StepByStep Index

Set Up Parental Controls on Your Mac
On the Mac, Parental Controls are Apple's user management system for controlling which system functions and applications are available to a managed user. Parental Controls also offer content filtering, web site filtering, iChat and Mail approval lists, and time management, to prevent your children from using the computer when they should be doing something else.

Disk Utility - Add, Delete, and Resize Existing Volumes With Disk Utility
The version of Disk Utility bundled with OS X 10.5 or later has a few notable features, specifically, the ability to add, delete, and resize hard drive partitions without erasing data. If you need to resize a partition, or you would like to split a partition into multiple partitions, you can do it with Disk Utility, without losing the data that’s currently stored on the drive.

Format Your Hard Drive Using Disk Utility
Disk Utility, a free application included with Mac OS X, is a handy tool for working with hard drives, removable media, and drive images. Disk Utility is also a good choice for erasing and formatting hard drives for the Mac.

Disk Utility - Partition Your Hard Drive With Disk Utility
Disk Utility is the application of choice for partitioning a hard drive. Disk Utility is straightforward and easy to use, it provides a nice graphical interface, and best of all, it’s free. Disk Utility is included with the Mac OS.

Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard - Erase and Install Method for OS X 10.5 Leopard
Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard using the Erase and Install method gives you the ability to create a clean, fresh install with no leftover debris from any previous OS you may have had installed.

Migration Assistant - Use Migration Assistant to Copy Data from a Previous OS
Migration Assistant makes it easy to migrate user account data, home directories, applications, files, and computer settings from your old version of OS X to your latest installation of Leopard.

Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard - Upgrading to OS X 10.5 Leopard
Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard using the upgrade method allows you to preserve all of your existing user data, account information, and network and system settings, and still enjoy all of Leopard’s new features.

Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard - Archive and Install Method for OS X 10.5 Leopard
Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard using the Archive and Install method lets you create a clean, fresh install without giving up the ability to access your older system folder, should you ever need any of your old data.

External Hard Drive - Build Your Own External Hard Drive
Building an external hard drive is an easy project that anyone can undertake. All you need is an external enclosure, a hard drive, and about 10 minutes of your time.

Printer Sharing - Windows XP Printer Sharing With Mac OS X 10.5
Windows printer sharing lets your Mac use a printer that’s connected to one of your PCs. Setting up printer sharing for OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is easy with these step-by-step instructions.

Printer Sharing - Windows XP Printer Sharing With Mac OS X 10.4
Windows printer sharing lets your Mac use a printer that’s connected to one of your PCs. Setting up printer sharing for OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is easy with these step-by-step instructions.

Printer Sharing - Vista Printer Sharing With Mac OS X 10.4
Vista's printer sharing feature requires a bit of tweaking before it will work with your Mac. Learn how to configure printer sharing in both Vista and OS X 10.4 with these step-by-step instructions.

Printer Sharing - Vista to Mac OS X 10.5
Vista's printer sharing feature requires a bit of tweaking before it will work with your Mac. Learn how to configure printer sharing in both Vista and OS X 10.5 with these step-by-step instructions.

iPod to Mac - How to Transfer Purchased Content From Your iPod to Your Mac
You can easily transfer purchased content from your iPod to your Mac, using iTunes 7.3 or later. These step-by-step instructions will help you recover the purchased files from your iPod.

Copy Tunes From Your iPod to Your Mac
It's easy to copy media files, music, audio books, podcasts, movies, and videos from your iPod to your Mac. Focus on Macs shows you how.

Back Up Your Startup Disk
You can create a replica of your startup disk that is not only an exact copy, but bootable as well. This is the ideal type of backup to perform before updating any system software.

Install an Internal Hard Drive in Your Mac Pro
Adding an internal SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive to a Mac is a fairly simple task under any circumstances, but it's particularly easy with a Mac Pro, because it doesn't require any special tools. The Mac Pro's hard drive sleds are easy to pull out and then pop back into place.

Parallels Desktop for Mac: Windows Express Installation Option
Parallels Desktop for Mac lets you install and run many different operating systems, but because most Mac users will choose to install Windows, Parallels includes a Windows Express installation option.

Parallels Desktop for Mac: Custom Windows Install
Parallels Desktop for Mac offers multiple methods for installing guest operating systems. The Custom install option lets you pre-configure the virtual machine's environment.

Install Windows Vista on a Custom-created Parallels Virtual Machine
Once you create a custom virtual machine with Parallels, it's time to install an operating system. Because you chose the custom option when you created the virtual machine, installing Vista will take longer than if you had chosen the express option, but it's still a relatively easy process.

Install Windows Vista on a Standard Fusion Virtual Machine
After you use VMware Fusion to create a virtual machine for Vista, you're ready to install it. If you chose the standard method when you created the virtual machine it will take longer to install Vista than if you had chosen the easy method, but it's still a relatively simple process.

Create a New Virtual Machine With VMware's Fusion
VMware’s Fusion lets you run an almost unlimited number of operating systems concurrently with OS X. Before you can install and run a guest (non-native) OS, you must first create a virtual machine, which is a container that holds the guest OS and allows it to run.

Using Boot Camp Assistant to Partition Your Hard Drive
Boot Camp Assistant, part of Apple's Boot Camp, is the primary application for getting an Intel-based Mac ready to run Microsoft Windows. Using Boot Camp Assistant, you can create two partitions on your hard drive, one for Mac OS X and one for Windows.

Time Machine: Backing Up Your Data Has Never Been So Easy
Backing up files using Apple’s Time Machine couldn’t be easier. All it takes is a few clicks to make your data safe and secure.

Create Your Own Weather Widget
Safari 3.x can turn a web clipping into a Dashboard widget. Adding a weather radar map widget to your Dashboard takes just a few simple steps.