Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac(R): MacOS X Edition - Softcover

Steinberg, Gene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 007219359X ISBN 13: 9780072193596

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001

Synopsis

Offers tips on routine maintenance, hardware and memory upgrades, performance tuning, Internet connections, multimedia, and related matters.

About this title

Review:

Gene Steinberg understands that the new Macintoshes--like all computers--are systems of hardware and software, and that neither may be separated from the other. Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac: Mac OS X Edition is an intimate picture of modern Mac hardware (the Power Mac, PowerBook, iBook, and iMac platforms) and the points at which it interacts with Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X. As you'd expect, readers learn how to select and install add-in hardware like SuperDrives and supplementary RAM, but the Mac makes those procedures pretty easy by design. The real value in this book comes in two areas.

First, Steinberg answers all kinds of common, but officially unaddressed, questions. Is it absolutely safe to put your laptop through an airport x-ray machine? How does a G4 behave when a SCSI card is malfunctioning at the hardware level? What happens if you try to make an officially unsupported graphics card work? Do third-party processor upgrades work? He explains most of these matters with stories taken from his experience as a longtime Mac user.

Second, the author knows a ton of tricks for working with the Mac OS itself, and is liberal with his recommendations of utilities for diagnosing, repairing, and adjusting its behavior. His thoughts on how to solve problems by reinstalling your operating system without wiping out your installed programs will save you time in all but the gravest situations. You'll find this book particularly valuable if you do upgrade and repair work on unfamiliar Macs. --David Wall

Topics covered: Changing and adjusting hardware on modern Macintosh computers (PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs, Power Mac G4s, and, to a lesser extent, Power Mac G3s). All the key subsystems get attention: monitors, networks, SCSI chains, FireWire peripherals, and hard drives. Special (and especially valuable) coverage of Windows emulators and video capture hardware appears as well.

From the Back Cover:

Minimize downtime and optimize your Mac for reliability and speed. "Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac: Mac OS X Edition is the definitive OS X resource, focused on upgrading, preventive maintenance, and troubleshooting. Loaded with case histories to illustrate common problems and repair solutions, this book covers a wide range of important issues--from survival advice for laptops to organizing SCSI chains to overcoming Ethernet difficulties. Whether you're new to the OS X platform or computing in general, or if you're migrating from an older Mac, this comprehensive volume will help you operate your new system at peak efficiency.

Get Peak Performance from Your Mac!Hook up and deploy your Mac for home or business use--including hardware and peripherals Efficiently run this sophisticated operating system on almost any supported Mac computer Learn the secrets to successfully installing expansion cards and upgrading CPU and RAM Add system enhancements and diagnose system-related conflicts Understand and manage graphic file formats, fonts, and printers Incorporate proven backup techniques and preventative maintenance Upgrade with FireWire and Network cards, Graphics and USB adapter cards, SCSI accelerators, and video capture boards Integrate and optimize system software Configure your modem connection, Web browser, and email account

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 007219359X
• ISBN 13: 9780072193596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 656