Quick Scan
Just Plug in most new external drives and look for it on your Desktop.
Put your iTunes Library in the Shared folder and tell iTunes where it is.
You may need to replace the Firefox prefs file or repair permissions.
Using an External Drives, Sharing iTunes on One Mac and Fixing Firefox
Categories: My First Mac Q&A
Welcome to My First Mac's Q&A column. It is said that Macs are easier to use, but they are still complex in their own right. Here are a few questions we have received lately from readers like you. Sometimes we reformat the questions for clarity and presentation.
This week Chuck answers your questions about using an external drive, sharing an iTunes library and fixing Firefox.
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How do I use an external hard drive with my Mac? |
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I am known for oversimplifying, but essentially you just plug it in and connect it to your Mac. Nearly any new hard drive will work with your Mac. Once you plug it in, the drive will appear on your desktop and in your sidebar in Finder windows. If it doesn't, you'll need to check for it in Disk Utility and perhaps reformat it. If you are running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), it will ask you if you'd like to use the drive for automatic backups using Time Machine. Be sure that you have the proper port as most newer Macs no longer have a Firewire 400 port although Pro Macs have a Firewire 800 port which is the fastest type. All Macs made within the last 5 years have a USB 2 port. |
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How do I share one iTunes library across multiple accounts on my Mac? |
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There are a number of ways to accomplish this. I'll share with you how I have mine setup across the 4 accounts in my family. First, locate your iTunes library folder in a place where all users have access. This can either be at the root directory or in the "Shared" folder within the "Users" folder. In iTunes, be sure that this directory is selected in the advanced preferences setting. I would also recommend that the "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to Library" options are checked. In your other user accounts, hold down the "option" key on your keyboard and start iTunes. A dialog box will appear asking to either create or choose a library. Choose the iTunes library in the shared folder and you're good to go. |
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A few days ago my Firefox quit working. When I click on the Firefox Icon in the doc to get on line, all it does is bounce and quit, but will not open up and get me on to the net. Help! | |
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It sounds to me that something is corrupt. Many times it is simply a problem with the preferences file. Go into your preferences folder and trash Firefox's preference file (yourusername\Library\Preferences\org.mozilla.firefox.plist). Now try to start Firefox. If that doesn't work, try repairing permissions. Open Disk Utility (Applications\Utilities\Disk Utility), click on your hard drive, and click "Repair Permissions". If that doesn't work, you may need to download and reinstall Firefox. Good luck! |
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You can send in your questions via the Contact page or email us at editor[AT]myfirstmac[DOT]com. Because of the volume of email we receive, we can't reply to each and every question personally. We read each question that comes in and reply to the ones that fit the scope of this column. We also save some questions for future columns.
If you need your specific question answered right away, try asking it in the Comments section of a related article or in the MFM Forums.