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Classic MacOS Tips

 08/23/02

This meager file is the start of the Mac Classic tips (for MacOS prior to OSX). There are some very handy items for MacOS novices. Any suggestions to add to this article can be emailed to Dave Peck.

General
Keyboard Shortcuts
CDs
WindowShade
Tabbed Folders
MacOS Help
Important Control Panels
Apple Menu Items
Spring Loaded Folders

General

  • The MacOS is forgiving- You need to keep the contents of application folders together. But you can move those folders anywhere you like on the hard drive and nothing will break.
  • Remove a program- To remove a program, simply navigate to the Applications folder (or where it was installed) and trash it. The Empty Trash command is located under the Special Menu (top menu bar in the finder). Applications may have an Extension or a Control panel. And it will have a Preference file. If it uses an extension or control panel, these were installed when the program was installed. A Preference file is usually created when the program is first run. The Control Panel folder, Extension Folder, and Preference folder, where these items are found, are all located in the System folder. Usually these items are clearly marked. These items can be trashed without consequence to the rest of the Operating System.
  • For former Windows users- The Mac does not have a registry. So the OS can be replaced and most programs will work. If they rely on an extension or control panel, those have to be located in their proper places. This is why I usually keep a copy of all 3rd party extensions and control panels.
  • Norton Utilities- A 3rd party Utility that will fix problems with the hard drive directory and other things. Very important that Norton be run every so often. Norton has a monitor that looks for problems.
  • Chooser- Located under the Apple Menu (pulldown menu finder) Is used for networking and for selecting a printer. To set up printer, it must be plugged into the USB port and turned on.

Keyboard shortcuts: There are bunches of them. Here are a several. The Command key is the Apple key on each end of the Spacebar.

  • Save= Command S
  • Quit= Command Q
  • New Folder= Command N
  • CTRL- Contextual Menu (Hold CTRL button while clicking on an item.)
  • One Window Open At A Time- When digging through folders, if you DC (double click) a folder, a new window will open. If you do this as you dig down through folders within folders, pretty soon a bunch of windows will be open. To avoid this, when opening folders within folders, hold the Option key while DCing a folder- a new window will open (for the folder DC'd on) and the old window will close.
  • Create an Alias- Hold the Option/Apple keys while dragging a folder or item. Items are dragged by moving the cursor on the item, clicking and holding down the mouse button. While holding the mouse button, move the mouse across the screen (drag). Where ever the mouse button is released an alias of the item will be created. An Alias is a pointer that points back to the original item when clicked on. It can be handy to have an alias out on the desktop for a frequently used item. Or better yet place aliases in the Apple Menu. See below!

CDs- Open the CD drive by pressing the button on it. When loaded in the CD drive, the CD’s image mounts on the desktop. Four ways to eject the CD:

  • Select Eject under the Special menu (Finder)
  • Simply drag the CD’s icon to the trash (Nothing bad will happen, it will just be ejected.)
  • Hold CTRL key for contextual menu and click on CD icon. An eject choice will be there.
  • Right click on icon will also pull up contextual menu with eject choice. If you have a two button mouse there is a good change the right button is programed to CTRL click.

WindowShade- The far right box in the title bar of a window, is the windowshade. If you click that the window will collapse, just leaving the title bar visible. Click again and window will reopen. There is also a setting in either in the Finder Prefs or the Appearance Control Panel where if you DC in any part of a window title bar, the window will collapse.

Tabbed Folders- When you DC (double click) a folder, a window opens up representing the contents of that folder. Drag the window to the bottom of screen and it turns into a tab for easy opening. In this way you can keep folders that you open often for quick access. Drag the tab from the bottom of the screen and it turns back into a regular window.

MacOS Help- Use the Help pulldown menu for lots of Mac help. It will guide you through set up of various items. Check out the Assistants folder located in the System folder. If you can't find them, open Sherlock in the Apple Menu and do a search on Assistants.

Important Control Panels (located under the Apple Menu):

  • Appearance CP
  • Keychain Access
  • File Sharing (Mac to Mac)

AppleMenu- The Apple Menu is visible in the far left menu bar of the Finder (Desktop). It’s easy to add things to it for easy access. The Apple Menu Items folder is located in the System Folder. I like to have easy access to all the programs I launch instead of digging through folders looking for them. For this purpose, I created a folder (Command-N) and named it AppLaunch. The actual folder can sit where ever. I placed it in my documents folder.

Note: Why didn't I just drag the folder itself to the Apple Menu Items folder?- In case I ever do a reinstall of the System Software, there is a chance I'll forget about this folder and erase it. Then I would have to setup all those aliases again. This way, I can just go to my documents folder and drag an alias of the AppLaunch folder to the Apple Menu Items folder- alot less work.

I created an alias of this folder by opening the Apple Menu Item folder (located in the System Folder) and then I held the Option/Apple keys and dragged this folder into the Apple Menu Items folder. When I release it, an alias of this folder is created in the Apple Menu Items folder. The App Launch folder can now be seen in the Apple menu. And if you add folders into the AppLaunch folder (named say Utilities or Games), when you click and hold on the App Launch alias in the Apple Menu, the folders inside it will appear nested- very handy for fast navigation.

Whenever I want to add a new program alias to the AppLaunch folder, I simply navigate to the folder where the application is located. Then holding the Option/Apple keys, I drag the application to the AppLaunch folder and release. An alias of this application is created in the AppLaunch folder.

Note: because the AppLaunch alias that appears in the Apple menu points back to the original folder, it's easier to drag your aliases directly to the AppLaunch folder appearing in the Apple menu.

Spring Loaded Folders- When an item is dragged to a folder and the mouse button is kept pressed, after a short delay, the folder will pop open into a window. If the item is now moved onto one of the folders in the new window, it too will pop open. When dragging an item you can navigate down through embedded folders to your destination.

 

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