Mac Tip: Rebuild Your Desktop

Your Macintosh has an invisible file called the Desktop file. This file can become corrupted, resulting in incorrect or blank icons, files launching the wrong applications, and other erratic behavior. If things ever seem screwy, the first thing you should try is rebuilding the desktop. All you have to to is restart your Mac and then hold down the Command (that's the one with the Apple and Flower thingy on it) and Option keys. After your Mac loads its extensions and control panels, it will ask you if you really want to rebuild your desktop. Click yes, and it will begin the rebuilding process. It should take a couple of minutes or less, and hopefully your Mac will be back to normal.


Mac Tip: Need More Desktop? Go Virtual!

If you're running several programs at a time or need to look a number of different webpages, try extending your desktop instead of clicking back and forth. Virtual Desktop mutiplies your screen real estate up to ten times with the use of scroll bars.
Once you've installed Virtual Desktop, launch all the programs you want to use and click on the Virtual Desktop icon (it's default location is the bottom-right corner of the screen). You should now see the scrollbars. Click the icon again and you'll see a representation of all the space available. Here you can space out your windows, change your viewing area, even move the icons on your desktop.
Virtual Desktop is freeware, available from macdownload.com



Mac Tip: Take a Desktop Snapshot

If you want to take a snapshot of something on your desktop (such as your IP settings), just press Command-Shift-4 and then drag your mouse over the needed info. You should hear a camera shutter sound. Then open your hard drive. There should be a file in there called Picture 1. (Subsequent snapshots will be named Picture 2, and so on.) Click on the file and you can see your captured image.


Mac Tip: Randomize Your Desktop

There's so many cool images in your desktop pictures folder, how can you choose just one? If you haven't created the ultimate desktop theme, you could throw caution to the wind and use 'em all.
Just open the Appearances control panel and click the Desktop tab. Now find your Desktop Pictures folder (or any folder with a bunch of images in it) and drag it onto the preview window. Click Set Desktop and from here on in an image will be chosen at random from that folder each time you start up your Mac.


Mac Tip: Too Many Windows?
Close all windows with the Option key

If you're working on several documents at once, wading through a sea of windows can be maddening. You can close all the windows on your desktop by holding down the [option] key as you click the close box of any window. You may already know that, but wait-- it gets better. You can also do that with many applications via the File menu. Hold down Option as you pull down the File menu and you may see that the Close command has changed to the Close All command.


Mac Tip: Fitting Your Picture on Your Desktop
Position it in the Desktop Pictures control panel

Do you have a favorite image you'd like to put on your desktop, but it's not big enough to fill the screen? There are several different adjustments you can make within the Desktop Pictures control panel. From the pop-up menu, Tile on Screen will repeat your small picture to fill the screen. Choosing Center on Screen will place the image in the middle of your desktop while the current desktop pattern fills the rest of the screen. Scale to Screen will resize the image but keep its dimensions, and Fill to Screen will cover your desktop but may stretch the image like Silly Putty.