A few questions

In no particular order...

1. When a dialog box comes up, and OK is highlighted and I want to cancel instead, how do I do that without using the mouse?

2. Any AIM users recommend a better program besides iChat? Preferably with tabbed chat windows.

3. How do I view hidden files? I have a 1GB usb drive and it says 700mb is being used but I don't see any files in it in Finder.

4. Do I need StuffIt expander to expand .sitx files or does Mac have its own built-in software? Also, how do I get rid of the MagicMenu?


Thanks...I'll add more once I can think of them

1. if there is a blue ring around the cancel box then you can hit the space bar to select it

2. I use iChat because I don't need tabbed windows. However, Adium seems to be a popular chat app amongst the members here. I believe it has tabbed chats, perhaps someone can provide a confirmation

3. You can enable hidden files through terminal but you may just need to empty the trash. I believe if you delete things off the usb drives and don't empty the trash they aren't completely deleted. Give that a try, you may get the space back.

4. I believe you do need StuffIt to expand .sitx Regular .zip can be expanded without it but I think you need StuffIt for .stix

Welcome to the forums! michaelstumpf did a good job of answering your questions so far.

blackmacbook said:

Thanks...I'll add more once I can think of them

Click to expand...

All of the questions you asked in your first post are some fairly common ones from new Mac owners and have been answered on here already in the past. If you use the forum's search feature, you can save yourself the time and hassle of posting. You also don't have to wait for a reply that way.
Give it a shot if you come up with any more questions. Of course if you can't find your answers via a forum search, feel free to post your question in the appropriate forum.
:black:
Enjoy your new Mac!

D3v1L80Y's advice is good advice.

Onto your 3rd question though as I've done it myself. I usually drag and drop the files from my Compact Flash card into the trash and assume they are off the CF card, however they aren't. After that do a "secure empty" of the trash with your card/drive still connected and it'll clear it up.

I'm assuming your files are already emptied (when the drive wasn't connected) so you might have to format the drive.

Cujo said:

I'm assuming your files are already emptied (when the drive wasn't connected) so you might have to format the drive.

Click to expand...

That seems counterintuitive don't you think?

michaelstumpf said:

1. if there is a blue ring around the cancel box then you can hit the space bar to select it

Click to expand...

Nevermind, you were right. Thanks!

blackmacbook said:

That seems counterintuitive don't you think?

Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm not sure if there's another way but that is possibly the problem.

I noticed it with my 1 GB CF card when taking pictures, I removed all the pics from the card and went to the shoot. I had about half the space as normal and was confused. Scrolled through the card to see if anything was on it and nothing appeared. When you delete something in Mac OSX it's not really deleted, the 1's and 0's it occupies are just "marked" for over write when the space is needed. If you "secure delete" the files however they are wiped with 0's freeing up the space.

Even though you removed the files from the USB Drive (or CF card in my case) they weren't removed until I did the secure delete through the OS with my card still attached to the card reader (attached to my system). Because the files were no longer in the trash and I no longer had the option of "secure delete" when I reconnected the card (a couple of days later). The easiest was of freeing up the space was formatting my CF card.

What's the keyboard shortcut to access Activity Monitor?

blackmacbook said:

What's the keyboard shortcut to access Activity Monitor?

Click to expand...

in the Finder press Command+U to launch Utilities, then Activity Monitor is right at the top of the list.

Pulse-8 said:

in the Finder press Command+U to launch Utilities, then Activity Monitor is right at the top of the list.

Click to expand...

Thanks, to clarify for others, it's actually Shift+Command+U :black:

Quickest way to launch apps is Quicksilver

definately try AdiumX. i have fallen in love with this program and probably my most used. it is like AIM but much better and more stable. on my macbook, aim would always crash, so i was looking for a better alternative and came up with Adium. since then i have not had it crash once.