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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Renaming Applications

charles1 - Sep 14, 2005 - 3:14 pm

I like to control the order in the column so I often rename the application. Some apps say I can't because I don't have the authority but I'm the only user on this machine. Is it because they are the one that came with OSX? Does OSX not allow its own apps to be renamed?

azpro - Sep 14, 2005 - 4:04 pm

HI Charles, I am François your volunteer tech
you said "but I'm the only user on this machine", false, there is an other user: mac os x system itself (also called "root, or "system administrator") if you are not owner of some items, then it is.
well, you want change some applications names, tell what apps... If they are os x app (like "system preferences" or "disk utility", for example) you can't change name, or you can crash your os x.

so, what app names do you want change ?

regards,
françois
--------

- good news: I am mac tech support
- bad news: english is not my native language
(I am french, nobody is perfect :-)

charles1 - Sep 14, 2005 - 4:30 pm

" if you are not owner of some items, then it is."
How do I make myself the owner of everything or as many applications as possible?

I understand that if I change the name of OSX key apps that could cause problems as the system couldn't find them. Strange....you'd think when I change the name it could update the system but I guess not. For example I'm trying to rename DVD player to DVD. And Quicktime Player to Quicktime. I'm just trying to keep the column width as narrow as possible. Eventually I'd like to regroup Quicktime into an area with the other audio/vido players, and do the same with other apps as well. It makes the layout far more organized and easier to see what apps I'm not using anymore so they can be deleted, updated or modified. You can just find things far easier if they are grouped. Its not applicable when you're running only the OSX apps but I tend to try out lots of software so I could easily have more than a hundred different apps on file. Sort of like why people have file cabinets.

As for your signature....
Good news: I help Mac users OR
I'm your Mac tech support guy OR
I'm here to help you with your Mac OR
I enjoy helping people get more out of their Macs

Bad news: English isn't my native language.
I'm French. Nobody's perfect :-)

Now it flows better. (Just some suggestions. Though they don't sound as colourful as your version!)

azpro - Sep 15, 2005 - 3:26 am

Thank you Charles for your suggestions about my signature :-)

Well, os x works radically different than os 9, :
- don't move applications from where they are installed
- don't change names

However, if you want to modify those feature, here is a simple tip:
create an other folder (for example in your Applications folder,
name it "My Applications"
create aliases of your favorite apps, and put them on "My App" folder
Now you can modify alias name as you want.
Better: you can drop those aliases on your Dock instead of original app.
Now your Dock icon names are like you want.

Is this feature solve your problem ?

regards,
françois

charles1 - Sep 15, 2005 - 1:46 pm

I guess its creating a folder of shortcuts in Windows. It works but I want everything in the first columne. I hate scrolling across columns to find things. That's why I want to rearrange files so only the ones I use often are in the first column. I guess its not possible.

azpro - Sep 15, 2005 - 2:48 pm

of course you can Charles,
left column of any window list favorite links, Apple put on it some standard items (disk, applications folder, home folder, network, etc)
bu you can change it, you can drop 'My Applications' folder in this column, or any item you want (for example applications aliases which have personnalized names)

françois
--------
- good news: I am your Mac tech support guy
- bad news: english is not my native language
(I am french, nobody is perfect :-)

charles1 - Sep 16, 2005 - 12:03 pm

"left column of any window list favorite links, Apple put on it some standard items (disk, applications folder, home folder, network, etc)"

I don't understand where this is.

Your signature looks much better. Here's some refinements to make it grammatically correct, though I'm unclear on how to puntuate smilelys. I don't even know how to spell that word!

- Good news: I am your Mac tech support guy.
- Bad news: English is not my native language.
(I am French: nobody is perfect.) :-)

azpro - Sep 16, 2005 - 12:36 pm

Hi Charles,
What is your mac os x version ?
I explain :
since Mac OS X 10.3, Apple had modified Finder windows,
they have a left column which contains some items like this:
----
Network
Hard disks
----
Desktop
Home
Applications
Documents
Movies
Music
Pictures
-----

You can add all items you want on this column
but you must have Mac os X 10.3 or +
If it is your case, and if you don't see this column, click on long grey button at the top right corner of the window.

françois

charles1 - Sep 16, 2005 - 6:57 pm

I guess by the first column I should have explained the first column of the hard drive I'm in. Having Documnets/Music/Pictures under the hard drives makes no sense to me since it doesn't tell me where they are located. I use multiple hard dirves.

Let's just close this ticket. Thanks for your help. Of course I"m using OSX 10.4 (.2) since that was the category I posted to.