ADVANCED MACINTOSH TROUBLESHOOTING

For further troubleshooting, please visit: MacMasters

ENTOURAGE TROUBLESHOOTING: RESPONDING SLOW

Entourage responding too slow

Too many mails in your inbox.
How it impacts: Every time when send & receive runs on your machine, it takes time to sync depending on number of mails on the exchange server.
Fix: You need to move mails from your exchange/POP/IMAP account to your computer folder.
Process: In order to fix this follow the following steps:
a. Launch Entourage.
b. Select the mails that you want to move from exchange to your computer. You can use command key to select multiple items.
c. Now drag those folders to "On My Computer" folder in Entourage.
d. If you want to add sub folders under "On My Computer", just use contextual menu on this folder.
Just like the mails you can also copy the whole inbox in "On My Computer" folder.

Please Note: Once you move those mails from your inbox, it is moved from the server so you will not be able to check those mails from anywhere else, i.e. from any other machine.

Other useful steps could be Archiving the mails to Macintosh HD or any other storage device or you can also create rules to delete certain certain items from the inbox automatically.

STOP OUTGOING MAILS AFTER REBUILD

After Rebuild Entourage starts resending old mails

Working at a help desk we use to get this issue that sometimes after rebuilding database Entourage starts sending old mails (upto one year old) to the users added in the contact list.
Though it took really long time but finally we reached to the conclusion, "The reason is not that rebuild is unsuccessful but it is due to the duplicate identity that is created while creating the database." This duplicate identity is selected in the place of main identity in Entourage and all you need to do is just change it to the default original identity what it should be and it will stop sending the mails.
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ENTOURAGE TROUBESHOOTING: COMPOSING MAIL

Partial mail vanishes while composing

This seems to be, though it is actually not a problem.
MS office has enabled Entourage with a feature that allows the user to highlight a portion of the original message and then when you forward or reply, it only brings that part that's highlighted into the new message. In order to fix this all you have to do is don't highlight anything in the original message and it will all appear in the new message or otherwise if you want, you can use this feature here onwards.
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BASIC ENTOURAGE TROUBLESHOOTING

The very Basic Entourage troubleshooting.

1. The very first thing you need to make sure of, is you need to be updated. Not just OS X but also your MS Office suite. Most of the problems are solved by simply keeping the machine updated. Make sure you are using the latest versions for the OS and Microsoft Office.
2. Sometimes just a normal rebooting of your Mac is required. This often fixes many problems.
3. Running Repair Permissions is another standard tool used to repair problems, but it is more effective with the inbuilt OS X applications.
4. The very first recommended step is to delete cache files which is effective many times.
5. Finally you have the option to delete the plist i.e. deleting the preferences files. Doing this the application changes all the settings to default hence solving the issue if it was due to any changes made.

MANAGING THE DELEGATES

How to manage the delegatory access?

1. Open Entourage and click on Mail icon.
2. On the left side in the folder list, select Calendar, Address book, inbox folder that you want to change access for.
3. Now come on Edit menu, select Folder Properties & then click the tab that says Permissions.
4. Select the user (ofcourse name) whom you want to change the permissions for.
5. Here you will find Permission Level pop-up, define the access level that you want to grant this user.

If you want to know details of delegatory access and study other troubleshooting steps please refer Mactopia.

REMOVING A DELEGATE

How to remove a delegate from Entourage?

1. Launch Entourage and on the Tools menu, click on Accounts and select the Mail tab.
2. Open the Microsoft Exchange account that you want to delete/remove a delegate from.
3. Come on Delegate tab, in My Delegates, select the delegate that you want to remove, and then click Remove.

It was really simple, isn't it?

ENTOURAGE TROUBESHOOTING: HOW TO ADD A DELEGATE

Adding a Delegate (Only for Exchange users)

1. Launch Entourage go to Tools and then Accounts.
2. Open the account that you want to create the delegate for, then select the Delegate tab.
3. Go to My Delegates and select Add.
4. Type the name of the user whom you want to give access to, and try to resolve the name by clicking Find.
5. Select the user and click OK.
6. Now define the permission levels that you want to give to that delegate from Calender, Address book and Inbox.

Note: Before you give access to anyone the user has to add you under Users I am Delegate for.

EXTERNAL SITES

Links for you


MacFixit
Macintouch
OSX-Faq
Mac Tips
Mac 101

Gain some more insight from these links.

ENTOURAGE IN SPOTLIGHT

Now use Spotlight feature for Entourage

As soon as you get 11.2.3 Update installed on your OS X, Spotlight feature is ready to execute searches in your Entourage database contents. Spotlight has the capability to search and locate the mail from your Entourage regarless of where it is. You can find any item (to specify Email, Notes and Schedules) related to any kind of mail account (POP, IMAP or Exchange) which could be saved inside your Entourage database. Spotlight can search all folders of all types be it of any type of mail account. So now without browsing to search option in Entourage you can find data in all locations across all folders in Entourge, hence making you work faster then ever.Now get the things done faster than you have been doing, the best way to impress for your boss.
Here is the setting that needs to be done:

Once selected, you will be able to use this option.
On this window you will find a button that says Rebuild. If we select REMOVE AND RECREATE Entourage index that spotlight that Spotlight uses. If the database is too long then this process might take some time.
Rebuilding process starts as soon as you press this button (pressing ‘OK’ button at the bottom of that window is not required). I would recommended to rebuild your cache if you continue to see difference between what you have in Entourage and what Spotlight finds for you.

Now here it comes- you will find all the mails that you have deleted in last 30 days.

Select the mails those you want to be recovered and it will go to the folder where it was deleted from.

Need further assistance and information? Click here.

ENTOURAGE WITHOUT VPN

Check Your Exchange Mail Without VPN access in Entourage 2004

The most dynamic feature built in Entourage 2004 is providing you the ability to check your corporate Email being out of office, on your Mac and all this can be done without even firing up a VPN connection to connect your office network. Now you can configure Entourage to check being at your home or at any wi-fi netwok, just follow the following steps:

1. Launch your browser & log into your organization's Outlook Web Access website.
2. From the web address feild, copy all the matter till the first slash, including it. (just to explain, if the web address is http://mailexchange.com/laeeq, copy http://mailexchange.com/)
3. Now launch the Entourage and go to Tools and select Account Settings.
4. Open the settings and paste the copied website address in the Server field.
5. Once done, you hould be able to send & recieving mails without using VPN.
If you want to access public folders from home, go to the Public Folders link in Outlook Web Access and copy-paste the first part of the URL (e.g. http://www.example.com/public) into the Public Folder server field on your Exchange account's Advanced tab in your Entourage. Source

RECOVER DELETED ITEMS

How to recover deleted items in Entourage

This option of recover deleted items is used when you delete the items even from your deleted items and you require that particular mail after that.
Unfortunalely we can not retrieve mails from Entourage id we have deleted it once, but for the Exchange accounts there is a work around.

• Login to your webmail and go to Options.

• Now select Deleted items. A new box will come up with the options to Recover Deleted Items and Remove or Delete Permanently.


• Now here it comes- you will find all the mails that you have deleted in last 30 days.
• Select the mails those you want to be recovered and it will go to the folder where it was deleted from. Source
  

SYNCING ADDRESS BOOK WITH MAIL

Unable to Sync Address Book with Entourage

If in case you are unable to resolve the addresses even though it is saved it in your Address Book application in Entourage.
Here are few steps that needs to be performed in order to fix this.

1. Launch Entourage & o to Preferences.
2. Under General Preferences, select Sync Services.
3. Put a check on Synchronize contact with Address Book and .Mac

Doing this, hopefully should fix this issue.
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PLACE OF SIGNATURE IN A REPLY

How to change place of a Signature in a reply

• Launch Entourage and go to Preferences.
• Now select Reply & Forward.
• Location of your mail is determined by mail attribution.
• Select the options of your choice accordingly.

Source
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EXPORTING CONTACTS TO YAHOO

How to export contact list to Yahoo mail

1. Go to 'File' menu in Entourage and select Export contacts.
2. Export the contacts as text file and then open this file in Excel.
3. Select 'Save As' from file menu and save it in .csv format.
4. Now open your Yahoo mail account and go to Addresses.
5. Click on 'Import Your Contact from other Application'.
6. From the dialogue box locate the file that you have saved and click on 'Import Now'.

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TEXTLESS MAILS?

When there is no text in the Mail

If it happens that you opened a mail and you are sure that there should be some text written there but all you can see is a blank screen.
I am mentioning two reasons, either should work:

(A) Launch Entourage and go to Preferences.
(B) Come on General Tab and under Security put a check on "Display complex HTML in messages".
Hopefully this should fix this issue. Otherwise:

Your internet preferences file could be correpted, to fix this, try following steps:
(A) Go to HD and select the ID of the user.
(B) Enter its Library and open Preferences.
(C) Drag the plist file (com.apple.internetconfig.plist) on the desktop.
(D) Now launch Entourage and this should fix the issue. If it is fixed then you can delete the plist file.
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HI-END ARCHIVING

Archiving through Entourage Email Archive X 4.1.0

If you are looking for high end archiving to transfer the mails to the machine so that you can search them using spotlight to locate the file/mail. Technically addressed as EEAX, this has fuction of archiving the file in many diffferent formats and is completely Unicode compliant. You can download this script from here.
Source

AUTO LAUNCH ENTOURAGE

Set up Entourage to launch automatically when you login

If Entourage is an essential application for you and you use it as an important tool for your business, then this post could be of great help for you. I am mentioning the setup procedure to launch Entourge at the time of login.
1. Go to "System Preferences".
2. Select "Accounts".
3. In Accounts window, select you name.
4. Open the "Login Items" and add click on "+" icon.
5. Browse and add Entourage as its default location is in Applications > Microsoft Office 2004 (or 2008) > Entourage.
6. Once you add the application, come out of Accounts window and re-login to the machine to check if it is working fine.

I suggest new users a simple way i.e. just launch Entourage and then hold the icon on the dock, you will get an option of Open at Login, just select it and it is done.

SCHEDULING NO SCHEDULE

Unable to open Entourage

Sometimes you try to open Entourage and it crashes at soon as it is launched. In this case though there could be various reasons one of them is "Schedule" that could create the problem.
To fix this we need to stop schedules at the time of launching Entourage.
Hold down "Shift" key and launch the application and this will stop schedules from launching, if by doing this the application is not crashing that means issue is with schedules and you need to find and delete the schedule that is creating Entourage to crash.
Further troubleshooting Entourage by Microsoft.

Source

PUT A DATE & TIME STAMP

Insert quick date and time stamp at the top of your notes.

Go to Notes in Entourage on the toolbar at the right end there is an icon that represents the date and time, once you select this icon, you will get instant date & time inserted on your notes.

ARCHIVING MAILS THROUGH MBOX

Archiving (exporting) Mails using MBOX

• Archive mails using MBOX functionOpen Entourage.
• Select the folder that needs to be exported.
• Now move this folder to the desktop.
• A new file will be created in the name of the folder.

Archiving (importing) Mails using MBOX

• Double click on the exported file on the desktop.
• Click IMPORT on import confirmation dialogue box.
• Entourage if, is ON or OFF in both the cases you will get an prompt of import dialogue box.
  

PREVENT THE CRASH

Entourage Crashing and closing automatically

Sometimes it might happen that as soon as you launch Entourages it closes down and not allows you to work. This might happen due to permissions and can be fixed by repairing disk permissions. Here is the process to repair it:



1. Go to Applications & launch Utilities.
2. Under Utilities, open Disk Utility.
3. On this screen, there is list of the Drives attached to the machine.


4. Select the hard drive in which application is installed and click on Verify Disk Permissions.


5. Once done, click on Repair Disk Pemissions and this process might take a while so gulp a coke while it finishes.
Once this process is complete restart the machine and then try to launch Entourage and it should work fine.
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REBUILDING DATABASE

Rebuild Database process (with images)

SHORTCUT TO LAUNCH REBUILD DATABASE:

Hold the Option key while launching Entourage.

a. The other option to rebuild the database is to first close all the Microsoft applications.

b. Launch Applications (Command+shift+A).
c. Go to 'Microsoft Office 2004' then 'Office' and then open 'Database Utility'.

d. Select Rebuild Database & click on Continue.

e. If there is any MS office program running, it will give you a prompt to close it down.

f. Once the rebuild process is complete, click on Done.

g. Entourage will bring you back to the same window, this time click on Quit.

Once this process is complete relaunch Entourage. For the very first time your Entourage might take long time depending on the size of your folders and database.

REBUILD YOUR DATABASE

REBUILDING DATABASE

SHORTCUT TO LAUNCH REBUILD DATABASE: Hold the Option key while launching Entourage.
a. The other option to rebuild the database is to first close all the Microsoft applications.
b. Launch Applications (Command+shift+A).
c. Go to 'Microsoft Office 2004' then 'Office' and then open 'Database Utility'.
d. Select Rebuild Database & click on Continue.
e. If there is any MS office program running, it will give you a prompt to close it down.
f. Once the rebuild process is complete, click on Done.
g. Entourage will bring you back to the same window, this time click on Quit.

Get the deep insight of Blogging

FINDING THE DATABASE

DATABASE LOST IN ENTOURAGE

You might complain that his profile is lost in Entourage & gets a prompt to create a new account. In this case you need to:

1. Quit Entourage.
2. Search folder "Microsoft User Data"
3. Go to Hard Drive.
4. Select users account.
5. Open Documents.
6. Now drag the folder "Microsoft User Data" to "Documents".

Once done, you needs to relaunch Entourage and it should work fine.
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WHERE IS THE DATABASE?

Ever tried to find where is your data stored on a Mac?

Each component of Entourage like rules, mailing lists, signatures, messages, address book, schedules, contacts, tasks, notes, calendar are located in a so called database under your identity:
Try to locate 'Main' folder. Your Identity is named 'Main' by default.
In Entourage 2008 this folder would be in /Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities/your identity.
In Entourage 2004 this folder would be in /Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2004 Identities/your identity.
In Entourage X this folder would be in /Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office X Identities/your identity.

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SIMPLIFY THE RULES

Here are some Tips to make help you set up your rules easily.
1. Rather than using individual addresses, use categories while setting up rules.2. It is preferred to have all the criteria set up in one rule, rather than doing them in separate rules.3. Whenever you select "All Rules" it activates the MLM and Junk Mail Filter.4. Actions which Move messages or run AppleScripts cannot be followed by other rules (unless the move message command is issued by the Mailing List Manager).This does not apply to Entourage 2004. But you can put some of the same actions into the same rule.5. You can always set the priority of the rules, the one which is in higher position runs first, then comes the bottom ones.

LIGHTEN YOUR SENT FOLDER

Remove attachments from sent mail
In order to remove attachments from sent mails you need to create a small rule.
1. Launch Entourage.
2. Go to Tools and select Rules.
3. Edit the Outgoing tab: *If any criteria are met
IF Attachment Exists
THEN Remove Attachments
After doing this if you check your sent items folder, none of the mails will contain the attachment and there would be an icon showing that these mails are edited.

SETTING UP OUT OF OFFICE REPLY IN ENTOURAGE 2008

How to set up Out of Office reply

If you have Entourage 2004 then unfortunately you cannot do it. If you have an Exchange account then you can use webmail to set this up. For POP and IMAP account there is a work around for setting OOO/OOOR, if you can download a third party application, you would be able to set out of office reply with the help of that, but again make sure that you should have Mac OS 10.4 or later version.
If you have upgraded it to Entourage 2008 then you can easily configure this in your Rules. Here are the steps to set this up:

How to turn ON out of office reply:
1. Launch your Entourage 2008.
2. Go to the Tools menu and click Out of Office. Select Send 'Out of Office messages'.
3. Under the 'Reply to message' with box, define the text that you want to be sent as reply.

How to turn OFF out of office reply:
1. Launch your Entourage 2008.
2. Go to the Tools menu and click Out of Office.
3. Select 'Do not Send Out of Office messages'.

Just wanted to tell you that your deligates cannot set ON or OFF out of office reply for you.
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MOVING SENT MAILS

How to sort sent mails to a folder

If in case you have no Mailing List Manager (MLM) you can set up a rule. Creating a rule for this is:
Go to Tools and then open Rules.
Select criteria are met: IF Any to recipient contains (enter address or name whose mail is to be moved) and then go define an action THEN Move Message (select folder to which you want mails to be moved).
Doing this you can transfer all the mails to one folder.
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SORTING SENT MAILS

Automatically moving a sent mail to a folder

If you want to transfer your reply mails automatically to a folder than you can do it just by using MLM if you are sending it to a group. There is an option of, "Also move messages I send to the list to this folder", where you define a folder where the mails are supposed to be transfered to.
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MAKE YOUR OWN RULES

How to set up Rules in Entourage

In this post I am mentioning only the simple way to set up rules in Entourage. This post will be useful for new users only and the Mac masters have to jump to my next post.

Creating Rules:
1. Launch Entourage.
2. Go to tools and click on Rules.
3. Select the account type (whichever you are using)
4. Select the condition.
5. Once done then click on OK.

Deleting the Rules:
1. In Entourage, goto Tools.
2. Click on Rules and select the Rule that needs to be deleted and click on Delete.

Starters can also refer to Microsoft website for Entourage rather than wasting time in finding solutions on blogs. If still unable to get an answer then please write us, we will respond with exact solution charging you a smile in return.
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ELEMINATING THE JUNKS

Junk Email settings

There is nothing much to be mentioned under this topic as Entourage 2004 and its latest edition i.e. Entourage 2008 has inbuilt feature for Junk emails. It automatically creates a junk folder and sorts all the junk mails arriving the inbox.

The basics of JMF (Junk Mail Folder)
[i] It is strictly not recommended to put your junk mail folder in deleted items as there is possibility of some good mails being moved to the junk folder.
[ii] JMF will not work on any contact that is added in your contacat list.
[iii] This is inbuilt in Entourage 2004 & Entourage 2008, in older versions you have to setup JMF manually.

If still you continue to get junk mails, you can get a free script to stop spam.
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MANAGING YOUR MAILING LISTS

How to set up Mailing List Manager?

Before we move ahead lets be clear about what a mailing list is all about? These are groups over the net that you join and they send mails to you, generally they come in bulk so it is a wise idea to create a seperate folder for this so that your inbox is never over limit. It is recommended to subscribe to a mailing list as it is a good source of information and knowledge. Here is an example of a mailing list and its subscription.
Under mailing list manager rules, there is an option selecting which you can run more rules under one MLM (Mailing List Manager).

Process to setup MLM:
1. Launch Entourage and select a mail that you have received from the mailing list.
2. Go to 'Tools' from the menu bar and select 'New'.
3. MLM is smart enough to fill up most of the feilds by itself, but make sure from your end that the the feilds entered is according to your preference.
4. Now it will allow you to add new folder to transfer mails coming from this list. Create a new folder with the name that you can recognize easily. (if you have subscribed to many mailing list then create a main folder in the root and put subfolders in it with the name of mailing lists).
5. All the new mails from this list will now come directly to this folder.
6. If you want existing mails to be moved to the defined folder then select all the mails in the inbox and right click (or hold ctrl key with the click) and select 'Apply Rules' and 'All Rules'. This option will help you to move all the old mails sitting in the inbox to the selected folder.
This way without selecting the mails seperately you can transfer them to the desired folder.
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RULE THE MAILS

Understanding the basics of Rules in Entourage

It is not worth telling you the purpose of rules as we all are well aware of the needs and the working method of rules in any mail client.
In Entourage rules are divided into three basic types:
(i) Mailing List Manager (MLM) (ii) Junk Mail Filter (JMF) (iii) Rules that you define

(i) Mailing List Manager: Pre-designed by Entourage that is very user friendly and easy to set up for incoming mails from mailing lists.
(ii) Junk Mail Filter: These are inbuilt rules by Entourage that are meant to stop the spam mails landing to your inbox.
(iii) Rules defined by you: These are very customizable criteria that you set in order to sort, delete or perform any other action with the mails. We will learn the details of setting up and working with rules here.

The order in which rules are executed are: First is Mailing List Manager (MLM), second is Junk Mail Filter (JMF) and last are Rules that you define.
# It is very important for us to know the instinct of Rules (created by you) in Entourage that when we create multiple rules, the rule on top in the list will also be on top priority.
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EXPORT & IMPORT BUSINESS

Exporting or Archiving your mails in Entourage
Exporting mails in Entourage is same as we create .pst files in Outlook. Entourage uses .rge format to export or archive the files. The first step is by which you can archive selected mails to a folder. Using second step we can transfer all the contents of a folder.

Archivng selected mails in Entourage:
1. Launch Entourage.
2. Select the mails that needs to be archived.
3. Come under Message menu and click on Move To.
4. Select the name of the Folder where the mails are suposed to be Archived.

Archivng complete folders:
1. Launch Entourage.
2. Go to File menu and select Export.
3. Now check all the folders that are needed to be archived and click on the triangle pointing 4. towards right (the next icon).
4. Now name the file and define a location for that filen(that is supposed to be in .rge format).
5. Once exporting is complete, click on Done.

Importing archived mails:
1. Click on File menu in Entourage.
2. Go to Import.
3. Locate the .rge file that needs to be archived and click on right arrow.
4. Once importing is complete then click on Done.

SIGN YOUR MAILS

Adding Signature in Entourage

• Launch Entourage.
• Click on Tools menu and go to Signature.
• On this window click on New & enter the signature of your choice and give a name to your sign.
• Once done, click on close button on top left and it will prompt you to save the sign that you have created.

Setting a default Signature in Entourage

• Launch Entourage.
• Open Entourage menu and go to Account Settings.
• On this new window go to Options tab.
• Under Default Signature select the name of the sign that you want to be set as default and click on OK.

Changing a Signature temporarily

• This can be done from the New mail window itself from where you compose a new mail.
• Click on the pen icon that denotes signature and it will open a drop down displaying all the signs that you might have created.
• Select the appropriate on and continue composing your mail. It will have the new sign.

ENTOURAGE - The Most alluring mail client.

Creating a New Account in Entourage
Creating a new account in Entourage is simple than any other Email client that you have ever worked on. Here are the steps that you need to follow in order to set up a New POP account.

• Launch Entourage, click on the Entourage menu (on the very top) then slect Account Settings.
• On this new Accounts window, click on drop down menu next to New and select Mail POP.
• Now hit the button Configure account manually.
• On this edit window enter the details i.e. in the Account name enter a name for this account to identify which Email is configured under this account.
• In the Name field enter the name that you want to be displayed when someone receives your mail (John Smith, JS Inc.)
• Enter your complete Email address in the E-Mail address box (e.g. john_smith@bigbird.net)
• Under the Account ID box enter first part of your email address (e.g. john_smith)
  In the POP server, enter the POP server name that your administrator might have given you (it should be like pop.bigbird.net).
• Now in the password field enter you password for your email address.
• For future convenience Save the password in my Mac OS keychain.
• In the SMTP server field enter smtp server name from administrator (like smtp.bigbird.net)
• Select the Click here for advanced sending options button.
• Put a check on "SMTP server requires authentication" box and close by clicking on the small square on top left. Click OK.

TIME CAPSULE - DEFEATING TIME WIRELESSLY

Apple has introduced Time Capsule, a wireless device that is an awesome product designed as companion hardware to the Time Machine automatic backup feature.
With Time Capsule, users will be able to go back through archived backups to find lost files, photos, digital media, and other data. Once the missing file is found, users can restore it wireless from Time Capsule; they can also restore an entire system from a Time Machine backup stored on the device.

Features & Pricing
If you are interested in analysing its technical specifications then let me mention it here:

• Time Capsule features dual-band antennas for 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequencies.
• It has one USB 2.0, one Gigabit Ethernet, and three Gigabit LAN ports.
• It can connect to print wirelessly from a USB printer.
• Time Machine offers Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA-2).
• If you are keen about its security then for your information Apple reveals that it meets 128-bit WEP encryption.

Apple has set price that will make you think once before you buy, but again it is one of its type so pricing is really fair, it is of 500GB model for $299 and a 1TB version for $499.

CHALLENGING TIME WITH TIME MACHINE

Time Machine: Smartest Application in Mac OS X.
What Apple states it: "Time Machine is a backup utility, not an archival utility, it is not intended as offline storage. Time Machine captures the most recent state of your data on your disk. As snapshots age, they are prioritized progressively lower compared to your more recent ones."
Using simple words, it can be stated as an application to back up files on your machine on the same or an external hard drive (USB or Firewire), which later on can be used to retrieve deleted or lost files.

When time machine starts it copies each and every file leaving the caches on your machine to the selected drive, which you can call as back up drive. It copies all the files in it oringnal state without compressing it, so that when required it could turn your Mac in its oringnal state. Time Machine keeps backing up files at regular intervals after the first back up that is termed as incremental backup, while doing this 'incremental/follow up' back ups it copies only those files that are changed since last back up. One any day when follow up back up is done it creates a link to the unchanged files in the drive so that if you try to retreive data on that day, you could access all the files and data as it was on that date.

Whats so unique about Time Machine?
1. Did you ever imagine of an application which can help your Mac machine getting backed up on a different machine in a network, well Time Machine lets you do this. If you want to know the process of setting up Time Machine in network go to the next heading "Ways to backup data on Network" or on Shared Hard Drive this article can help you.
2. Unlike other back up systems it not only stores the file in back up instead Time Machine has the capability to show exactly how your Mac looked on the selected date.
3. Another feature that makes Time Machine superior than others is its ability to stop & resume according to your Mac. For instance, if Time Machine is in the process to backing up the data and you need to turn your Mac off and leave for office or leave office for a weekend, here again like other back up system back up process will not be cancelled but Time Machine stops and goes to sleep and as soon as your Mac is turned back on, it resumes back up from the point it stopped.

Ways to backup data on Network
1. One by One: Buy an external hard drive, connect it to one machine & activate Time Machine. Once done, take that drive and connect to all the machines one by one and Time Machine is smart enough to create seperate backup for all machines. This seems to be quite hard way of doing the work, next is smarter method of doing the same work.
2. Connect the external hard drive to one Mac and use network file sharing to create back up on this external drive.
3. Going further, Mac has launched much smarter way of doing this by using Time Capsule, a specially designed wireless hardware for a hassle free back up.

Step by step process to back up:
Posting two videos here. First video is by about activating Time Machine on a Mac and the other one is retrieving lost files or restoring machine's orignal state in past.


Retrieving old files or machine's state

If you have any query, please let us know, we assure complete solution for the issue.
Some other useful sites for troubleshooting Mac are Macworld, Mac 101 & OS X Hints. Among which Mac 101 is managed by Apple.
The only condition is that you can use only those drives for backup which are supported by apple, to find the details of supported drives go to Apple. If in case you do not have one of such type, just don't worry, click here and you will get help with using unsupported drives with Time Machine- A great Search!

DON'T PANIC DUE TO KERNEL PANIC

Kernel Panic Error
When the kernel (core) of any Operating system receives a command of an instruction which is not recognized by it or fails to act or manage properly then it shows up an error screen which is known as kernel panic error. The other reasons can be incompatible and damaged hardware, softwares or even drivers. All the versions of OS X can be affected due to this.

How it looks like
According to the version of OS, the look of kernel panic error may differ.
Fig KP1 shows how it looks in latest versions of OS 10.3 to 10.5

Figure showing kernel panic. Fig - KP1

The next figure (KP - 2) shows how it looks in in Mac OS 10.2
Figure showing kernel panic. Fig - KP2

Here (in Fig KP - 3) is the screen shot how it looks in OS 10.1
Figure showing kernel panic. Fig - KP - 3
.


Other reasond behind this could be RAM & motherboards, corrupted drivers, third party softwares & widgets and many more things like incorrect permissions on System-related files or folders, insufficient RAM and blank space in HD, also it could be bad sectors, corrupted directory, and other hard-disk ills. Even when AirPort® or AirPort Extreme card is not installed properly or is loose then it could result in kernel panic.

Fixing Kernel Panics after Security Update 2005-009 (For Tiger)
I faced this problelm when I had OSX 10.4 and here is the solution that I have tried, after installation I deleted the cache files. Just to clear the misconception that you can start Mac in safe mode as I have mentioned earlier (hold shift key while system starts up). Once your machine is up, then find these files in given location and delete it.
/Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS
/System/Library/Extensions.mkext
/System/Library/Extensions.kextcache
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kernelcaches
Now come in /Library/Caches and delete all the com.apple.LaunchServices files.

Doing this worked in my case, hope it will work for you too.

KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE: The name might sound similar to kernel panic but KERN_PROTECTION _FAILURES are not kernel panics. These prompts could be solved by repairing permissions. They could simply be fixed when you go to Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility -> First Aid -> select hard disk in Disk Utility, and click repair permissions.

BREAKING THE CHAIN

Fixing Keychain issues
What is Keychain & how it works?
The Keychain consolidates various passwords and passphrases in one place and makes them accessible through a master password or passphrase. When an application (including the Finder) needs to access a password stored in the Keychain, the application asks you to unlock the Keychain if it is not already open. However there are certain settings in Keychain application which, when done, system will not prompt you for password & log you in straight away.

Keychain Access & Keychain Minder
These are two contributors to Keychain, of which Keychain Access being the main controlling system and Keychain Minder is used just to change the Keychain master password, specially in the case when you don't remember the old one.

Changing the password with Keychain Access

• Go to Applications (Command+Shift+A) and Open Utilities.
• Locate Keychain Access & open it.
• Click on Edit and select Change Password for Keychain.

• This will open a new window, prompting you to enter the old password & new one following its confirmation.

Once you key-in the correct details, you are all set to go with your new password.

Changing the password with Keychain Minder:

• Go to Applications (Command+Shift+A) and Open Utilities.
• Locate Keychain Minder & open it, once done, you will get a window like this:

Now key-in the old password followed by the new one then click on change, and that's done.

PLAYING WITH KEYCHAIN:
Well, the article above might be quite good for you, but it won't help the users who have lost their old passwords. If you are a corporate user, then you might be entering the password only in a couple of months and there is more tendency to forget your old password.

IN CASE YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE PASSWORD: There are few tweaks that you can use to unlock keychain even when you don't remember your passwords.

1. Go to Keychain minder and just enter you new password & click on "New Keychain" this will create a new keychain and old ones will be inactive from here onwards.

Unable to open Keychain Minder: Sometimes it might happen that you won't be able to open Keychain Minder, it will flash once & disappear. In such instance, open Keychain Access, go to File and select "Lock Keychain Login". Once done then try to open Keychain Minder & it will open up. Now you can enter your new password & your Mac is ready to take off.

Steps to follow when Keychain Minder is not coming up.

STAYING AWAY FROM WEB OF KEYCHAIN: Being a simple user if you want to stay away from the complexities of keychain, you could do by following the below mentioned step. Its just a matter of two clicks:

• Go to Keychain Access.
• Under preferences select First Aid.
• Now select Synchonize login keychain password with account & Keep login keychain unlocked.

Recommended by www.Apple.com

This is the screen where you will get those two options that you need to check on.

LOST ALL THE KEYS IN KEYCHAIN: If your time is bad, the keychain in your Mac machine may forget all the keys store in the keychain and if this is the case, we can solve it easily, here is the sequence that you need to follow:

• Go to your home folder & find the Library folder.
• Now drag the Keychains folder to the trash.
• Restart the computer and a new keychain will be created using your current system password.

These steps will positively fix this issue.

IS THERE STILL SOMETHING LEFT UNRESOLVED? Ok, click on this link, and let apple website do the job. This will help you to download a new keychain & get your keychain fresh and active.

WHEN YOUR MAC IS NOT TURNING UP

PROBLEM IN TURNING THE MACHINE UP (for 10.3 and older only)
The worst thing you could ever experience in a computer is not turning up. No matter how many times you do a hard boot but the result is same. If the machine is Mac, there could be variations in error notification. Most of the time it is a simple issue that you could fix after going through this article.

IDENTIFYING THE SYMPTOMS

• There can be empty blue screen with a spinning wheel (the progress indicator in Mac).
• A "Prohibitory sign" appears or "Kernel panic error" is mentioned on the screen.
• Blank gray screen without any text could appear.
• No notification, but machine doesn't turns up.

There can be empty blue screen with a spinning wheel (the progress indicator in Mac).

I am mentioning 5 simple steps that you can try and hope it will work for you, but if in any case it doesn't works then try the last few steps that are slightly critical but I know you will easily do it because you can't sit back and wait with a quite expensive Mac machine.

Solution One: This could happen when you have upgraded form OS 9 to OS X as the later reviews the font in the former system. Damage in OS 9 font system might cause this to happen. So to fix this, put the OS 9 CD in the machine, drag the font folder to the desktop & restart the machine. This should fix this issue if it is caused by font disorder, but make sure you drag the folder from OS 9 otherwise the condition will still remain same.

Solution Two: This could be due to third party items lined up in your start up. To fix this, start your Mac in safe mode and then follow these steps:
a. Go to the hard drive.
b. Find there two folders /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems and drag the third party application out of it. If they are important, then save them in Users folder. Make sure that you don’t touch any item if you have even a little doubt that the application is pre-installed by Mac or is a third party.
c. Now lets restart with the hope that the issue will be fixed.

Solution Three: If the Login item is incompatible, then it could create this issue. Follow those five simple steps to resolve this:
a. Start in Safe mode.
b. Go to system preferences.
c. Use View menu to choose account and then select Startup items. If you have OS 10.2 select Login Items from the View menu.
d. You have to remove all the Login items.
e. Now restart the machine from Apple icon.
f. The issue will be fixed, now add the Login items one by one till you face this issue again, once you come to know which item is creating issue, you can delete it from the list.

Solution Four: A small setting in Network preferences might also cause this, it happens when you select "Connect automatically when starting TCP/IP applications". In this case, preferences file that has this setting should be deleted, if you follow this, all the settings will be reset and later on you need to configure them in order to get connect to internet or your office or home network.
Start computer in single user mode (if you want to learn about single user or verbose mode, please find in blog posted on 08.02.2009)
a. Type mount -uw /
b. Hit Return/Enter.
c. Type the following command as per your OS. For OS 10.2 type mv /var/db/SystemConfiguration/preferences.xml preferences.old For OS 10.3 to 10.3.9 type mv/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist preferences.old
d. Hit Return/Enter.
e. Type reboot
f. Hit Return/Enter.
If it still continues, follow next solution.

Solution Five: Start computer in single user OR Verbose mode (if you want to learn about single user or verbose mode, please find in blog posted on 08.02.2009)
a. Type mount -uw /
b. Hit Return/Enter
c. Now type mv /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist preferences2.old
d. Hit Return/Enter
e. Again type mv /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist preferences3.old
f. Hit Return/Enter
g. Type reboot
h. Hit Return/Enter
Remember: You have to put a space between ".plist" and "preferences".

When a "Prohibition sign" appears or "Kernel panic error" is mentioned on the screen.

Before we start, let me show you how Kernel panic error screen looks like. Phrase ofthe message could be somewhat like "Unresolved kernel trap"

Prohibitory icon looks like the picture on the right.
Prohibitory sign generally comes when a file is moved, replace, deleted or damaged. There are a small list of hardwares and softwares which, if used, can cause this to happen. The easiest solution is reinstallation of OS, but it usually is not preferable. So try these advance steps:

1. If you have moved, deleted or even renamed apple installed folder, bring them back to their orignal state with due honour. If you want, I can name some of them for you, like Applications, System or Library.
2. Even if you try to edit of modify previledges of OS X System files, it may lead to Kernel Panics.
3. As I mentioned, some of hardwares & softwares might cause this, they are (not limited to) listed here: Airport Extreme Card, PC card Modem, Matrox RTMac Card, 2D/3D Professional graphics card(128 bit), the installing driver of an application may also cause this to happen.

Blank grey screen without any text could appear.

• Go to Apple Downloads and check that you have installed the latest version of firmwares.
• Devices like ADB, serial, USB, FireWire, SCSI, and PCMCIA can create this issue, so the steps you need to follow is that disconnect al the devices once the issue gets resolved, then connect all the devices one after the other each restarting to find out which one is creating this problem.
• Sometimes third party hardware upgrades can also play with your system including, but not limited to RAM, microprocessor upgrade cards, PCI cards etc. Follow the previous steps to fix this.
• If you can, then reset your computer's Power management unit. This should fix the issue.
  

No notification, but machine doesn't turns up.

In order to fix this, try the steps we followed for "Grey screen error".

HOW TO LOGIN AS SINGLE USER OR VERBOSE MODE?

For all OSX & OSX Servers

Starting a Mac machine in Verbose or Single user mode is generally user for troubleshooting and Software Development. I am publishing a seperate article on this because in many of the troubeshooting steps that I have asked you to start your Mac in Verbose mode or single user mode in my last articles.

Process to start in these modes:

1. You need to shut down the machine, for new users I would like to add that you if in case you need to do a hard reboot of your machine, please keep the power button pressed for more that six seconds, reason being Mac goes in sleep mode if you press the power button for 3 seconds and you will never know if your Mac is completely turned off is just sleeping.
2. After starting the machine, press Apple key and one of the v/s keys in combination. Here 'v' will take you to Verbose mode and 's' will take you to Single user mode.

To Exit from Verbose and Single user mode: You need to type reboot while exiting from Single user mode but if you are in verbose mode all you need is to reboot the machine & it will exit and restart in normal mode.

When you login to Single user mode, the layout of your keyboard will be American English.

If Firmware Password Protection is enable by administrator or owner of the computer, you won't be able to login to Verbose mode.

STARTING MAC IN SAFE-MODE

For MAC OSX (Only OSX will be supported in this post)

If you need to start your Mac machine in Safe Mode (Safe Boot), please follow these steps:
1. Make sure you machine is turned off/shut down.
2. Now press the power button.
3. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press the Shift key. The Shift key should be held in a fraction of seconds, but make sure, you don't do it before the tone.
4. Leave the Shift key when you see the start up screen (gray Apple icon) and the progress indicator (in Mac it is a colored spinning wheel).

While startup in Mac OS X 10.4 or newer version, you will see "Safe Boot" on the first login window, (which will appear even if you do a normal login automatically.
During startup in Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3.9, you will see "Safe Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen.
If you don't want to start you Mac in SafeMode, just restart the machine normally, without holding any keys during startup. If you are new to Mac then please go to this guide.