iPhoto Crashing Issues and Problems

Q: I’m having problems with iPhoto crashing and freezing. What can be done?

A: iPhoto includes a feature that allows you to rebuild the currently selected iPhoto library. Sometimes rebuilding the library resolves issues such as the library appearing to be unreadable, missing photos, or other issues related to reading the iPhoto library structure.

Note: This article is for iPhoto versions 5 and earlier. For iPhoto 6 and later read on...

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library should anything unexpected happen during the rebuild (such as an unexpected shutdown) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

Before performing a rebuild, you should install any iPhoto updates you find by using Software Update. If a software update resolves your issue, then you don't need to rebuild. It's also a good idea to search apple.com/support for your specific iPhoto symptom before performing a rebuild, just in case there is a more specific or relevant solution.

To rebuild iPhoto 5 and earlier you will need at least enough free disk space equal to your current iPhoto library.

Follow these steps to rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

For iPhoto 2, hold down the Shift and Option keys on the keyboard.

For iPhoto 4 and iPhoto 5, hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

Name and save the library.

iPhoto will begin to rebuild the iPhoto library. This can take several minutes, depending on its size.



Note: iPhoto 5.0.2 and later include an additional dialog that appears when you start to rebuild the library.

Use these guidelines for these dialog options:

Select the option(s) for thumbnails if only the thumbnails are appearing in unexpected ways (grey or blank).

Select the "Rebuild the iPhoto Library database" option if iPhoto unexpectedly quits when launched or does not get past loading photos.

Select the option to recover orphaned photos if photos appear to be missing from the iPhoto library.

If there was an issue with album data or with the iPhoto library file itself, then some of the albums may appear blank after rebuilding the library. Look in the main library in the source list of the iPhoto -- the photos are likely still there. If so, drag the photos to their corresponding albums to add them back to the library.

iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library if anything unexpected happens during the rebuild (such as a power failure) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

To rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

Hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

A dialog will appear with rebuild options. Select the options you want to use.

Click Rebuild to begin the rebuild process. This may take a few minutes to

complete.

Do I have Apple Care? Did I Buy it? When is it Up?

I work on a lot of people's macs and the first thing I ask is if they still have Apple Care? AppleCare is an extesion of the 1 year warranty provided with the mac product, usually an additional 3 years. Here's how to check to see if the Mac you're using is covered. It's connected to the serial number of the mac.

To see the serial number of your mac without standing on your head just go to the blue apple menu, then select About this Mac. You'll see the Version number here. Double click it and our mac's serial number will appear. This is NOT the serial number of the software, but the Mac itself.

Now goto this website https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

In the field put in your SN. You can't copy and paste it from the the other window. Then fill in the country and click Continue. Your status should show up giving a date the warranty expires.

How to Trash Photos

Q: I keep emptying my trash can in iPhoto yet the can keeps showing the number of pictures I trashed. They never go away. I can’t seem to trash the pics.

A: It’s rare but this application has it’s own trash can. Go under the File menu in iPhoto and empty the trash from there. You are emptying the system’s trash can. Your pics aren’t there.

The Insomniac Mac: I Can't Sleep

Q: My mac has trouble sleeping automatically or on command. It’s very frustrating. What’s going on?



A:Nothing is more frustrating than a mac  that won’t sleep, or even worse a mac that won’t wake from sleep and needs to be rebooted losing precious time and waiting for a reboot. 

The answer isn’t always simple as there could be a couple reasons. First open the System Preferences and click on the Energy Saver control panel. Now make sure the sliders are on anything but “Never”. If set to “never” the machine will never sleep no matter what.

If you don’t use your mac to receive faxes, click on the Print and Fax tab to check and make sure your mac isn’t awake to watch for incoming faxes. That will also prevent sleep.

While in System Preferences click on the Sharing control panel. Now click on the “Internet” tab. Make sure your mac isn’t sharing an internet connection. If so, click it off by shutting it of with the “Stop” command.

Another reason for insomnia is a damaged preference file most likely a Blue tooth or Power Management preference file. These files are best left to a mac tech like me to dispose of and replace.

One of the most likely culprits is an incompatible card recently added such as a USB card. These cards are usually problems in desktops, not so much portable. Be sure to go to the card’s manufacturer website and make sure you have the latest drivers or software upgrades. Many times people buy “no name” cards and have to info to act on such as technical support for the company. In that case you are stuck with a non functioning card as far as the sleep command goes.

On ibooks and Powerbooks the power manger could also be the reason for a non-sleeping laptop. Each mac portable requires a different way to reset the power manager so it’s best to take it to a mac tech. In the meantime, if your mac does go to sleep but won’t wake there’s a not-so-green temporary answer. That would be to visit the System Preferences as mentioned earlier and click on the Energy Saver control Panel. In this case set the sliders to “Never”. This will prevent the mac from going into a sleep it doesn’t wake from. This should only be a temporary solution until you can get the mac fixed. Sleep is good, saves energy and wear and tear on your computer.

Remember to always reboot your mac at least once a day or better yet just shut it down when down it for more than 8 hours. restarting a mac clears out a lot internal logic clutter and ensures a leaner running mac. Putting a mac to sleep and never rebooting it is a bad habit and can tax the systems RAM supply. Everybody likes a fresh start once a day, so shutdown.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 7 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #1!

 

[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Lotsa system junk needs to go..."][/caption]

Have your mac tuned up. Your mac is on hours on end and lots of things happen. Bad things. Caches and files grow in sizes that are unmanageable by the operating system. Preference files become corrupt. Fonts can become corrupt. Drivers that are unneeded are added from things you’ve bought and attached. Plug-in’s, undeleted temp files, bloatware are added constantly and your mac has to wade through all this.

 

Also your mac is loaded with about 40-something different languages, so if you only use English all that extra code is siting there taking up processor speed and hard drive space.

I can do a proper maintenance and tuneup. I would be a good idea to have a checkup done on your mac if it hasn’t been done in over 18 months. Macs are like cars, they require care and maintenance. Making your hard drive work unnecessarily is a prescription for a shorter life. Call me for a full tuneup, it’s cheap and will extend your mac’s life...

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 6 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #2

 

[caption id="attachment_32" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="RAM is cheap. Don't skimp on upgrading to the max!"][/caption]

Add RAM. The biggest problem (other than the above maintenance issue) is the lack of memory that is sold with your mac. Apple is famous for selling macs with bare bones minimum memory in their macs. Why? It keeps the selling price down. 

 

RAM is so cheap now especially for macs made in the last four years it would be insane to not install the maximum amount your model takes. This can make the difference from watching the beach ball turn and watching your finger nails grow to instant response time on most tasks.

RAM hungry applications are anything by Adobe (Photoshop is the ultimate winner!) and anything Microsoft. They install a lot what's called bloatware--junk you don’t need.

In the old days 128Mb RAM was a nice amount to run system 9. Today that won’t even boot OS X. If you’re running less than 1Gb of RAM you’re just torturing yourself and putting undo stress on your mac.

Upgrade that RAM. I can help with this too.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 5 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #3

Restart /Shutting Down your mac. Putting your mac to sleep constantly is a bad habit. Always shutdown your mac at the end of the day or when you leave work. It not only lengthens the life of the internal components, it’s also a fresh start for the operating system when a lot of garbage and temporary files are flushed out. A micro tuneup is performed every time the mac starts up.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 4 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #4

 

[caption id="attachment_34" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Hell on Earth: Dial-up"][/caption]

Upgrade your Web Access. New macs don’t even come with modems. You have to special order them or find them on eBay (good luck with that!). This is clearly an indicator to the speed progress the web has made a necessity. Try downloading an update to Tiger OS 10.4 on dialup and you can actually watch your teeth fall out. Let’s hope you never want to watch Youtube.com vids or need to download any software. Many of the tasks we perform today are directly related to an internet connection.

 

DSL is very cheap, in fact a few years ago it was cheaper than Dial-up. Some of my clients were paying $19.99 for dial-up and others were paying $12.95 for DSL. So some were actually more to go slower (50X slower!) and tie up their phone line!

I’m no fan of the cable company so I always say go with DSL from the phone company, no matter what deal you think you’re getting on the “bundle illusion”. After taxes and fees has anyone made out on any “bundle”?

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 3 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #5

Clean Up your Browser. We usually spend a lot of time online and guess what...? Your browser keeps track of all of it. That can be a big list of junk for Safari or Firefox to remember. How often do you go to your history anyway. With “tabs” enabled, very recent history is almost redundant, so let’s purge it. Under History in Safari, go to the bottom and click Clear History.

Still poky? Look under Safari and click Empty Cache. Don't click Reset Safari or you'll lose everything you've saved. use that only as a last resort...

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 2 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac: #6

Get a Larger Hard Drive. When your hard drive reaches 90% capacity you’ll notice a slow down in performance on all levels. The operating system uses hard drive space for a good number of temp files. Many applications require hard drive space to do their thing. If you don’t want to upgrade the internal drive at least consider an external hard drive. Once attached, you can off-load files you don’t use often, especially images like your digital camera pics.

Many older macs, especially the iBooks, Powerbooks and even the MacBook Pros came with really skimpy hard drives for capacity! Installing a new hard drive in one of these requires professional skills, so contact me before you make a choice. I can do the switch.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 1 of 7

With the economy in a downturn people are holding on to their macs longer and squeezing some more life out of them, avoiding a payout of over $1200 for a new machine. Apple macbooks even go for more. So how can you squeeze a longer life span out of an aging mac?
Obviously the concern is speed. Most people, unless forced to replace their mac due to hardware failure, feel their currant machine is too slow. So let’s cover some simple and/or cheap tricks to pep of that machine till it’s time to fork over the big bucks for a new one.

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac: #7

Clear the Clutter off your desktop. Does your desktop look like the picture above? This is like coming home from the grocery store and leaving all your groceries on the floor. Leaving files on your desktop is a great way to bog down your operating system.
File your documents away. Neatness pays off and so does a clean desktop...