The personal settings which control the configurable options on your Mac or iOS device. Examples include what wallpapers are displayed, when a screen saver will be displayed, or whether or not Time Machine is enabled and how it is configured.
1
vote
1answer
1k views
The system preference panes will not load
When I open System Preferences and click on an item it says 'Loading Users & Groups' at the top of the window, but will not load the pane.
I've tried deleting the property list file:
...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Use external display only with MacBook?
I have a Mid 2010 MacBook. Is it possible to make the external display into the only one, so that I can close the lid and keep working on my MacBook with an external keyboard/mouse and monitor?
2
votes
1answer
125 views
What is the Aliases pane in Sparrow?
I've just installed Sparrow on my brand new iMac. I found the Aliases pane in Sparrow:
I've Googled it and found some source say it similars to Shortcut in windows.
What the Aliases pane for?
...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
How to change tap to click using “defaults write” from command line?
I want to change the trackpad tap-to-click property from the command line. Graphically, I can do it by clicking System Preferences -> Trackpad -> Tap to Click. How can I do it from the command line?
...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Why can I no longer open the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences?
Problem
Since April 2012, one user of my MacBook Pro can no longer load the Security & Privacy pane.
When I click the icon, a sheet drops down:
Translated from Chinese to English:
Error
...
0
votes
0answers
75 views
Spaces preferences carried into Lion - can't get hash symbol
In Snow Leopard I used to use Option + cursors to move around spaces (not Command - this was because I liked Command + cursors for 'Home' and 'End').
Therefore I also used Option + 1, Option + 2 etc ...
5
votes
1answer
305 views
Does using a brightness reducing app save battery?
I installed the app Brightness Slider on my MacBook because the lowest brightness setting in the System Prefs isn't low enough at times. When I choose a brightness setting below what the System Prefs ...
1
vote
1answer
823 views
How can I change scroll direction in Snow Leopard?
I've gotten so used to the Lion natural scrolling that using (for lack of a better term) unnatural scrolling in Snow Leopard and earlier is very annoying. Is there any way I can reverse it for OSes ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I completely disable automatic keyboard backlighting on Macbook Pro with OSX Lion?
I have the system pref "Automatically illuminate the keyboard in low light" disabled. However, when I wake the computer from sleep and the login prompt appears, the keyboard backlight turns on. ...
0
votes
3answers
280 views
Saved preferences resetting on restart
I just bought a MacBook Pro with OS X Lion.
I am having a problem with all my saved preferences: for example, in my Finder "General Preferences", the new finder window shows setting keeps resetting ...
0
votes
1answer
92 views
Is there a setting to force Adium to open a new chat in a new window?
For Adium, a single window holds many chats.
from official link (http://trac.adium.im/wiki/TabbedMessaging)
"A single window might contain 10 different tabbed chats"
Is there any setting where I ...
4
votes
2answers
680 views
How do I stop my Mac from attempting Time Machine Backups?
I have a 2005 PowerBook running 10.5.8 that, in its previous life, was my personal, full time machine that I used all the way through graduate school. It has been relegated to very light duty in the ...
10
votes
4answers
3k views
Why are my plists in ~/Library/Preferences accompanied by a matching lockfile in Lion?
$ cd ~/Library/Preferences
$ ls -1 | grep plist | head -10
AddressBookMe.plist
com.adiumX.adiumX.plist
com.adiumX.adiumX.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist.lockfile
...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
What is the purpose of the extra room on Finder's “View Options” window?
I am running 10.6.8 on a late 2008 MBP.
I know this has been the look of the "View Options" window for a while, but I just really noticed all of the extra space at the bottom. It's now being used in ...
1
vote
1answer
256 views
Any way to change recommended resolution for all users on a Mac (preferably via Terminal)?
I work on a college campus with a number of iMacs hooked up to projectors. For some reason, after imaging, they all default to 800x600 resolution on both the iMacs and the projectors, despite their ...
0
votes
0answers
116 views
How to toggle closeViewZoomFollowsFocus in com.apple.universalaccess via shell script with instant activation?
I created a Service with Automator on a Mac running "Lion 10.7.3". The Service toggles via a shell script the visibility of hidden files in the Finder and works like a charm. Here's the script:
...
3
votes
1answer
284 views
Need location of image for preference pane “PREF” icon
I have a stack in my Dock with aliases to my most-used preference panes. In the past, the icons that appear in the grid when I click on the stack have been the large descriptive icons shown in Finder. ...
1
vote
2answers
70 views
Is it safe to edit App Bundles in Core Services?
There is a default preference I want to edit (or delete and recreate in the English.lproj) in the Dock bundle in System/Library/CoreServices.
What are the possible negative repercussions to editing ...
3
votes
3answers
147 views
What files are accessed when an app starts up?
I am wondering if there is a way to see which files an application accesses (reads or writes) when starting up.
/usr/bin/fs_usage seems like one tool, but I wondered if there are others.
I am trying ...
0
votes
1answer
224 views
Energy Saver preferences keep breaking
This is a new question related to a question I asked previously.
MacBook is sleeping despite being set to "never" sleep
Basically, the MacBook would sleep after 3 hours despite the ...
0
votes
0answers
186 views
Apache starts even if web sharing is disabled
I do web development so I normally have web sharing turned on in the sharing preferences.
After upgrading to Lion I have been continuing with the web development projects I have pretty much as ...
1
vote
1answer
988 views
How do I remove the sync status icon from the menu bar after migrating to iCloud?
How do I remove the sync status icon from the menu bar after migrating to iCloud?
Prior to iCloud the Sync pane of MobileMe preferences had a simple setting for this, but after migration it is ...
4
votes
1answer
3k views
How do I disable Microsoft Outlook 2010 calendar notifications?
I use "Mail" as my default mail client and "iCal" as my default calendar. However I have to use outlook when sending emails to work because their outlook for windows clients don't support inlining and ...
2
votes
0answers
220 views
Keyboard Shortcut for moving left/right a space doesn't work
After going to:
Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Mission Control
I am able to assign a keyboard shortcut to move left/right a space. However pressing shortcut I assigned does not ...
2
votes
2answers
308 views
How can I protect a preference file?
I use Mobile Me to synchronize the settings of three different Macs, but I have some problems with specific preference file because one of the Macs runs Mac OS X Lion.
I would like to avoid that ...
2
votes
2answers
758 views
System Preferences crashes when trying to open time setting
My System Preferences are crashing when I try to open time setting on my mac. I have try to repair the permissions by following the help given on this thread ...
1
vote
4answers
5k views
How Do I Restore the Default Settings in Lion?
I love playing with new operating systems, and also love to experience the default behaviour that Those That Be have decreed are the New Best Thing. Up until now, I've always - be it Windows or Mac OS ...
3
votes
1answer
614 views
Why does three-finger swipe gesture not support natural scrolling?
There are three page swipe gesture options in Lion:
Scroll left or right with two fingers, which is new to Lion, has a neat animation and is currently supported only by Safari.
Swipe left or right ...
2
votes
2answers
766 views
How do I edit Managed Client preferences without them getting replaced?
Specifically I would like to edit com.apple.applicationaccess.new.plist. (Which is in /Library/Managed Preferences/[username]/), but when I restart the computer my edited preferences are replaced with ...
3
votes
0answers
2k views
What is the .plist.lockfile introduced in Lion? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why are my plists in ~/Library/Preferences accompanied by a matching lockfile in Lion?
Since upgrading to Lion, I have noticed that Lion is placing lockfiles that ...
1
vote
0answers
167 views
Why do editors such as BBEdit and Textmate have the option of ending your file in a newline (line break)? Why is that important? [closed]
Sorry about the n00b question but why is this an option? Is there any caveats to not ending a file with a line break?
0
votes
1answer
190 views
How can I delete “Passenger” from my “System Preference”?
About 2 years ago I tried and installed Phusion Passenger Preference Pane for OS X and now I need to delete its "Passenger" icon from my System Preference. There's no uninstall option, how can I ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Is there a way to export syntax color settings from one Xcode installation to a new one?
I have installed a new XCode 4 on a machine and I'd like to copy/paste the syntax coloring settings from the first one to the new one. How may I do this ?
0
votes
1answer
241 views
Backup and restore application preferences
I already have a backup of my system on Time Machine, but will it restore my application preferences too when I migrate to a new system? Even if it is Lion? (I come from Snow Leopard)
And what about ...
0
votes
2answers
205 views
I can't save my system preferences
I can't save my dock and spaces setting. Every time I set them (eg. disable spaces), after I reboot/re-login to the system, the dock and spaces settings will revert back to the previous status. How ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Is there any way to turn off the automatically opening window for a preview in Marsedit?
Whenever I open a post to edit it a whole preview window opens up along with it. I find this effect disorienting. I looked in the preferences and couldn't find anything. How do I shut off the ...
4
votes
2answers
357 views
How does the defaults domain ‘Network’ work? (/Network/Library/Preferences/)
How does the Network preference/defaults domain work on Mac OS? I see it referenced in a lot of Apple documentation, but I don’t understand this particular preference domain.
I get the user defaults ...
1
vote
1answer
169 views
Third-party service that syncs preferences? Like MobileMe
Are there any third-party software or services that offer synchronization of user-preferences the same way that MobileMe does?
I’m thinking of the user defaults that live inside ...
1
vote
2answers
199 views
Removing entries from the MobileMe synchronization list
Some applications can synchronize data using MobileMe synchronization; the problem I have with those applications is that they are still listen in the MobileMe preference panel, under the ...
0
votes
1answer
117 views
Is there a preference file where MobileMe username and password are saved?
I am looking for a preference file that contains the MobileMe username/password couple that I would need to pass to a script that starts the MobileMe synchronization. What I am trying to achieve is to ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
How can I enable SSH without using the gui or apple script on snow leopard?
A while back here How can I enable internet sharing without using the gui or apple script on snow leopard? I asked if any one knows how to enable Internet sharing without using GUI or apple script, I ...
1
vote
1answer
99 views
How can I change the preferred application for opening “fmp7://” URLs from FileMaker Pro Advanced to FileMaker Pro?
I have both FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced installed. Because the available licenses for the Advanced product are limited, I shouldn't use it unless necessary. But when neither application ...
1
vote
2answers
472 views
How do I prevent my MacBook Air from forgetting my Remapped Caps Lock Key?
As someone who doesn't like to shout, I have Caps Lock remapped to Control on all of my computers. A second control key is far more useful to a guy who spends most of his time in Terminal.app. This ...
1
vote
1answer
671 views
How does Office 2008 for Mac store its Recent items?
I don't have access to Office 2008, but require the information for a project I'm working on. I'm mainly interested in Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
This is the information I have gathered so far...
...
2
votes
2answers
808 views
Is there any global Finder setting for “Keep Arranged By”?
Is there any global Finder setting for "Keep Arranged By"?
I know I can set it on a per folder basis pressing Option - Right Click:
It is painful having to do this for every folder though...
...
2
votes
2answers
544 views
Library specific iTunes preferences?
I would like to have two iTunes libraries with one being automatically organized and the other letting me choose where to store the files. When I create a second library it seems to share the same ...
