If you wish to have a user account on your Mac that is discrete so others using your Mac cannot see that user, then you can do so by the classic methods of changing the user ID for the account and then adjusting some hidden system settings to manage those accounts at the login window. While these approaches are the most compatible across different OS X versions and still work for the latest ones, if you have OS X Yosemite or later on your Mac, then there is an easy two-step approach for hiding user accounts. Continue reading
Tag Archives: El Capitan
How to quickly combine multiple Photos libraries in OS X
As of OS X Yosemite, Apple is encouraging everyone to use its new Photos program for managing pictures in OS X. While Photos has a number of pros and cons, it does share a limitation of its “iPhoto” predecessor, in that while it uses a library system for managing photos and offers an option to create multiple libraries, it can only have one open at a time. This means that if you wish to consolidate libraries, you might find yourself jumping through hoops; however, there is a relatively simple way to get this done. Continue reading
Manage lost Mail messages after upgrading to El Capitan
One substantial issue that has affected users after upgrading to OS X El Capitan is that Mail messages might be missing. In some cases it may be a few messages, while in other cases entire accounts have been emptied with no messages available. Sometimes this type of problem can be fixed by adjusting account settings to re-establish contact with your account servers, after which re-syncing will download your messages again; however, this does not always happen. Continue reading
Fix iBooks missing after upgrading to OS X El Capitan
After installing OS X El Capitan, you may find that iBooks will not access your book library. When you open the program, it will either show a blank window with no content, or display an error that states iBooks cannot access your library, and claim that the disk on which the library is stored cannot be located. If these happen to you, there is a relatively easy fix for the situation. Continue reading
How to see software disabled by OS X 10.11 ‘El Capitan’
As with previous versions of OS X, when you install OS X 10.11 ‘El Capitan’ the installer will detect any incompatible software you have on your system, and then disable it. However, by doing so OS X will not fully uninstall incompatible products, but instead only remove components that do not meet new requirements and which may cause instability if you run those programs. Continue reading
Split View not working in El Capitan? Its an easy fix.
One of El Capitan’s new features is Split View, which similar to features introduced in Windows 7 allows you to quickly set an app to full screen in half your display’s viewing area. With this approach, you can utilize maximal screen real estate to quickly work on two separate windows from different apps. This mode should be easy to access, but after installing El Capitan you may find Split View will not work. Continue reading
How to securely delete files in OS X 10.11 ‘El Capitan’
When you delete a file on your MAc, OS X only removes the index entry for the file, which tells the system the file’s contents are free to be overwritten; however, the data still technically remains and may be recovered using specialty software. To prevent this, you can use a secure-erase option that overwrites files you delete, but while this has been a built-in option in OS X, Apple has removed this in at least the initial release of El Capitan. Continue reading
Fix package managers not working after installing El Capitan
If you’re a power user or have special software needs, then there are several package managers like Fink, MacPorts, and HomeBrew that can be used for accessing open-source software programs and services. If you have installed these a while ago on Yosemite, then you might find after upgrading to El Capitan that they no longer work, and give error outputs instead of updating or installing new programs you specify. Continue reading
How to overcome OS X 10.11 El Capitan not installing
As with prior versions of OS X, the new version 10.11 “El Capitan” is available as a free purchase from the App Store, and should then download and run to allow you to upgrade your system. If all goes well, you should see the OS X installation window that instructs you to begin the upgrade process, but there may be instances where this does not appear, or does not work when you attempt the install. Continue reading
Reasons to both install and avoid OS X 10.11 El Capitan
Apple’s OS X 10.11 El Capitan upgrade is available for download, bringing a number of nuance improvements to the OS X experience, including split screen views for full-screen apps, a moveable Spotlight window, and tweaks to the Notes app, among others. However, the OS release is going to be quite similar to the release of Snow Leopard in comparison to Leopard, or Mountain Lion in comparison to Lion, where the OS brings more tweaks than any new features or re-designs. Continue reading