Shortcut to System Profiler!
The System Profiler is the application that has all the info about the hardware and the software. You can already access it through "About This Mac". You can however load it directly from the Apple menu. If you hold down "Option", "About this Mac" will change to "System Profiler...".
posted by Frederic Tremblay at
4/08/2008
10 Comments:
My mac has been running a little slower than normal as of late and I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge about the computer had any suggestions for me.
Oh great. Love your site but you need to hold down a key instead of pressing your mouse. Not much of a time saver.
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Wonder why Apple turns these things into Easter eggs instead of putting them right there in the drop-down list.
in response to sweyn's post:
I agree with your post however, seeing as how notebook users are generally deprived of a mouse, these tips are preferably better suited for MacBook (Pro) users.
Most of you will figure this out as I just did but there's more you can do as well, once in the menu while holding the alt/option key you'll notice the "..." disappear after: restart, shutdown and logout options (you can also see this in the blog pic posted by MacGEEK). It basically saves you the trouble of confirming/waiting out your option from the otherwise impending dialog box. Additionally, if you hold down the shift key you'll notice:
force quit... changes to
force quit (current program), presenting the same effect.
hello. i have a question that is not related...
my last macbook pro burnt to death recently. on her keyboard was an enter key next to the arrow keys. this was perfect for my little finger to use. i now have a brand new mbp without this enter key.... please, someone.. HOW CAN I GET IT BACK?!!!
camden...replace the "option" key on the right side with an "enter" key. that should work!
no but really...the new mbp keyboards are like that. if you want your old one back you have to replace the entire top panel, which includes your keyboard, speakers, and trackpad.
i dont suggest it...just get used to it, and be happy that you have a brand new laptop.
@sweln and Moore3t1
I've found I actually prefer this "option" key method. If you actually look through menus a bit there are several of these things that will change and show up - and ultimately they are things you so infrequently use anyway - why would you need them cluttering up your menu bars anyway? So I know they are there with the "option" press method - and that's good enough.
@ Everyone
There is another use for the "option" key I've found interesting... and I'm not sure where all you can use this - so I will take you to the place where I know it works...
If you go under the "Sharing" option in your System Preferences - select Remote Management - then select Options. If you click one of the check boxes while you hold down the Option key - it will select ALL of the boxes.
Like I said - I'm not sure where else this can be used - but as a Network Administrator who is very frequently setting up client machines - being able to click all those each time I setup a machine is wonderful for me. :)
@ Elliot
So what do you do when your Mac is running slow?
Restart - something as simple as a restart can often speed your computer up. Remember there is not a contest to see who can go the longest between re-starts!
Make sure you have enough RAM. Apple recently began shipping all but its most inexpensive computers with 2 GB of RAM. If you don't have at least that much, it is probably time to think about installing more RAM and you can install it yourself!
Quit programs that you are not using. I am always amazed at how many programs the typical user has open on their computer. While Mac OS X reduces the amount of memory being used by applications that are running in the background, they are still using some RAM and if your computer is low on RAM, quitting programs you are not using can help to speed it up.
Restart your Internet browser every few hours. It does not matter if you are using Safari, Firefox, Opera, or even Mozilla, all browsers use more and more RAM the longer they run!
There is also a free program called OnyX that is very good for maintaining your Mac. Go to Google and type in OnyX, it ill show you the link where you can download the program. Make sure you download the correct version for the type of Mac that you have and read the help section of the program before running it so you have an idea of what each part of the program does.
Awesome. Thanks!
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