These are the tools to tune your Mac

Our late Uncle Ernest was a skilled carpenter, and from him we learned the importance of having the right tools to do a job. (And his truncated finger taught us the importance of keeping one's hand out of the path of an electric saw.)

A computer is a machine, and it will never function correctly unless you have the right tools to manage it.

Nothing about microcomputers is perfect because absolute perfection isn't cost-effective. The per-unit cost of removing the last 1 percent of software errors from an application would raise the price enough to reduce sales. Consumers have voted for slightly lower quality control in exchange for significantly lower prices, just as they've voted for fewer airline amenities in exchange for cheaper tickets.

In addition, the possible combinations and permutations of hardware and software are infinite, which makes it impossible for a developer to test every configuration that might exist. You might have the only Mac IIsi in the world with a Radius pivot monitor, SuperCard, Microsoft Flight Simulator and virtual memory set to 24mb.

Consequently, your satisfaction with your computer and its long-term reliability will depend on using the right tools to prevent and cure the problems that are inevitable on a complex machine. We discuss other Mac products we like for certain circumstances at Macintosh Products, but this is a list of what should be in your toolbox.

Absolute Essentials

Highly Recommended

NOTE: We don't sell hardware or software. Prices, where listed, are typical of mail order catalogs. Buy from them or your local retailer.

 

Absolute Essentials

Norton Utilities for Macintosh

Your computer reads and writes to your hard disk thousands of times in a typical work session. Sometimes it writes incorrectly. Sometimes your computer crashes before recording all of the data in its memory. Eventually these mistakes compound on each other and cause more crashes, creating more disk errors and .... well, you get the picture.

Norton Utilities for Macintosh by Symantec is the most effective tool to clean up these problems. Faced with a crashing computer, the first reaction of nearly every consultant I know is to run Norton Utilities. Don't confuse Norton Utilities with any other utilities. It is unique. The term "utilities" is broad enough to encompass many software packages on the market. None of the others do what Norton does.

Anti-Virus Software

Unfortunately, there are people in this world who like to write little software packages called "viruses." Viruses reproduce themselves willy nilly throughout the computer world, transmitting through shared files, e-mail, the Internet and floppy disks. Most virus writers are simply content with the satisfaction of spreading their code throughout the world, and a large percentage of viruses are benign. Others can be devastating, destroying data rapidly.

Every computer should have anti-virus software.

Among commercial packages, we recommend Symantec Anti-Virus for Macintosh. SAM is more aggressive than Disinfectant and is more likely to block a new virus that hasn't been entered into its catalog. It can more easily be administered through a network for office-wide protection.

All virus software is updated every time a new virus is discovered. Some, such as Disinfectant, require you to download and install the entire application again. Others, such as SAM, have an ancillary file called a virus definitions file. To protect against new viruses you need only replace this ancillary file, which is usually available for free. Once you've installed anti-virus software, be diligent about checking for updates at the source recommended by the anti-virus software you choose.

Backup Software

Everyone knows you should make a backup copy of your data regularly. When was the last time you did it? Time has proved that the frequency of your backups is related to how easy it is to do. Retrospect from Dantz Development is universally regarded by Mac professionals as the easiest, best backup software available. We've used it in our office for years. It's supreme. Add Retrospect Remote packages (various sizes) and backup your entire office, including Windows machines.

StuffIt Expander

Compressing files to send them via e-mail, over the Internet and even on ever-shrinking floppy disks is increasingly common. Stuffit Expander is like a can opener to decompress files in a variety of formats. Best of all, it's free. Just download it from any of the online services. Aladdin Systems also makes some other applications for purposes of compression and decompression. Depending on your circumstances, any of them are worth considering. Good company with good products.

Zip Drives

Backups can't be easy if you're using floppy disks. 100mb of data would require 72 floppy disks to backup. Floppy disks aren't feasible as backup media any more. Instead we recommend the Zip disk ($200) by Iomega. A cartridge slightly larger than a floppy holds 100mb of data. The file compression in Retrospect actually expands this capacity for backup purposes. Zip disks have become one of the most popular peripherals in Mac history since their introduction in early 1995. All of our clients have at least one. Iomega is having trouble keeping up with demand, so expect to be back ordered for a week or two. Buy at least three extra cartridges; the one included with the disk includes important software tools and shouldn't be used for storing data.

The Zip Drive includes backup software called Personal Backup. For one computer that receives light use, it's adequate in place of Retrospect.

We don't recommend the Syquest EZDrive, even though it is faster and has higher capacity. The cartridges aren't as durable, and you can't interchange disks with the Zip drive, which is much more widely used. Syquest makes some great products, but in this realm, Iomega simply beat them to the punch.

A Magazine -- Any Magazine

You should subscribe to at least one Macintosh magazine for a better understanding of Mac issues and industry trends. For us, it's MacWorld.

Mac Home Journal is very good, especially for users -- even business users -- with less sophisticated needs.

MacInTouch Home Page

An independent journal became a column in MacWeek magazine that spawned a page on the World Wide Web. We check the MacInTouch Home Page several times a week for important news about industry announcements, software updates and other important Mac management news. We strongly recommend that you do the same. It's chock full of links to other web pages for downloading updates and technical information.

 

Highly Recommended

Once you've got your essentials in place, a few other tools can make your life easier:

Conflict Catcher

Another leading cause of computer crashes, besides the hard disk corruption you should have already solved with Norton Utilities, is conflicting system extensions. These are the little files in the Control Panels and Extensions folder of your System folder. Some of them come with your Macintosh. Others are essential for applications such as Excel and Quicken. Still others are stand-alone software packages such as After Dark. Sometimes these files will conflict with each other and crash your computer in the process.

Conflict Catcher by Casady & Greene provides tools to manage system extensions and to find the culprit when a conflict occurs. Your first line of defense should be to keep your system extensions to a minimum. You don't need those goofy eyeballs and other frippery that can be downloaded from the online services. They can cause problems. Your Control Panels and Extensions folders should only include items you need for your computer to do its intended tasks. Even with that, though, problems will occur, and Conflict Catcher is the solution.