 months, and am the only user. Below is part of the error message Help!

Date/Time: 2011-01-05 20:34:48.134 +1000
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: E552455B-E89D-4A89-A6C2-66D3B540EF8B

Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0

Dyld Error Message:
unknown required load command 0x80000022

You need to make sure you downloaded the correct version of Maintenance or Onyx.

Redownload the appropriate one for Leopard here.

Maintenance

First download was Version 1.3.5, but did download again as suggested Bobtomay, but no difference. I dont get this OSx. Was I supposed to tell it to download to some other location? In Finder it shows it sitting in Devices, under my hard drive. Open it from here, no difference, open it from Downloads, - no diffenrence. Should there be an Installer package?

Personally, I would try Onyx. It seems to do a really great job. Or you can just try verifying and/or repairing permissions in Disk Utility, which already is on your Mac.

When you download an application, it gets mounted to your desktop just like an external drive. This .dmg file has all the installation software. Once you go through the install procedure, the program is in your Applications folder and you can "eject" the dmg.

"When you download an application, it gets mounted to your desktop just like an external drive. This .dmg file has all the installation software. Once you go through the install procedure, the program is in your Applications folder and you can "eject" the dmg.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that, I might try Onyx, but am i missing something basic here? The program is downloaded, then what? How does it get installed? I try to open it and it crashes. I dont get to DO any "installing".

I am assuming the problem is probably with the operator. I have had similar issues with a few other programs - but not all.

Update: I downloaded Onyx and have the same problem. Help please????

What exactly are you doing? What are you clicking on when things go wrong?

When you click on the dmg icon on your desktop, it should start the installation process automatically.

Here's how it should work:

1. You click on a download link online which puts a dmg on your desktop.
2. You double click on the dmg and an installer will start, or a folder will open with an icon that you can drag to your Applications folder.
3. The application is now in your Applications folder so you can eject the dmg.
4. Double click on the application in your Applications menu and it should launch.

Where in this process are things going wrong?

To be fair, Oneironaut, not all Mac software has an installer. Very often they expect the user to click-and-drag the application icon from the mounted disk image to the /Applications folder on their own (occasionally, as with Skype and Firefox, some hieroglyphics are seen to instruct users on this).

MOST of the time when I've encountered an application that shows up standalone on the mounted disk image, an alias of the Application folder is included so that I don't have to drag the app very far.

But in short, Cindermegz, if an "installer" doesn't start up, chances are you are supposed to drag the application icon from the mounted disk image into Applications. Once that's done (you'll see a very brief "copying" dialog), you can then trash the mounted disk image and the dmg file, and launch the application from /Applications as you are supposed to.

Still stuck

THanks Oneironaut and Chas_m, I would think i am doing that. Onyx did come up with an icon and an instruction to drag it to the application folder. I do this, then in App folder do the double click. I get a dialogue "you downloaded this from the internet, do you want to open blah" , so I open, then get " the application Maintenance quit unexpectedly", given the option to relaunch, and the circle goes on, nothing is going to make this open or so it seems.

Maintenance didnt have the nice dialogue, nor did it appear on the desktop, it is just make a guess, so from my downloads folder I have dragged it to the desktop, then into the app folder. THen the same nonsense ensues.

Yes I think in Windows but I am sure I have tried every permutation of moving the dmg from the Download folder to the app folder and trying to open from there. Oneironaut this is the first time I have seen that I need to eject the dmg, but that still hasn't made any difference. I think this must be like a masonic handshake that we reluctant Switchers are never going to discover

Right chas, I put that in my post but should have separated it out to be more noticeable.

Cindermegz, you don't move the whole dmg file to the Applications folder. The dmg is temporary. Double click it to open it. Within the dmg will either be an installer or an icon for the application. If it has the icon instead of the installer, you drag the ICON, NOT THE DMG file into your Applications folder. Leave the dmg wherever it is, on the desktop or in your downloads folder. Once the application is installed, eject the dmg.

It's pretty simple, not much different from opening up an exe file in Windows; you don't keep the exe file and open the program from it whenever you need it. You use the exe to install then get rid of it. Same thing with a dmg, it just mounts as an external drive instead of a folder or file.

The problems I can guess at is that you're dragging the dmg itself to your applications folder and trying to open it from there OR the Maintenance dmg is corrupted. Try it with Onyx and see what happens.

You can also open Disk Utility and try to repair permissions and see if that helps. Let us know what happens when you try to install Onyx. Remember, the dmg file does NOT go into your Applications folder. Double click it and see if it has an installer or an icon you can drag to the applications folder.

Still stuck

I moved all copies of Onyx to the trash and downloaded a fresh copy.
I dragged the icon only, into the apps folder.
Double click, a slight delay as the files copied, double click, then the same 2 messages as above. No launch.
Ejected the dmg, still no launch
Used the file, open command, still same 2 messages, no launch.

Went to disk utilities, "Verfiy disk" was the only option available for Onyx. Result : "This disk could not be unmounted"

Thanks for your patience, I'm running out of it rapidly

I think there is a mason hiding in this mac

Just to complete the test, I followed the same procedure with Maintenance and got the same result.
THe DMD was in Downloads folder, dbl click, got an icon, dragged it to apps,
dbl click " You downloaded this from the web, do you want to open it" Open with a single click and it crashes. "This application quit unexpectedly" Do you want to relaunch" and it crashes again.

Where to now????