The Mac Admin's Blog

Whenever you launch VPN with multiple connection entries, you have to select the one of your choice every time when you try to login. There is an option where, using VPN you can set up default connection entry so that you don’t have to bother about selecting it every time when you login to VPN. This change in your VPN setting is surely going to increase your productivity.  Click on the option ‘Set as Default Connection Entry’

While writing Email if you want to compose it in colorful format, you can try following those steps: Go to ‘Entourage’ menu and select ‘Preferences’ On the left column select ‘Compose’ and it will bring the ‘General’ window Change to HTML/Plain text from the option Mail format.

There are multiple issue that can be fixed just by removing the cache We all are aware of the fact that majority of Mac apps run from a cache. If this cache gets corrupted and isn’t updated it can produce many unexpected errors. If this happens you can delete the cache and then re-launch the application. To delete the cache relating to a program go to /Users/[name]/Library/Caches , find the folder relating to the application and delete it. Make sure the app you want to solve is closed before hand. When you restart the app it should have cleared any problems. Some cache files may also be stored in /Library/Caches , of any hard drive, though you might see such cases once a while. If deleting the app results in any adverse effects (it shouldn’t do), simply close the program and move the cache files back from the Trash into there original location.

The company has released a firmware update for their 27-inch iMacs which is an update for the display hardware itself, which is going to resolved display problems on the new machines. By this update they have reduced blank displays, yellow-tinted LCD colors and display flickering. So far there are more of positive feedbacks on this launch. Despite these instances, for others the update has worked as expected. In the knowledgebase about the update, Apple suggests if you continue to experience display flickering issues after the firmware update has been applied, you should check to ensure you have applied the previously released "27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0," which updated the graphics cards on the new systems. So it seems this is a sequel of the old release. Since these updates and the problems they address have to do with firmware, you might try resetting the system's PRAM and SMC after you have applied the update. Doing this should reset firmware

In the scenario where you are able to receive mails but unable to send it because the Send button is grayed out or is completely inactive. Try those steps out, this has worked many of my home users. Launch Mail. Go to the Mail menu & choose Preferences . Click on Accounts in the Preferences window.  Open the Account Information pane. Here could be the first reason, that the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" pop-up menu could be set to "None". Change it and select your server from the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" pop-up menu. These steps should work, so run a test & see if you are able to send the mails. If this did not work then the problem should be in the settings of your SMTP server. Go to the Mail menu & choose Preferences once again.  Click on Accounts in the Preferences window & select your account from the left side. Click the Account Information pane. Here in the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" pop-up

One of the fact of life is we keep losing and getting things. If unfortunately you ever miss your iPhone somewhere you can lock it using your MobileMe account. This is one of the safest investment that you can make. Just to remind you about MobileMe , this is not just a security application, but it is perfect combination of office and personal tools. It has push Email, push contact, push calendar and inbuilt photo Gallery for iPhone and iPod touch. Also, it has many more features, visit Apple official website for more information. Lock your iPhone remotely Once you realize you haven’t simply misplaced your iPhone at home under a pile of laundry, you may want to protect its contents until your iPhone is safely back in your hands. Just sign in to your MobileMe account and remotely set a four-digit passcode lock to prevent people from using your iPhone, accessing your personal information, or tampering with your settings.

Here are some applications that might increase value in your work. Get a trial version and see if you like it. Most of them are for official purpose.   Slices Slices is an application that allows you to split and combine files. With Slices you can email large documents, as well as fit very large files onto CDs, memory sticks and other writable media. And, like SlidePad, Slices is free! Learn more | Download SlidePad SlidePad is a powerful, convenient note-taking application that allows you to unobtrusively take notes without ever leaving your keyboard. And SlidePad is free! Learn more | Download Parachute This is a versatile, powerful backup tool that allows you make automated backups of your files. With Parachute you can select files individually, set your own schedule and backup to both local disks and remote servers. Learn more | Download | Buy Now Renamer Renamer gives you to option to rename and number many files at once. If you've

  MySQL is a popular, free database server with dozens of books to teach you the ropes. In the past you had to install MySQL with the Macintosh Unix command line interface but more recent versions can be up and running in minutes. Download the MySQL package installation. MySQL is in varying stages of development, including alpha and beta releases, so make sure you download the most stable version for your Mac. Make sure to select the download for your platform (Intel or PowerPC) and version of OS X. Double click on the DMG file. A disk image will mount on your desktop. If you download a TAR compressed file (which contains files and folders), you downloaded the wrong installer. Run both the MySQL installer and the MtSQLStartupitem PKG files. You may have to enter your administrative password. Select your internal drive as the destination disk. Drag the file MySQL.prefPane to your user library folder. It should be placed in the subfolder "Preference Panes." O

  If you want to share your party video with your friend and have only one copy of the DVD then this guide will help you to create an image file and then you can burn as many DVD you want later on. Insert the DVD that you have in the Macintosh CD/DVD drive. The CD/DVD tray does not eject like it would in a PC. When you see the Finder, click on Utilities . Choose the Disc utilities choice on the menu. Click on the DVD to select it. Click New and then from whatever the DVD was named in the previous step. Choose that from the file menu at the top of your screen. Enter the new file name from the master DVD. Make it something easy to remember for your new DVD on the Macintosh. Click the burn image in the disk utility screen. Watch the dialog box on the screen to see your DVD burning progress. Insert a blank DVD when prompted during this process. Now click the Burn button to complete the burning process for your DVD. Once you have created the image an

This could happen after creating a new Keychain This generally happens when you are in a network and the password is changed by an admin or helpdesk remotely using the server or AD. This scenario arises when your domain password is expired and you cannot do it yourself and you call your helpdesk to do it for you. Once you set a new Keychain on your Mac, you might not get the old saved passwords. If this happens all you have to do is, go to saved preferences files and find the new keychain.plist fiile and move it to the desktop and the old file which is now renamed as oldkeychain.plist should be renamed as keychain.plist. Just those two simple steps will surely bring all your old passwords in the Keychain database that will use your new passwords.