some system problems...

[tintoy]

hi guys,

i'm using OS X since May 2002, so i'm consider new OS X user,
everything seem to be OK (although i still prefer/miss some features in OS 9 exp: color labels...)

anyway, i got few little problems here with my G4.
(i'm using quicksilver G4 tower, 512RAM, HD 50Gb. OS X 10.1.5)


1> Log-in time is too long,
when my mac start up, after the blue bar finished loading everything & the big "X" logo on a square white background will disappear, then i have to wait for around 2 minutes before i see the log-in page!
which is far too long. & if my server here in Online (log on to the internet) then it will not have this problem.

So i think the system is trying to look for something on the internet while starting up, right? if this is the reason, can someone inform me which software or system feature is doing this? i'll like to disable it so i could get a much faster start up.
(i've done a fews here: exp: for software update i selected "manually", for quicktime player, i didn't select "show HotPick automatically, on the "Date&time" i disable the "network Time")


2> is there a way to Rebuild desktop, (like OS 9)?


3>Where is/how to access the preference folder for each software?


4> is folder & file naming setting different on Desktop with any folder?
say i got a file called "daily_usage_200207.png" all the 22 characters is display in a single line/paragraph, but if i place the file on the desktop, the name will appear in 2 paragraph, which is a bit weird,


5> is there a way to disable Recent application/documents?


6> is there a way to disable the feature of "sandwich" windows?
in OS 9, say i open 3 jpeg files in GraphicConvertor, 2 text files in simpleText, & i have 3 folders open on the desktop, when i click on any of the jpeg all 3 files opened with GraphicConvertor will bring to front, then when i click the desktop, all the opening folder's window belong to the desktop appear on the front. this is useful for me because i always put many files together to compare or to choose which one to use, or compare some text file like resume or proposal.
Now is OS X, i always got into the "sandwich" situation where after a few clicks, i'll have some jpeg on the front, in between i got a folder window, & a text file, then another jpeg is hidden behind the text file, & another folder in behind a jpeg file..... which is very messy to me.

i know i could just click on the software icon on the Dock, but i'll like if there is a way to disable it.




well, that's all, hope someone can help me on these, all of them other then problem #1 are consider minor, but i just want to fix them because i got a hardcore PC user here who always have some not-that-nice things to say about Mac, which i've had enough on that.

thanks.

[tk4two1]

OK... I'l try and answer some of your questions and someone else will porobably need to finish for me.


1. I'll have to leave this for someone else.

2. There is something that is similar called prebinding and this does help take care of some issues. To prebind go into the terminal and type sudo -S update_prebinding -root /

3. The prefs are placed in your user folder in Library/Preferences

4. Nothing you can do about this. Why is shows in one line in your finder windows is probably due to the fact that you are viewing them as a list as opposed to icons.

5. I havent found a way to disable this yet (I would like to know also) For now all yo can do is Go into the system setings under general and set it to 5.

6. As far as I know the only way you can do this is by clicking it in the dock, I don't like it either... Hopefully this will be fixed in Jag (anybody know for sure?)

[tas]

I'll try and answer some more:

1. Do you have any ethernet connection to the internet? If you don't, you may want to try this: go to the Network tab in System preferences. Under "Show" Active Network Ports", uncheck everything but the connction you use. You should also check whether your computer is trying to mount a network volume. Is there anything in the "Connect to" dialog that says "automatically mount"?

2. Update_prebinding is useful, but not the same as rebuild desktop. As OS X uses the desktop as a normal folder, I guess there is no need to rebuild it.

6. This is not a bug, it's a feature that Apple is very proud of (and it comes handy in a lot of situations). So not only you can't change it, it'll most likely not change in jaguar.

[hazmat]

5. Try FruitMenu from Unsanity at www.unsanity.com. Worth its weight in gold, so $7 is nothing. This is how my Apple menu looks. It has changed slightly since this, but you get the idea of what you can do.

6. I guess you could command-option-click the app's icon on the Dock.

[gibbs]

im not sure about question number 6 exactly, but i believe liteswitch X can solve your problem if you want to be able to switch between windows/apps quickly and efficiently. its basically a copy of "alt-tab" for windows OS's, and im clueless as to why this functionality isnt properly implemented in OS X by default.

[you can apple-tab in OS X by default, but it only switches between apps, not specific windows, and it also cycles through the apps in the dock sequentially, therefore eliminating the ease of switching "back and forth" between two windows quickly. this is what liteswitch is useful for.]

hope that helps

[Captain Code]

1. Your computer might be checking a network time server, and waiting for the connection to time out when there's no connection to the internet.

You can check if it is or not by going into System Preferences > Date & Time > Network Time tab and checking if the "Use a network time server" option is checked.

3. Most applications put their preferences in the menu one over to the right of the Apple menu. This menu will have the name of the application that's open.

[vickishome]

6. Try using DragThing. One of the preference options is Bring all windows to the front when switching which sounds like the exact feature you're wanting. If you enable this feature, it works no matter how you switch from app to app.

[tintoy]

Hi guys,

i'm surpise to see so many people write & help, i feel so good about this site, & the warmness of MAC community.

i finally fixed the slow start-up problem,
it is the system preference/Network/"Show" Active Network Ports", the "internal modem" was checked, so after i uncheck it, my G4 got a very speedy start-up, in fact it start up faster then a winXP beside me! wow! (i don't believe it neither) i sure feel so very very good about it.

& thanks for all the 3rd party shareware suggections, i'll try to get them soon.


cheers,
tintoy
www.actiontintoy.com