Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac(R): MacOS X Edition [Paperback]

Gene Steinberg (Conductor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2001 | ISBN-10: 007219359X | ISBN-13: 978-0072193596 | Edition: 1st

The magic of the Mac is back! Mac OS X is a truly revolutionary operating system that has great flexibility and functionality. Author Gene Steinberg shows readers how to tap techniques of IT professionals to make your Mac run at top efficiency.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gene Steinberg understands that the new Macintoshes--like all computers--are systems of hardware and software, and that neither may be separated from the other. Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac: Mac OS X Edition is an intimate picture of modern Mac hardware (the Power Mac, PowerBook, iBook, and iMac platforms) and the points at which it interacts with Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X. As you'd expect, readers learn how to select and install add-in hardware like SuperDrives and supplementary RAM, but the Mac makes those procedures pretty easy by design. The real value in this book comes in two areas.

First, Steinberg answers all kinds of common, but officially unaddressed, questions. Is it absolutely safe to put your laptop through an airport x-ray machine? How does a G4 behave when a SCSI card is malfunctioning at the hardware level? What happens if you try to make an officially unsupported graphics card work? Do third-party processor upgrades work? He explains most of these matters with stories taken from his experience as a longtime Mac user.

Second, the author knows a ton of tricks for working with the Mac OS itself, and is liberal with his recommendations of utilities for diagnosing, repairing, and adjusting its behavior. His thoughts on how to solve problems by reinstalling your operating system without wiping out your installed programs will save you time in all but the gravest situations. You'll find this book particularly valuable if you do upgrade and repair work on unfamiliar Macs. --David Wall

Topics covered: Changing and adjusting hardware on modern Macintosh computers (PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs, Power Mac G4s, and, to a lesser extent, Power Mac G3s). All the key subsystems get attention: monitors, networks, SCSI chains, FireWire peripherals, and hard drives. Special (and especially valuable) coverage of Windows emulators and video capture hardware appears as well.

From Library Journal

Steinberg exhaustively covers both hardware and software issues, pointing out how the Classic Mac OS differs from OS X. Included is information on setting up a new Mac, upgrading system software, adding and troubleshooting hardware and peripherals, Internet connectivity issues, networking, and more. A useful "QuickStart" troubleshooting appendix provides basic information on topics from computer viruses to video editing, but this content would have been more useful as summaries after the appropriate chapters. For public libraries serving Mac users.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007219359X
• ISBN-13: 978-0072193596
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,229,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes Mac OS X Safe for the Rest of Us, November 22, 2001

By 

Tim Kirk (Piscataway, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac(R): MacOS X Edition (Paperback)

At last, a book that's taken away the fear of Mac OS X. Mr. Steinberg's newest book not only tells you how to get the most out of your Mac hardware, he shows you how to make Mac OS X 10.1 play nicely. I was pleased to discover a way to do a clean install of Mac OS X without erasing my drive (something Apple has yet to figure out) and a handy terminal tip that helped me empty the trash when I started getting messages that it was "in use." I highly recommend this book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with case histories to illustrate common problems, February 9, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac(R): MacOS X Edition (Paperback)

Gene Steinberg's Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac: Mac OS X Edition is a hands-on manual that focuses on both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.1 and later. It discusses upgrading, preventive maintenance, and troubleshooting. Filled with case histories to illustrate common problems and repair solutions, this book covers a wide range of important issues -- from survival advice for laptops and organizing SCSI chains to overcoming Ethernet difficulties. 612 pages

4.0 out of 5 stars just what a power user needs, November 29, 2008

By 

Kevin R. Buckner "unix addict" (San Antonio TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Your Mac(R): MacOS X Edition (Paperback)

I switched to being an Apple Mac user this summer from Linux. I was so tired of the wi-fi and codec issues and
installation glitches on Linux that I wanted a simpler OS to use. However this book gives so many tip on how to maintain a MAC with both rescue and prevention techniques. With this book I use the MAC OS X with even more confidence. I learned how to upgrade RAM, fix disk permissions and even how to do things like upgrade an internal hard drive. I am very impressed with the book, so much now Im using it to help me prepare for MAC
certification