Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

• Why a Book for Dummies?
• How to Use This Book
• Icons Used in This Book
• How This Book Is Organized
  • Part I: In the Beginning (The Hassle-Free Way to Get Started with System 7.5)
  • Part II: Making It Purr (The Lazy Person’s How-To Guide)
  • Part III: U 2 Can B A Guru
  • Part IV: Beyond the Lunatic Fringe: The Infamous Part of Tens
  • One Last Thing

Part I: In the Beginning (The Hassle-Free Way to Get Started with System 7.5)

Chapter 1: System 7.5 101 (Prerequisites: None)

• What is System Software?
• What Does System Software Do?
• A Safety Net for the Absolute Beginner – or Any User
• What You Should See after Turning the Power On
• What’s Happening Here? (The Startup Process Revealed)
  • You’re not a failure
  • Question Mark and the Mysterions
  • The ultimate startup disk
  • Now what?
  • Anyone Can Install System 7.5
  • Installing from floppies
  • Installing from the CD
  • Goodies on the CD
• Back Up Now or Regret It Later
  • Backing up is (not) hard to do
  • Why you should probably make two sets of back up disks

Chapter 2: Meet the Desktop

• I Think ICON, I Think ICON
  • The look you want to know better
  • Open sesame
  • The name game
  • Other various and sundry icons
• Windows (Definitely Not the Microsoft Kind)
  • Doin’ windows
  • Zooming right alongÉ
  • Cutting windows down to size
  • A scroll new world
  • Transportable windows
  • Ladies and gentlemen, activate your windows
  • .Shut yo’ windows
  • The remarkable WindowShade effect
  • Congrats: you now do windows
• Disk Could Be the Start of a Beautiful Friendship
  • Initialization and erasure
  • Surprise: PC disks work as well!
  • Getting disks out of your Mac
• Up the Organization: Copying and Moving Files and Folders
  • Know when to hold `er, know when to folder
  • Meet the Desktop

Chapter 3: A Bevy of Delectable Menus

• Menu Basics
  • Command performance
  • It’s elliptical
  • Dialog box featurettes
• File Management and More: Meet the File Menu
  • New Folder (Command-N)
  • Open (Command-O)
  • Print (Command-P)
  • Close Window (Command-W)
  • Get Info (Command-I)
  • Sharing (sorry, it has no keyboard shortcut)
  • Duplicate (Command-D)
  • Make Alias (Command-M)
  • Put Away (Command-Y)
  • Find (Command-F)
  • Find Again (Command-G)
  • Page Setup (no keyboard shortcut)
  • Print (no keyboard shortcut)
• The Edit Menu (Which Shoulda Been Called the Clipboard Menu)
  • Undo (Command-Z)
  • Cut (Command-X)
  • Show Clipboard (no keyboard shortcut)
  • Copy (Command-C)
  • Paste (Command-V)
  • Clear (no keyboard shortcut)
  • Select All (Command-A)
• A View from a Window: The View Menu
  • by Icon
  • by Small Icon
  • The list views
  • Another way to switch between list views
  • The triangles
• Don’t Label Me: Introducing The (Near-Worthless) Label Menu
• Something Special in the Menu Bar: The Special Menu
  • Clean Up
  • Empty Trash
  • Eject Disk and Erase Disk
  • I’m at and Unlock Key Chain
  • Restart
  • Shut Down
• Not Just a Beatle Movie: Help and the Help Menu
  • About Help (no keyboard shortcut)
  • Show Balloons (no keyboard shortcut)
  • Macintosh Guide (Command-?)
  • Shortcuts (no keyboard shortcut)
  • PowerTalk Guide (no keyboard shortcut)
• Apply Yourself: The Application Menu

Chapter 4: Polishing the Apple (Menu)

• About This Macintosh (Yours)
• From the Desk (Accessories) ofÉ
  • Sounds good to me: AppleCD Audio Player
  • A calculated risk: Calculator
  • Be choosy: use the Chooser
  • Finder of lost files: Find File (again)
  • Better than the old puzzle, it’s Jigsaw Puzzle
  • The key to your fonts: Key Caps
  • The key to your PowerTalk chain: Key Chain
  • Take note of the Note Pad
  • Not scrappy at all: the Scrapbook
  • Don’t get stuck: use Stickies
  • Another way to shut down
• Those Interestingly Named Folders in the Apple Menu
  • The Control Panels folder
  • Mail & Catalogs
  • Recent Applications, Recent Documents, and Recent Servers
  • Automated Tasks
  • Roll Your Own: Customizing Your Apple Menu
  • Doing the right thing with your desk accessories
  • Placing applications in the Apple menu
• My Deep, Dark Secret

Chapter 5: Save Yourself Heartache: Master the Save and Open Dialog Boxes

• Nested Folders and Paths (It’s Not as Bad as It Sounds)
• Save Your Document Before It’s Too Late
  • The rest of what you should know about Save dialog boxes
  • The buttons
• It Looks Like Save, It Acts Like Save, So Why Is It Called Save As?
• Open (Sesame)
  • Using the Open dialog box
  • A really big show – Show Preview
  • Weird folder names

Part II: Making It Purr (The Lazy Person’s How-To Guide)

Chapter 6: The New Features: 50 Ways to Love Your System

• An Overview with a Point of View
• Getting Some Help
  • Macintosh Guide: the best of help
  • Macintosh Guide: the last word
• Do It Automatically
  • Write that zillion-dollar script with AppleScript and the new scriptable Finder
  • AppleScript: the last word
• Ye Shall Be Productive and Customize
  • What a drag it is getting dropped
  • Apple Menu options
  • Finder hiding
  • Default Document folder
  • System and Application folder locking
  • WindowShade
  • Stickies
  • Extensions Manager
  • And more…
  • Productivity enhancements: the last word
• You, Me, MacTCP, PC, and DOS Compatibility
  • Macintosh PC Exchange/Macintosh Easy Open
  • Macintosh PC Exchange/Macintosh Easy Open: the last word
  • MacTCP
  • MacTCP: the last word
• On the Road Again: Mobile Computing Improves
  • PowerBook utilities and enhancements
  • PowerBook utilities and enhancements: the last word
• Brave New World: Advanced Graphics and Printing
  • QuickDraw GX
  • QuickDraw GX: the last word
• Doin’ It Together: Collaborative Technologies
  • PowerTalk
  • Telephone Manager
  • Collaborative Technologies: the last word
• The Last Word
  • QuickTime
  • QuickTime: the last word
• The Last Word, Really

Chapter 7: File Management Made Simple

• Launcher (or Not)
• Getting Yourself Organized (or Something Like It)
  • And it’s root, root, root for the root level
  • Documentary evidence: the Documents folder
  • Other folders at root level
  • Apply here: the Applications folder
• The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread: Aliases
  • Icons on the Desktop
  • Smart Apple menu tricks
• Macstyles of the Not So Rich and Famous
  • Robin Williams: Renaissance Woman
  • Steven Bobker: The Godfather of MacUser
  • Lofty Becker: Triple Threat
  • Glenn Brown: Federal Agent and Extension King
  • Rich Wolfson: The Unkempt Professor
  • Robyn Ray: Bad Influence
  • Guy Kawasaki: A Marketing Pro

Chapter 8: Publish or Perish: The Fail-Safe Guide to Printing

• Ready: Choosing a Printer in (What Else?) the Chooser DA
  • If you have an AppleTalk printer
  • If you have a serial printer
  • If you have a SCSI or server-based printer
  • Before you close the Chooser…
  • The AppleTalk Active/Inactive radio buttons
• Set: Setting Up Your Page with Page Setup
  • Paper type
  • Page orientation
  • Reduce or Enlarge/Scale
  • Options: Page flipping and page inverting
• Print: Printing to Most Printers
  • The Print dialog box
  • Background printing
  • Things you may see if you have a StyleWriter
• The Latest Thing: Desktop Printers
  • What is a Desktop Printer anyway?
  • Using Desktop Printers
• Font Mania
  • How to install fonts
  • Type formats
  • Font advice in brief
  • Print to Disk PDD format

Chapter 9: File Sharing for the Rest of Us

• What It Is
  • Portrait of a LocalTalk network
  • Getting turned on
  • Sharing Setup
• Users and Groups and Guests (Oh My)
  • Users
  • Groups
  • Be our guest
  • Removing Users or Groups
• Access and Privileges (Who Can Do What)
  • Sharing a folder or disk
  • Setting access privileges
  • Useful Settings for Access Privileges
  • The two other privileges
• The Actual Act of Sharing
  • Connecting to a shared disk or folder
  • Getting on your own computer from a remote computer
  • Disconnecting from a shared folder or disk
• A Few Other Things You Ought to Know
  • Monitoring File Sharing
  • Changing your password
  • Unsharing a folder or disk

Chapter 10: How to Manage Memory and Other Seemingly Complicated Arcana

• Baby, Baby, Where Did Our RAM Go?
  • System software memory theory: where some of the RAM goes…
  • Application memory theory: where the rest of the RAM goes
  • In summation
• Memories Are Made of This: The Memory Control Panel
  • Cashing in with the Disk Cache
  • How to set your Disk Cache
  • It’s not real: it’s Virtual (Memory)
  • 32-bit addressing does its bit
  • Modern Memory Manager (Power Macintosh only)
  • Faster than a speeding bullet: it’s a RAM disk

Part III: U 2 Can B A Guru

Chapter 11: Sure-Fire, Easy-to-Use, No (or Low)-Cost, Timesaving Tips

• Let Your Fingers Do the Flying
  • Use those keyboard shortcuts
  • Learn to type better
• Why Living Color May Not Be So Great
  • Monitor settings
  • Window color considerations
  • A Mac with a view
  • If you don’t need it, turn it off or toss it out
• What Else Can I Do?

Chapter 12: Advanced Techniques for Beginners

• Souping Up Your Apple Menu
  • Space cowboy
  • Divide and conquer
  • Look, ma, no dividers!
• Start Up Your Mornings Right
  • On becoming a (startup) item

Chapter 13: Control Tweaks

• Apple Menu Options
  • Apple Menu Options no-brainer setting
• ATM GX
  • ATM GX no-brainer setting
• AutoRemounter (PowerBooks Only)
  • AutoRemounter no-brainer setting
• Brightness
• Cache Switch (Macs with 68040 Processors Only)
• CPU Energy Saver (Energy Star-Compliant Macs Only)
  • CPU Energy Saver no-brainer settings
• CloseView
• Color
  • Color no-brainer settings
• ColorSync System Profile
  • ColorSync System Profile no-brainer settings
• Control Strip (PowerBooks Only)
  • Control Strip no-brainer settings
• Date & Time
  • To set the date or time
  • Time and date formats
  • The rest of it
• Desktop Patterns
• Easy Access
• Extensions Manager
• File Sharing Monitor
• General Controls
  • Desktop options
  • Shut Down Warning
  • Folder Protection
  • Insertion Point Blinking
  • Menu Blinking
  • Documents
  • General Controls no-brainer settings
• Keyboard
  • Keyboard no-brainer settings
• Labels
• Launcher
• Macintosh Easy Open Setup
  • Macintosh Easy Open Setup no-brainer settings
• MacTCP
• Map
• Memory
  • Memory no-brainer settings
• Monitors
  • Macs with one monitor only
  • Macs with two or more monitors
• Mouse
  • Mouse no-brainer settings
• Network
• Numbers
• PC Exchange
• PowerBook (PowerBooks Only, but You Knew That)
• PowerBook Setup (PowerBooks Only, of Course)
• PowerTalk Setup
• Sharing Setup
• Sound
• Startup Disk
• Text
• Users and Groups
• Views
  • Views no-brainer settings
• WindowShade

Chapter 14: How to Write an AppleScript in 21 Minutes

• What the Heck Is an AppleScript Anyway?
  • Tools of the Trade: What the System 7.5 Installer Installs and Where It Installs It
  • The AppleScript extension (in the Extensions folder, which is in the System Folder)
  • Scripting Additions folder (in the Extensions folder, which is in the System Folder)
  • AppleScript Guide (in the AppleScript folder, which is in the Apple Extras folder)
  • Script Editor (in the AppleScript folder, which is in the Apple Extras folder)
  • Automated Tasks folder (in the AppleScript folder, which is in the Apple Extras folder)
  • But wait, there’s more
  • What it all means
• Writing a Simple Script
• If Your Script Is Any Good, It Should Be Saved

Chapter 15: What Can Stay and What Can Go

• Reclamation Theory
• Life After Death: The Truth About Restoring Deleted Files
  • Back up first
  • The Installer: restorer of lost items
• What, Exactly, Are Extensions and Control Panels?
  • Disabling `em all with the Shift Key
  • Discriminating disabling with Extensions Manager
• Control Panels
  • Apple Menu Options
  • ATM GX
  • Cache Switch (68040 Macs)
  • Color
  • ColorSync System Profile
  • Date & Time
  • Desktop Patterns
  • Extensions Manager
  • File Sharing Monitor
  • General Controls
  • Keyboard
  • Labels
  • Launcher
  • Macintosh Easy Open Setup
  • Map
  • Memory
  • Monitors
  • Mouse
  • Network
  • Numbers
  • PC Exchange
  • PowerTalk Setup
  • Sharing Setup
  • Sound
  • Startup Disk
  • Text
  • Users & Groups
  • Views
  • WindowShade
  • Control panels by RAM used
  • Control panels by disk space used
• Extensions
  • System extensions
  • Chooser extensions
  • AppleGuide documents
  • Other items in the Extensions folder
  • Extensions by RAM used
  • Extensions by disk space used
• The Rest of the Stuff in Your System Folder
  • Apple Menu Items
  • Clipboard
  • Finder
  • MEO Database
  • PowerTalk Data (folder)
  • Preferences
  • ColorSync Profiles (in Preferences folder)
  • System

Part IV:Beyond the Lunatic Fringe: The Infamous Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten Optional Pieces of System Software You Might Someday Need

• MacTCP
  • Installing MacTCP
• Easy Access
  • Installing Easy Access
• TokenTalk
  • Installing TokenTalk
• Close View
  • Installing Close View
• PlainTalk (AV models only)
  • Installing PlainTalk
• PowerTalk
  • Installing PowerTalk
• QuickDraw GX
  • Installing QuickDraw GX
  • LaserWriter Utility
  • Paper Type Editor
  • Type 1 Enabler

Chapter 17: Ten Ways To Make Your Mac Better by Throwing Money at It

Chapter 18: Troubleshooting: Ten Things to Try When Good System Software Goes Bad

• Dem Ol’ Sad Mac Chimes of Doom Blues
• Flashing Question Mark Problems
  • Start with something easy: rebuild the desktop
  • Send for the ambulance: run Disk First Aid
  • Installing new hard disk drivers
  • The latest dance craze: zapping the PRAM
  • SCSI voodoo
  • Reinstalling the System software
  • If nothing has worked so far
• If You Crash at Startup
  • Restart without extensions and control panels
  • Resolving extension and control panel conflicts
  • Dealing with recalcitrant extensions and control panels
  • How to perform a clean System reinstallation

Index

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