Volume 8, #5
January 2004

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G-Rated Tips for OS X

By Ralph Tolbert, Educational Technology Consultant ()

Want to change the background of the login screen?

Look in Library/Desktop Pictures for an item named "Aqua Blue.jpg." This is the resource that the OS uses for the background of the login screen. By either editing this file or replacing it with one of your choosing and then naming the replacement "Aqua Blue.jpg," you can change the background. If you choose to edit it, edit a copy(!) and save the original in a safe location.

Want to place the Classic system preference in the dock?

Next time you start Classic, click and hold on the icon in the dock. After a few seconds of holding the mouse button down, a window will pop up with a menu option to "Keep in dock." Select that.

How to start up in Safe Mode

1. Be sure the computer is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key. Note: The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

During the startup, you will see "Safe Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen. To leave Safe Mode, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup. A Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting. Safe Mode is the state Mac OS X is in after a Safe Boot. Starting up in Safe Mode does three things to simplify the startup and operation of your computer:

1. It forces a directory check of the startup (boot) volume.
2. It loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in System/Library Extensions).
3. It runs only Apple-installed startup items (some of the items in Library/Startup Items and System/Library/Startup items and different than login items).

Taken together, these changes can work around issues caused by software or directory damage on the startup volume.

Safe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting an issue. However, certain Mac OS X features do not work when you start up in Safe Mode. Use Safe Mode only if you need to troubleshoot a startup issue.