Apple has released an update for Mac OS X Leopard Operating System on 5th August. The download of 274 MB boasts of over 300 new features. The tagline for this update is “A new mac for your Mac” It is recommended for all users of Mac OS X Leopard and includes fixes for Operating Systems that will enhance stability, security and compatibility. This update also contains an update for Apple’s browser: Safari. With installation of this update, the version of Safari will change to 4.0.2.
Archive for August 13th, 2009
There are times when we format the hard drive, without realizing that it may be very difficult to install drivers for all the devices. Don’t worry, if you have done that, there is a way to identify the devices from within windows Operating System. Follow the steps below to identify the hardware:
On the Desktop screen, click on “Start” –> “Run“–> Type “devmgmt.msc” and click on “OK“. For Vista, on the quick search window type “devmgmt.msc” and click on it once vista shows the search results.
It will launch “Device Manager” window for you. Here you will see a list of devices with (+) sign next to them. For any device for which a driver is not installed will have a YELLOW exclamation or question next to them.
Locate the device that has the yellow mark and “Right Click on it“
On the pop-up menu, click on “Properties“
On the Properties window, click on the drop down box that says “Device description” and click on “Hardware IDs” on the drop down menu to select it.
You will see something like this when you select this option:
USB\VID_0A5C&PID_2110&REV_0100
USB\VID_0A5&PID_2110
Here, VID/VEN IDs denote Vendors. In this example, the VID is 0A5.
The device id is usually denoted through PID/DEV. Her the device ID is 2110.
7. Once you have these IDs with you, go to pcidatabase and search using Device ID. It will tell you which device is installed on your computer.
“The world’s best Operating System” is the tagline of Apple’s new OS “Snow Leopard”. This is slated for launch in September 2009, almost a month before Microsoft’s Windows 7. But before you plan to move to this OS, please go through requirements for this to work on your machine.
General Requirements
- Intel processor based Mac Computer (Obviously)
- 1GB RAM
- 5GB of free Hard Disk space
- DVD drive for installation. External drive will work.
Feature Specific Requirements
1. Time Machine allows you to backup your data seamlessly. This requires an additional hard drive or a “Time Capsule“.
2. Photo Booth requires an iSight camera, USB Camera or Firewire DV Camcorder
3. Screen Sharing requires a 128KBPS Internet Connection
4. DVD Player requires 1.6Ghz or faster processor
5. 64 Bit Support requires a processor that supports 64 bits
There are many people who are facing an issue in getting their HP printers connected via USB to be detected on Mac OSX. If you are also facing the same issue, follow the steps below:
Disconnect all other USB devices
The Printer should be connected to the Mac directly, not through a USB hub
Click on the “Blue Apple” on the top left corner
Click on “About this Mac”
Now click on “More Info”
Under “Contents” on the left side of this window, click on “USB”
Verify that the Printer is listed under the USB device tree
If you still don’t see the printer, follow the steps below:
Unplug the USB cable, Shut down the printer and then shut down the computer. Wait for 2 minutes before restarting the Mac. This allows Mac to reset the USB addressing
Turn on the Mac, then turn on the Printer and reconnect the USB cable
Run the HP Setup Assistant again
If the problem still persists, launch the HP Setup Assistant and immediately follow the steps below:
Launch Process Viewer [Hard Drive--> Applications-->Utilities-->Process Viewer]
Locate HP Communications in the “Name” list and click on it to highlight it
From the process drop down menu, select “Quit Process”
Close the Process Viewer
In the hard drive, go to Library–>Printers–>HP. Launch HP Communications.app from here
On the HP All-in-one window, click on “Rescan USB”
Google Voice
Aug 13
Google has yet again created a utility that could revolutionalize the cellphone world. This new application is called “Google Voice“. Following are the general features of this application:
1. Call Screening: This allows users to customize the screening for all callers or unknown callers.
2. Listen In: It works like an answering machine. It allows user to listen to the voice mail that the caller is leaving and then chose to take the call.
3. Block Calls: This allows user to customize the callers or unknown numbers to be blocked and provided a standard voicemail message also.
Voicemail Features
1. Notification: Allows you to get an email / sms if anyone leaves a voicemail
2. Listen to Voicemail: Allows you to listen to the voicemail through your cellphone or over internet
3. Personalized greeting: You can customize greetings for different callers.
4. Share Voicemails: You can forward voicemails to anyone.
This is still in Beta phase, as most of the new Google applications. You can register with Google to use this as a beta user since the usage is invitation based only (reminds of how Google started Gmail).
Windows vista has a peculiar issue which surfaces only after you change hardware. It retains information about older hardware even when it does not exist. This could result in a problem in giving a name to your network connection, since it detects an old connection with the same name, but you won’t see anything on the network connections window. To fix this, follow the steps below:
- Launch “Command Prompt” with Administrator rights. To launch this, click on “Start” –> “All Programs“–> ”Accessories” and right click on “Command Prompt”. On the pop up menu, click on “Run as Administrator”
- On the command prompt window, type “SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1“, without the quotes
- It will take you back to the prompt
- Now type “START DEVMGMT.MSC“. This will launch a familiar “Device Manager” screen.
- On Device Manager window, click on “View” and select “View hidden devices“
Now look for network adaptors that you don’t have on your computer and remove them from the list.
Once you delete the required entries and close out of all the windows, you should be able to rename the network connections in Microsoft Windows Vista.
Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature in Windows XP allows users to create backups to be prepared for a complete system crash situation. This helps in rebuilding the system from a scratch.
Microsoft recommends users to create ASR disks regularly to be prepared in case the system fails. This is the last resort after Safe Mode and other troubleshooting steps have failed.
The ASR wizard backs up system state, system services and other components of the Operating System. The restoration through ASR can be accessed by tapping F2 key when prompted.