Macintosh Basics

Macintosh Basics

Starting Up

Press the I/O button on the computer itself.
If the I/O button on the monitor is not glowing with any color (it glows orange when the computer is off, green when it is on), press that I/O button also.
Wait for the system software to finish loading. You will know when you are ready to work when all of the icons on your desktop are visible.

Shutting down

Quit all open programs by going to the File menu and choosing Quit.
Make sure the Finder or desktop is active by looking to see if there is a check next to it in the menu in the upper right hand corner of your screen.If there is not, choose Finder.
Go to the Special menu and choose Shut Down or press the power button on the computer and click the Shut Down button.

Restarting

Sometimes when you are working you will need to restart your computer because of error messages that you receive or because it is not reading your floppy disk or zip disk.

NOTE: Restarting will solve about 90% of the computer troubles that you encounter during these training sessions and as you work on your technology projects.If restarting does not resolve a problem, ask for help from the trainers or the lab staff.

If the computer is not frozen (i.e. the mouse still moves and you can make selections with it):

Quit all open programs by going to the File menu and choosing Quit.
Go to the Special menu and choose Restart or press the power button on the computer and click the Restart button.

If the computer is frozen (i.e. you cannot do anything including move the mouse):

Try pressing the open-apple, option, and esc keys all at the same time. This will force quit the program that you are working in causing any unsaved work to be lost.
When the dialog box appears, click on the Force Quit button.This should quit the program and allow you to continue working without restarting the computer.If you are still unable to move the mouse, continue to the next step, as you will need to restart the machine.
To restart the computer, locate the two small buttons that are under the power key on the CPU itself.Press the reset button on the left.

What is on your desktop?

After you turn on or restart your computer, you will see the desktop or the area where you do your work. On the desktop you see small pictures or icons, which represent the items you work with or create on your computer. By default, there are three icons on your desktop: the Macintosh HD, the COE lab printer, and the Trash:

The Macintosh HD is where all of the applications and the system software that runs the computer are stored.
The COE lab printer is the place where any documents that you print in the lab will go. You can view active print jobs by double-clicking on the printer icon.
The Trash is where you place any items that you would like to delete. When items are in the Trash, the lid is off and it looks like there is something it. When nothing is in the trash, the lid is on. To empty the Trash:
1. Go to the Special Menu and choose Empty Trash.
2. Click the OK button when the dialog box appears asking if you want to remove these items permanently.

Using the Launcher

Besides the icons, you will also see a Launcher window on your desktop. The Launcher is used for starting programs. To open a program, all you have to do is click once on its icon in the Launcher. If the Launcher is not available, you can do one of two things.

To reopen the Launcher window:

Go the Apple menu in the upper left hand corner of your screen and select Control Panels while still holding the mouse button down.
Select Launcher from the list of available Control Panels.
The launcher window will open.

To open programs without the Launcher window:

Double-click on the Macintosh HD icon on the desktop.
Double-click on the Applications folder.
Locate the program that you would like to open with the Applications folder.
Double-click on the program icon (sometimes you will have to open the programs folder before you can locate the program icon).

Switching between open programs

You can have several programs open at a time, but you can only work with the frontmost or "active" program. To see the programs that are open:

Open the Application Menu (in the upper-right corner of the screen).
The "active" program has a checkmark next to it.

There are two ways to change the "active" program (switch between programs):

Click in any open window of the program that you want to use.
Choose the program that you what to use from the Application menu.

If you have programs open that you are not using, you should quit those programs by making them active and then choosing Quit from the File menu. Doing this will help you avoid getting low memory error messages.

Zip vs. Floppy disks

You can use both zip and floppy disks in the computers in the COE lab. When you are choosing which type of disk to use or using a disk in the lab, keep the following things in mind:

The zip drive is located in the CPU. NEVER put floppy disks in the zip drive as they could get stuck and damaged.
The floppy drive is located on the desk, typically underneath the monitor or next to it. NEVER put zip disks in the floppy drive as they could get stuck and damaged.
If you are purchasing a zip disk to use in the lab, look for a 100 MB disk because 250 MB disks DO NOT work in the lab computers.
After you insert a floppy disk or zip disk, an icon for the disk will appear on your desktop.
The primary difference between floppy disks and zip disks is the amount of information that they can hold. Most floppy disks have room to store 1.44 MB of information. Most zip disks store 100 MB, which is the equivalent of almost 70 floppy disks.

Ejecting a disk

Unfortunately, you cannot simply press the button on or next to a disk drive to eject a disk when you are using a Macintosh. If you do this, the computer will continue to look for the disk and may even crash! To properly eject a disk:

Click once on the disk icon to select it.
Go the Special Menu and choose Eject or drag the disk icon to the Trash and drop it when the Trash icon gets dark (is highlighted).