Module 1: Mac Operating System

Computer Competency Requirement ITCC Computer Competency Requirement

Module 1: Mac Operating System - OSX

Lesson 1: Desktop Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................ 3 What is an Operating System? ....................................................................................................... 3 Desktop Overview ........................................................................................................................... 4 Desktop ............................................................................................................................................ 4 The Finder ........................................................................................................................................ 4 The Dock .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Apple Menu ...................................................................................................................................... 5 How to Boot Up ............................................................................................................................... 5 How to Shut Down ........................................................................................................................... 6

Lesson 2: Windows Introduction ....................................................................................................... 7 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Windows ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Parts of the Window ........................................................................................................................ 7 Activating a Window ....................................................................................................................... 8 Moving Using the Title Bar ............................................................................................................. 9 Resizing a Window .......................................................................................................................... 9 Zooming a Window ....................................................................................................................... 10 Minimize a Window ....................................................................................................................... 11 Scrolling ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Closing an Open Window ............................................................................................................. 12

Lesson 3: Icons Introduction ........................................................................................................... 14 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Icon Overview ................................................................................................................................ 14 Special Icons ................................................................................................................................. 14 Hard Drive Icon .............................................................................................................................. 14 Printer Icon .................................................................................................................................... 15 Floppy and ZIP Disk Icons ............................................................................................................ 15 Inserting a Floppy or ZIP Disk ...................................................................................................... 15 Checking Free Space on a Floppy or ZIP Disk ........................................................................... 16 Ejecting Removable Disks ............................................................................................................ 16 Compact Disc Overview ................................................................................................................ 17 Trash Can Icon .............................................................................................................................. 18 Throwing Items Away.................................................................................................................... 18 Retrieving Information .................................................................................................................. 18 Emptying the Trash ....................................................................................................................... 18 Application Icons .......................................................................................................................... 19 File Icons ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Folder Icons ................................................................................................................................... 19 Alias Icons ..................................................................................................................................... 19

Lesson 4: Menus Introduction ......................................................................................................... 20 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Rules about Menus ....................................................................................................................... 20 Save/ Save As Menu ...................................................................................................................... 22

Introduction to Computers ................................................................................................... MAC

Open Document Window .............................................................................................................. 23 Contextual Menus ......................................................................................................................... 24 Apple Menu .................................................................................................................................... 24 Application Menus ........................................................................................................................ 25

Lesson 5: File Management Introduction ..................................................................................... 27 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Hierarchical File ............................................................................................................................. 27 System Overview ........................................................................................................................... 27 File Structure Views ...................................................................................................................... 28 Finding a File or Folder ................................................................................................................. 35 Moving Files, Folders, and Aliases .............................................................................................. 36 Copying Files, Folders, and Aliases ............................................................................................ 36 Naming Files, Folders, and Aliases ............................................................................................. 37 Deleting Files, Folders, and Aliases ............................................................................................ 38 Creating Folders ............................................................................................................................ 38 Formatting a Removable Disk ...................................................................................................... 39

Lesson 6: Customizing Macintosh OSX Introduction ................................................................... 42 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 42 Managing Users ............................................................................................................................. 42 Customizing the Dock ................................................................................................................... 44 Add/Remove Applications from the Dock ................................................................................... 44 Creating an Alias ........................................................................................................................... 45 Customizing Your Desktop ........................................................................................................... 46 Changing the Display Resolution ................................................................................................ 46 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 47

Lesson 7: Maintenance and Troubleshooting Introduction ........................................................ 48 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 48 Exiting Stalled Applications ......................................................................................................... 48 Restarting Your Computer ............................................................................................................ 49 Disk Utility ...................................................................................................................................... 49 System Information ....................................................................................................................... 51 Getting Help ................................................................................................................................... 52 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 53

Getting Help ....................................................................................................................................... 54 Help Desk ....................................................................................................................................... 54

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Lesson 1: Desktop Introduction

Computers use the operating system to manage all the related tasks needed to run the computer and its input and output devices. The Macintosh operating system translates information into a graphical user interface (GUI) that is easier to understand. The GUI allows the user to input information by clicking icons or symbols rather than typing lines of code. One of the major components of the GUI on the Macintosh operating system (Mac OS) is the desktop. In this lesson you will be provided with general information about how operating systems work, and then you will learn about the desktop for the Macintosh OS.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson you will be able to • Define operating system. • Be familiar with the Macintosh operating system. • Locate and define the unique elements of the Mac OS desktop.

What is an Operating System?

The operating system is an application managing other applications and devices. The diagram below depicts an operating system managing a printer, a mouse, an application, a disk drive, a monitor and a keyboard. The interaction with the monitor is probably the one we appreciate and think about the most.

Terms to Know Application – An Application is a program designed to perform a specific function directly for the user or, in some cases, for another application such as the operating system. Examples of applications include word processors (Microsoft Word), Web browsers (Internet Explorer), spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel) and email (Eudora).

The operating system translates the computer language (refer to the hardware lesson for a review) into information. One method of presenting this information is via a graphical user interface (GUI). Elements of a GUI include such things as windows, menus, buttons, scroll bars, icons and the desktop. The desktop is the primary GUI generated by the Macintosh operating system, and you will learn about the Desktop in the next section.

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Desktop Overview As you just learned, the desktop is the main screen generated by the Macintosh operating system. The Desktop serves as the home base for just about everything you will do on the computer. From the desktop, you can manage files, store documents, launch programs, adjust the way the computer works, and personalize the workspace. Each operating system has a unique desktop appearance.

Desktop When you boot up a Macintosh, the desktop will display the Menu Bar and the Hard Drive icon at a minimum. (The Hard Drive will be discussed in detail later in this tutorial.) At the very top of the screen you will see a bar with words and icons on it. This bar is called the Menu Bar. The Menu Bar serves as the home base for all menus available to the user.

The Finder

In the far left side of the dock, you will see an icon that looks like a little

face: . The little face icon represents the Finder. The Finder and the Desktop are used interchangeably to refer to the desktop management and file management systems. The user never has to open or exit out of the Finder because it automatically opens when the user boots up the computer. It is important to never delete the Finder!

The Dock When you move the mouse pointer toward the bottom of your screen this will reveal the dock. The dock is a customizable menu allowing you to open applications, documents, and other items you use frequently.

To open an application on the Dock, move the mouse pointer over the icon of the application and click once. A small triangle will appear under the icon in the dock to indicate this is an open application. In the above picture the Finder icon has a small triangle underneath it to indicating it is the only open application.

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You may have several applications open at a time, but only one application at a time may be active. To switch between open applications simply move the mouse pointer over the icon of the application you want to use and click once. The Menu Bar will change to indicate which application is active. The name of the active application will appear in the menu bar. In the picture below we can see the Finder is the active application because its name appears next to the Apple Menu in the menu bar.

Apple Menu

In the left-hand corner of the Menu Bar you will see the Macintosh Apple icon. This icon represents the Apple Menu. In Mac OS X, use the Apple menu to open System Preferences, change the way the Dock works , shut down, restart, and log out of your computer. It also allows easy access to recently used applications and documents.

How to Boot Up

Now you are ready to learn how to boot up (to load an operating system into the computer's random access memory) the Macintosh computer. Terms to Know

Booting Up – Booting Up a computer automatically loads an operating system into the computer’s RAM and prepares the computer for use.

Power Macintosh To boot up a Macintosh computer, press the Power button located in the upper right hand corner of the keyboard. In general the power button will

be square with a triangle centered on the left edge of the button .

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G3 and G4 Macintosh For these computers the power button is located on the CPU and not the keyboard. The “on” button for these Macintosh computers will look like the following symbol:

Pushing the power button initiates the loading of the operating system into RAM. After the operating system is loaded, the computer performs a check to make sure all peripheral devices (input, output and storage devices) are properly attached to the computer. As soon as all devices are verified, the computer is ready to accept input from the user.

How to Shut Down

Shutting down the computer turns the system off completely. To safely shut down the Macintosh computer, click on the Apple Menu and select Shut Down. The computer will completely shut down all open windows and turn itself off.

Terms to Know Shutting Down – Clears the computer’s RAM, disengages all peripheral devices and turns the power off.

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Lesson 2: Windows Introduction

Another element of the graphical user interface (GUI) is windows. Windows are resizable workspaces for each open application or function. The Macintosh OS utilizes windows as part of their interface. In this lesson you will learn how to operate the controls for windows in the Macintosh OS.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson you will be able to • Define basic Mac OS windows-related terms • Identify and operate the controls for windows in the Mac OS

Windows Windows allow you to view many applications simultaneously. Each application is contained within its own window and you may have several windows open at one time. Although you are able to see the contents of several open windows, only one window may be active at a time. Any commands you execute (such as cut, paste, or print) apply only to the active window.

Terms to KnowWindow – A resizable viewing on a computer display screen in a system that allows multiple viewing areas as part of a graphical user interface (GUI).

Parts of the Window

The Macintosh OS X window includes the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, the title bar, the hide/show toolbar button, the scrollers, scroll bars, and scroll arrows (vertical and horizontal), and the size control. When you open an application, such as Microsoft Word, please notice these windows differ slightly than the Finder windows. In application windows the toolbar and the Hide/Show Toolbar button will not exist.

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Activating a Window

You can distinguish the active window from the inactive window by looking at the title bar. If the close, minimize, and zoom buttons are in full color then the window is active. Another way to determine which window is active is by the menu bar at the top of the screen, when the window is active it will reflect the name of the application (circled below) and the commands that are appropriate for the active application’s window. In the image below, the "Mac HD" window is inactive and the "Document1" window is Active.

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In the image below, the "Mac HD" window is now active and the "Document1" window in now inactive and the menu bar has changed to the Finder menu bar.

Moving Using the Title Bar

A window can be placed anywhere on the desktop by moving it. To move a window using the title bar, place the mouse pointer over the title bar. While holding the mouse button down, drag the window with the mouse to the desired location on the desktop and release the mouse button. The window will be in its new location on the desktop.

The shape and size of the window will remain the same. After you release the mouse button, the pointer will remain over the title bar until you move it to a new location.

Resizing a Window

Resizing a window allows you to view more of the contents of the window. To resize a window, move your mouse pointer into the size box.

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While holding the mouse button down, drag the size box to the right or down. As you begin to drag the size box, an outline appears to indicate the borders of the new sized window.

Once the outline is the size you want, release the mouse button. The window will expand to occupy the space indicated by the outline (the outline will disappear). The mouse pointer will remain in the size box until it is moved. The application windows are the only windows that will produce an outline when you are resizing the windows. The finder windows will not produce an outline.

Zooming a Window

The zoom button allows you to toggle between the full size of the window (zoom out) and the custom size you created with the size control (zoom in). Clicking once in the zoom button sizes the window more of its contents are visible.

The window has been enlarged (zoomed out) and all of the contents (if possible) are displayed. The mouse pointer will remain in the zoom button after the window expands.

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To return the window to its custom size (zoom in), single click on the zoom button.

Minimize a Window

Minimizing a window reduces the window to an icon on the dock. There are two ways in which you can minimize a window.

• Move the mouse pointer to the title bar and double click

OR

• Move the mouse pointer over the minimize button in the title bar and single click.

To retrieve the minimized window, move the mouse pointer toward the bottom of the screen to reveal the dock. In the dock there will be an icon representation of the minimized window, click once on the icon to view the window.

The minimized window will expand back to its custom size.

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Scrolling Scrolling allows you to move the objects in the window either left, right, up or down. Scroll areas (located on the right and bottom of the window) are made up of three different tools, which allow you to scroll.

• To scroll, click on the vertical/horizontal arrows. OR

• Click and drag the vertical/horizontal scrollers. OR

• Click in the spaces of the vertical/horizontal scroll bar.

Closing an Open Window

Below are the three options available for closing a window. Please note on a Macintosh, this only closes the window. The application remains open until you exit out of the application by selecting Quit from the File Menu.

• Option A - place the mouse pointer in the close button and click once

• Option B - from the File Menu, select the Close Window • Option C - press the command and the w keys on the keyboard at

the same time

Option A

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Option B

Option C

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Lesson 3: Icons Introduction

Now you are familiar with the desktop, you can recognize several unique kinds of icons. An Icon is a symbol or picture designed to illustrate a function or application. This lesson introduces the different types of icons and what they do.

Objectives After you have completed this lesson, you will be able to:

• Define icon related terms • Identify the five different categories of icons specific to the

Macintosh OS • Explain the function of the icon(s) specific to each category

Icon Overview There are five categories of icons in the Macintosh OS: special icons application icons, file icons, folder icons, and alias icons. Examples of an application, a file, a folder, and an alias icon are depicted below. To select an icon, move the mouse pointer over the icon and single click. To open an icon, move the mouse pointer over the icon and double click.

Terms to Know Icon – a picture or symbol used to represent a file, folder or application/program

Special Icons

Some special icons are the printer, the hard drive, the floppy disk, the ZIP drive, the CD, and the trash can icon. Images of the special icons are below.

Hard Drive Icon

On the Macintosh, the Hard Drive icon usually appears in the upper right-hand side of the desktop. By opening the icon (with a double click), you can see the contents of the hard drive. The Mac OS allows you to alter then names of the icons; therefore your hard drive icon may have a different name.

The hard drive serves as a storage space for all of your files, email, and all applications (including the operating system). Hard drives are measured in

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terms of megabytes and gigabytes. When the hard drive reaches its capacity, files need to be removed to free up space. To free up space on the hard drive or to save files to a portable medium, files can be copied to a floppy disk, zip disk or compact disk.

Printer Icon

As a general rule, printer icon will be found in the utilities folder. The printer icon allows you access to the print list.

Floppy and ZIP Disk Icons When you insert a floppy or ZIP disk into the computer, the icon will appear on the desktop. The icon resembles a floppy or ZIP disk.

Floppy and ZIP disks allow information to be transported easily from one computer to another. However, floppy and ZIP disks have limited storage capacity. Floppy disks generally contain 1.44 MB of storage space. ZIP disks contain between 100 MB to 250 MB of storage capacity. Saving and retrieving information from a floppy or ZIP disk is slower than on a hard drive. Because floppy and ZIP disks are portable, they are more susceptible to physical damage and viruses than the hard drive.

Inserting a Floppy or ZIP Disk

• To insert a floppy or ZIP disk, insert the disk into the disk drive label side up and metal pointing toward the drive

• When the disk is completely inside the drive, it is said to be inserted • If the disk was successfully inserted into the drive, a floppy or ZIP

disk icon will appear on the Macintosh OS X desktop

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Checking Free Space on a Floppy or ZIP Disk • To determine how much space remains on a disk, double click on

the disk icon to open it. • The number of files and space remaining will appear in the status

bar at the top of the window. In the ZIP disk example image below, the disk has 2 items and 91.6 MB available

Ejecting Removable Disks

There are several ways to eject a disk in the Mac OS: To eject a disk, click one time on the disk's icon on the desktop to select it.

Select Eject from the File Menu

OR

Press Command and the E key on the keyboard. OR Drag the icon into the trash can. Depending on the icon you chose the floppy, ZIP disk, or CD will eject from the drive. The above example demonstrated the ejecting of a ZIP disk, but it works for all types of removable disks. NOTE: Save your file and close your application before ejecting the disk.

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CD Icon

When you insert a CD ROM, CD R, or CD RW into the computer, the icon will appear on the desktop. As a general rule, the icon will resemble a CD. Even though the shape of the icon may vary, the label will match the name of the CD.

Compact Disc Overview CD ROM stands for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. CD ROMs are a read only storage medium. Typically, a CD ROM holds up to 700 MB of information. While information retrieval is faster than from a floppy disk, it is still not as fast as from the hard drive.

CD R stands for Compact Disc Recordable. This storage medium will allow you to save information onto the CD once. You may read information off of the CD R after you have saved to the disc, but you may not modify the information. CD Rs may also hold up to 700 MB of information.

CD RW stands for Compact Disc ReWritable. This storage medium will allow you to save information onto the CD numerous times. You may read the information off of the CD RW after you have saved it to the disc, and you may also modify the information. A word of caution when saving to CD RWs if you save to the disc to often it may deteriorate. CD RWs may also hold up to 700 MB of information.

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Trash Can Icon The Trash Can is a place on the desktop where you can drag items you no longer want. This receptacle is not a permanent disposal. It is a container (like a folder), which holds all of your trash until you are ready to dispose of it permanently. To completely get rid of the old information, you must empty the trash. Below is an image of the Trash Can icon.

Throwing Items Away

To throw items in the trash, drag the icon for the item you want to throw away over the Trash icon in the dock. When the Trash icon becomes highlighted, release your mouse button. The file will be "thrown away." Below the file "Test.doc" is being dragged to the Trash.

Retrieving Information

If you want to look through the Trash before emptying it completely (remember emptying the trash gets rid of the files forever), double-click on the trashcan icon. The window will appear displaying the current contents. If you decide to keep something you threw away, simply drag the icon out of the trash window and onto the desktop.

Emptying the Trash When your Trash has items in it, the icon will change from an empty Trash Can to one with crumpled pieces of paper in it.

Empty Trash Can Full Trash Can

To Empty the Trash, Open the Finder Menu from the menu bar and Select "Empty Trash...". A warning box will appear.

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The warning box will ask if you are sure you want to remove the items in the Trash permanently. Click once on the OK button to empty trash.

Application Icons Application icons are programs, which you use to accomplish tasks on your computer. Application Icons come in many shapes and sizes, but they should give you a good idea of what the program is, just by looking at it. The image below depicts the following application icons: Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel.

File Icons Files are created by applications. For the most part, file icons look like a piece of paper with a symbol of the application that created it. The key to finding file icons is the folded over upper-right corner of the icon. Below are examples of file icons: a file created in Microsoft Word and a file created in Microsoft Excel.

Folder Icons Folders represent the containers where documents and applications are stored. You may also store folders within other folders. Picture a file cabinet with several drawers. Within each drawer there are different types of folders -- hanging file folders, manila folders, accordion folders. Within each folder, you may also store other folders as well as files.

Folder icons look like this:

Alias Icons An alias icon is a pointer to an item. You can make an alias of an item and put it anywhere in the Macintosh OS. When you want to open the item, double click on the alias instead of searching the hard drive for the item. Below is an image of an alias folder icon. The key to finding an alias items is the arrow in the bottom left-hand corner.

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Lesson 4: Menus Introduction

Menus, like icons, are another way to access information. In this lesson you will learn about Macintosh OS specific menus.

Objectives At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Terms to Know Menu – A list of options from which you can execute commands

• Define menu-related terms • Identify the different types of Macintosh OS menus • Describe the function of Macintosh OS specific menus

Rules about Menus

In the Macintosh OS environment, there are a few items about menus you need to be aware of. (The following images helps you to view and understand these rules.)

• Menu items can have a check mark in front of them. This means the item is enabled and may be turned off and on.

• Menu items may be dimmed or gray. This means the item may not be selected at that time.

• Some menu items have ellipses after them. When an ellipse item is selected, a dialog box will appear with additional information and options about the item.

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• Some menu item will have a series of keyboard characters after it. This indicates that this menu item can be executed by pressing the corresponding characters on the keyboard (in following image, pressing Command + Z executes the undo menu item).

• Some menu items have an arrow to their right. Hovering over these opens a sub-menu.

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Save/ Save As Menu A frequently used menu users need to be familiar with is the Save As menu. After you create or make changes to a file you will want to save the file. Click on File in the menu bar and choose Save As from the pull-down menu. Saving means sending your file to a disk, either your hard drive, floppy, ZIP, or Compact Disk. The first time you save a file the Save As menu will open asking for pertinent information. Once you have given this information the next time you need to save, you will have to click on Save in the file menu, unless you to change any of the file’s pertinent information.

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Open Document Window

The Open menu looks and acts very similar to the Save As menu. To open a file click on the File menu in the menu bar and choose Open from the pull-down window. To open a file through this manner you will need to know where the file is saved. If you forgot where the file is saved use the Find feature (refer to Lesson 6).

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Contextual Menus Contextual menus are menus revealing information related to the object you select with the mouse pointer.

To access a contextual menu, hold down the control key . While the control key is depressed, the contextual menu icon will appear beside

the pointer . Keep the control key depressed and move the mouse pointer over the item you want to know more about, click on the item and the contextual menu will be displayed.

A contextual menu works like a pull-down menu. To make a selection, drag the mouse to the item in the menu you want to select and release the mouse button.

Apple Menu In the left-hand corner of the Menu Bar you will see the Macintosh Apple icon. This icon represents the Apple Menu. In Mac OS X, use the Apple menu to open System Preferences, change the way the Dock works , shut down, restart, and log out of your computer. It also allows easy access to applications and documents you have used recently.

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Application Menus As discussed earlier in the module, every application you will open will have its own menu bar. You will see the name of the active application in the menu bar next to the Apple menu. The name of application is a menu as well and it is called the Application menu. In the picture below Microsoft Word is the active application because its name appears in the menu bar. By selecting the Word menu we can view the contents of the application menu.

From the Application Menu the user can hide all windows associated with the active application without closing the application itself. To hide an application, open the Application Menu and activate the application you want to hide. Open the Application Menu again and select Hide "application name". In the example below, the active application is Microsoft Word. Under the Application Menu there is now an option to "Hide Microsoft Word". Once the "Hide Microsoft Word" operation is complete, the application menu is no longer available in the menu bar and the Microsoft World icon remains open in the dock, this is indicated by the small triangle underneath the icon.

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Instead of hiding or closing all the windows associated with the active application, the user can close all windows not related to the active application. The hidden application will remain open. To perform this action, select the application you want to keep open from the Application’s icon in the dock. Open the Application Menu and select "Hide Others". In the image below, the Microsoft Word application is active. By selecting "Hide Others", all the windows for the other applications will be hidden. Once the "Hide Others" operation is complete, the “Hide Word” and "Hide Others" options fade out.

The other option available under the Application Menu is "Show All". Selecting this allows all hidden windows to become visible. In the image below, all windows for Microsoft Word and the other applications will appear after the "Show All" action is completed.

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Lesson 5: File Management Introduction

In this lesson you will learn how the operating system presents the stored data and the basic options available for managing the stored data.

Objectives Upon completion of this lesson you will be able to:

• Define basic file management related terms • Identify levels of a file system • Identify and explain ways to view files in the Macintosh OS • Explain the process of moving and copying files • Explain how to rename files in the Macintosh OS • Create aliases in the Macintosh OS • Describe how to find a file in the Macintosh OS

Hierarchical File System Overview

In the Macintosh OS, files are managed in a hierarchical file system. The hierarchical system represents an upside down tree. In the Macintosh OS, the root directory is the Hard Drive. The Hard Drive is organized by folders, subfolders and files. The options for viewing and managing the Mac OS file structures will be discussed in this Lesson.

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File Structure Views Before learning how to navigate and manage data in the Macintosh OS, it is important to understand how the file structure can be viewed and what information is presented in each view. The views available under the View Menu are the "as Icons," "as List," and “as Columns”. These views are also located as buttons in the Tool bars of the Finder windows. The "as Icons" view presents the file structure as icons with their name underneath. No other information about the icons is presented.

With the as Icons view, the window can be cleaned up by selecting Clean Up from the View Menu. This option arranges the icons and the buttons for you.

The window can also be arranged by name, date modified, date created, size, and kind. Just select the Arrange sub-menu under the View Menu.

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Now let's look at the “as List” option. To navigate through the Macintosh OS file structure using the List option you must first set the window to the as List view. Scroll to the folder you want to look in, and then click on the right pointing arrow in front of the folder. To view the contents of the subfolder, click on its right pointing arrow to open it. The arrow will then point down to indicate that the subfolder contents have been displayed. Continue this process until you find the file you are looking for and then double click on the file. For example, in the Papers Folder, you have just found the Book Report 1 file that you needed. Double click to open the Book Report 1 file.

The “as List” option will allow you to see more information about the items in the window such as the name, date modified, size, and kind. (The window may have to be resized accordingly or you may have to use the scroll bars to see all the information available in the list view).

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You may adjust the columns in order to see more information. To adjust the lists, move the mouse pointer to the dividing line at the right of the column you want to adjust. The mouse pointer will change to a vertical bar with two arrows. Once you have the vertical bar with the two arrows, you can drag the dividing line to the left or right. In the image below, all of the columns have been resized.

Also, the as List view can be sorted. Items can be sorted in ascending (Image 1) or descending (Image 2) order by clicking on the sort button (circled in images below).

Image 1

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Image 2

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The window can also be sorted by single clicking on any of the list heads. In the image below, the window has been sorted by the Date Modified list head.

Unlike the “as Icons” view, there is no Clean Up and Arrange options, when using the “as List.” The next list option is the “as Columns” view. This view allows you to see exactly where your applications, folders, and files are located on your storage devices.

In order to use this view, you should know where the application, folder or file is located that you would like to use. To help with any confusion lets

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look at an example. You want to find the application Acrobat Reader 5.0. Use the image and steps below to help you navigate through the “as Columns” view.

1. Open the Hard Drive by double clicking the icon on the desktop and select the “as Columns” view

2. The first active column will be the drive that you selected in this case the “Mac HD.” The right pointing arrow next to the drive is a visual clue indicating that the drive has information to be revealed. Single clicking on the drive will reveal in the next right hand column the information stored on that drive. In this case we selected the “Mac HD,” and the folders and files stored on the drive were revealed in the column to the right.

3. The next step is to select the folder were the application is located. In this case, you know that Chess Application is located in the Applications folder. Single clicking the Applications folder has then revealed the contents of the folder in the next right hand column. Notice that several things happened to indicate to you which column is the active column. First, you notice that depending on which version of OS X you are using that the highlighting of the active column is different. It either became darker, lighter, or changed to a different color. Also you should have noticed that the title bar changed to reflect the name of the folder you selected, in this case it says Applications.

4. Finally, you want to open Chess by double clicking its icon in the last right hand column. If you only click once on the application you want to open, a Preview Column opens. It gives you information of the file as well as a bigger view of the application’s icon.

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The last viewing option is cover flow. To search through cover flow, there is two parts. The upper part has a scroll that allows you to look through every single file in a quicker way than scrolling down. If the file is an application it will show the application’s icon. Folders will be displayed as folders and for any other file; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and any kind of image will display a preview of the document itself. The lower portion of cover flow is exactly like the list view mentioned previously.

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Finding a File or Folder

If you fail to find the file you are looking for through traditional navigation you can resort to the Find command under the File Menu. The Find dialog box will appear:

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To look for something, simply type in the name or part of the name of the file you are looking for. The search box will display content as you type that will contain in its name what you have typed in the search bar. The more specific the name, the less the number of search finds will be shown. To see the location of the search item, click on the file name to highlight the item. The location of the file within the hierarchy will appear in the bottom half of the dialog box. To open the found item, double click on the name of the item in either the top section or the lower section of the dialog box.

Moving Files, Folders, and Aliases Moving is the action performed when you want to relocate a file, folder, or alias on the same storage device (ex. desktop to the hard drive). To move an item, click and drag the item to a new location. When the new location becomes highlighted, release the mouse button. The item is now considered moved. In the Macintosh OS X system you can only move items on the same storage device. If you attempt to move a file, folder, or alias to another storage device it will result in the item being copied. The only exception to this rule is when you move an item to the trash.

Copying Files, Folders, and Aliases Copying is the action performed when you want to make a duplicate file, folder, or alias and locate it on either the same storage device (ex. desktop to hard drive) or different storage device (ex. hard drive to floppy). To copy a file, directory or shortcut to a different storage device click on the item you want to copy and drag it to the new storage device. When the

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new storage device becomes highlighted release the mouse button and the copying process will begin. You will know the copy process has started because the “Copying to” status box will appear on the screen.

The "Copy to" status box will automatically disappear once the file has been completely copied. The item will then be visible in the new location as well as the old location with the same name. To copy a file to another location on the same storage device, hold down the option key, click on the item you want to relocate, and drag the item to the new location.

OR Select the item to copy so it becomes highlighted. Then click on the File menu and select Duplicate. A new copy of the original item will be created, and then you can drag the extra copy to a different location on the same storage device.

A copy of the item will now appear in the new location with the same name as the original file. You will know this process is taking place and when it is complete because the Copy to dialog box will appear on the screen and then disappear.

Naming Files, Folders, and Aliases Often times you will want to rename the file, folder, or alias that you just moved or copied. Before learning how, you need to know two rules:

• The name cannot be over 256 characters long • The name cannot contain a colon (:), a slash (/), or a period (.)

To rename a file, folder, or alias, click on the name of the file, folder, or alias you want to change. After a brief pause, the name will become highlighted and an edit box appears around the text.

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Type the new name in the highlighted field. When you have finished typing, press Return on the keyboard, or click anywhere else on the desktop with the mouse pointer to accept the changes.

Deleting Files, Folders, and Aliases To free up space on your storage devices, old files, folders, and aliases should be deleted. You have already learned one way to do this. In Lesson 3 you learned how to drag an item to the trash and empty the trash. But if your desktop gets real busy and you cannot find the trash can, select the file, folder, or alias that you want to throw away and then select Move to Trash from the file menu.

In order to delete the items from your computer you must go the Finder Menu and select Empty Trash. A warning dialog will appear, click ok to empty trash.

Creating Folders

One way to enhance your file structure is to add folders to keep related files together. To create a new folder, click on the File Menu and select New Folder.

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An icon named untitled folder will appear on the desktop. At this point you can rename and move the folder to the desired location.

Formatting a Removable Disk There are several steps to formatting removable disks:

1. Insert the disk into the disk drive. 2. Open the Hard Drive by double clicking the icon on the desktop 3. Depending on which view you have selected you will either single

or double click the following folders. In the hard drive select the Application folder.

4. In the Application folder scroll down and select the Utilities folder 5. In the Utilities folder double click on Disk Utility, it will be indicated

by the following icon . By double clicking the previous icon you will open the Disk Utility dialogue box, pictured below.

6. From the Disk Utility dialogue box select the removable disk you would like to erase.

7. Then select the Erase tab

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8. Under the Volume Format pop-up menu select the format for the disk.

9. Next, you may rename your disk, by typing the new name in the

Name field.

10. Once you have renamed your disk select the erase button. 11. A warning box labeled Erase Volume will ask “Are you sure you

wish to erase the volume ‘your disk name’? Select the Erase button.

12. A status window will appear showing the progress. Messages that should appear in the status window are 1) Unmounting old volumes, 2) Erasing, and 3) Clearing Boot drivers

Once the disk is formatted, the icon will appear on the desktop with the name you gave it.

NOTE: The above example was specific to a ZIP disk, but the steps are the same for formatting all removable disks. If you are reformatting CD RW please note that you will not be able to select the Volume Format or rename it by using the Name field.

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Lesson 6: Customizing Macintosh OSX Introduction

Macintosh OS X offers many different ways for each user to customize their computer. In OS X you can easily set up and manage users by creating separate user accounts for everyone who uses your computer. In this lesson you will learn to customize the Dock, create aliases, and personalize your desktop picture, and display resolution.

Objectives By the end of this Lesson, you will be able to:

• Add and delete users and change the user picture • Customize the Dock • Create an Alias • Modify the Desktop Background • Change the display resolution

Managing Users

A feature of the Macintosh OS X is the ability to set up different user with unique settings and accessibility for each user. If you are the administrator or are assigned administrator status you are able to add and remove users. Creating a New User From the Apple menu choose System Preferences. In the System Preferences dialog box click once on Accounts. The Accounts dialog box will appear and you click on New User… to setup the new account. A new pane will appear prompting you to enter the name, password, and to verify the password for the new account. You also have the option of selecting a picture for the account and applying administrator status.

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Editing Your User Account The little picture appearing next to your account name on the log in screen may be changed as well as your password. To edit your account, click once on My Account in the Personal section of the System Preferences dialog box. The My Account window appears and from there you may change your password or user picture.

Deleting a User From the Account dialog box, on the bottom left hand corner, click the button that has the minus sign. A popup menu will show and it will give

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you the options to select what you want to do with the home folder for the account. Choose your option and click ok to delete the account.

Customizing the Dock

To access the Dock options select the Apple menu and click once on Dock. The sub-menu for the Dock will appear and you will have to option to turn on or off magnification, turn the hiding on and off, and position the dock at the left, right, or on the bottom of your screen.

Add/Remove Applications from the Dock Another option for customizing the Dock is adding frequently used applications to the dock so that you may access them easily. To add an application icon to the Dock permanently, when you open an application an icon for the program will appear in the Dock, control click over the

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application icon to reveal the application’s contextual menu and choose Keep in Dock.

To remove a application from the dock, simply click and drag the application’s icon off the Dock. The icon will appear in the Dock only when the application is opened.

Creating an Alias

As learned in Lesson 3, an alias is a pointer to a file, folder, or application. Remember the key for identifying an alias is to look for a small arrow in the lower left-hand corner of the icon. Creating aliases and placing them on your desktop or adding them to the Dock enhances your ability to find items easily without searching the file structure. Select the item you wish to make an alias.

Once it is highlighted click on the File Menu and select Make Alias.

An icon will appear in the same location where you selected the original item with the same name followed by alias. At this point you can rename and move the alias to the desired location.

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Customizing Your Desktop Macintosh OS X gives you the option of changing the picture on your desktop. To change your desktop picture click on the Desktop icon in the Personal section of the System Preferences dialog box. The Desktop window will appear and in the collections pop-up menu you may select a category to choose a picture for the desktop.

Changing the Display Resolution Changing the resolution changes the amount of information you can view on your screen. As you increase the pixel resolution more information will fit on the screen because everything will be smaller. To change the display resolution click on Displays in the Hardware section of the System Preferences dialog box. The Apple Studio Display window will appear and in the Resolutions section you may choose your preferred resolution.

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Summary

You are now able to customize your Macintosh OS X computer making it easier, more efficient, and personally set up for you. You are able to manage your accounts by adding and deleting users with various levels of accessibility. You can also specify a different image for each user account. The next lesson discusses how to maintain you Mac OS X computer and how to get help when needed.

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Lesson 7: Maintenance and Troubleshooting Introduction

For the most part, computers operate with minimal errors or difficulty. Occasionally, however, a computer will stop responding. When this happens, it is necessary to exit the application or program that you are using. Occasionally, it is necessary to restart your computer in order to restore normal operating conditions.

Objectives By the end of this Lesson, you will be able to:

• Exit a program that is no longer responding • Restart a Macintosh computer • Perform simple diagnostic tests on a Macintosh OS hard drive

Exiting Stalled Applications

To exit an application no longer responding, a user needs to execute the Force Quit command. By executing the Force Quit command, you close the stalled application. After the application has been properly closed, the computer can safely be shut down or a diagnostic test can be performed on your hard drive (discussed in Section 7). To close the stalled application, press the Command, Option and Escape keys on the keyboard all at the same time.

The following dialog box will appear. Make sure you select the application that is not responding and then hit the Force Quit button. If you change your mind you may hit the Close button to close the dialog box.

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If the Force Quit is successful, the application will close. Unfortunately, if this was the application you were working in you will lose any unsaved changes to your document. (Save Your Work OFTEN). After the application closes, close all other open documents and applications and reboot your computer. If the Force Quit is not successful then you will want to execute the commands below. Power Macintosh Computers

G3 and G4 Macintosh Computers

OR

This will force the computer to restart. Once the computer starts to reboot, a warning message appears telling you that the computer was not properly shut down. It will automatically perform any necessary diagnostic tests and bring the computer back up.

Restarting Your Computer

Terms to Know Reboot/Restart – Restarting the computer will turn the computer off and then “reboot” the system.

If Force Quit was successful you will want to restart the computer after closing all files and programs. To restart the computer, in the menu bar click on the Apple menu and select Restart. A dialog box will appear asking you if you are sure you want to restart the computer now, click on the Restart button. The computer will shut itself down and restart the OS X.

Disk Utility OS X Version 10.2 (Jaguar): If your computer has been freezing or if you have been experiencing error messages, run Disk Utility’s First Aid. First Aid is an utility application that checks your hard disk and repairs minor directory damage caused by crashes and other problems. To run First Aid:

• Open your Hard Drive • Open the Applications folder • Open your Utilities folder • Then double click on Disk Utility

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• Next, Select the “First Aid” tab • Then select the disk you want to repair. • Finally select the button to run testing and repairs on the selected

disk. The following image demonstrates the steps to using First Aid for OS X version 10.2:

OS X Version 10.3 (Panther): To run Disk Utility’s First Aid in Panther:

Open the Hard Drive. Open the Applications folder. Open the Utilities folder. Double click on Disk Utility.

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By default the First Aid tab is selected. Then select the disk you want to repair. Finally select the button to run testing and repairs on the selected

disk. The image below demonstrates Disk Utility for OS X version 10.3:

System Information To check the system information on your computer, from the Apple menu select About This Mac. The About This Mac dialog box will be displayed. From this window you will be able to identify the current operating system, the speed of the processor, and the amount of RAM installed.

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Getting Help

Mac Help offers thorough help with just about any Macintosh OS X item. To launch the Mac Help dialog box select Mac Help from the Help menu in the menu bar. Here you may type a help question or select a topic from a topics list.

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Summary

In this lesson you learned the procedure for exiting out of a stalled application. You also learned to how to run Disk First Aid, get system information, and use Mac Help. This concludes the final lesson for the Macintosh X operating system. Congratulations on completing the Introduction to Computers Module over Macintosh OS X.

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Getting Help Help Desk Help Desk Contact Information Moody Hall 309 448-8443 [email protected] http://www.stedwards.edu/it Help Desk Hours of Operation (Fall and Spring Semesters) Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM Friday 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Saturday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM Sunday 2:00 PM – 10 PM Training Staff Joana Trimble, Computer Competencies and Training Manager Moody Hall 319 464-8816 [email protected] Megan Garza, Training Coordinator Moody Hall 313 448-8554 megang@ stedwards.edu Mike Bell, Part-Time Training Coordinator Moody Hall 311 428-1296 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.stedwards.edu/it




Documents

Module 1: Mac Operating System