Remove Unused Files on your Mac

Blog•on January 6th, 2011•No Comments

Looking to free up some of your hard drive on your Mac? Here is a link to a program that removed unnecessary language files. When was the last time you used Afrikaans?

http://monolingual.sourceforge.net/index.php

Although not a huge change, it did remove 458MB of unneeded files on my MacBook. Props to Walter Mossberg for advising about this in today’s WSJ.

How to Use Microsoft Access 2007 on a Mac

Blog•on December 22nd, 2010•1 Comment

I recently converted one of my clients. He now uses a Mac instead of a PC. I set him up with a Mac Mini and he is now in the process of learning how to utilize his Mac for tasks related to his business.

The one problem I ran into while having my client switch from PC to Mac was in transferring over Microsoft Access 2007. This particular client uses Access quite often and needed to be able to use the database program on his Mac.

The latest version of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac does not contain the Access program. None of the Microsoft Office versions for Mac contain Access. So the only way to use Access on a Mac is to use some sort of a program that allows Windows programs to run on a Mac.

The first program I tried was CrossOver. The Mac store even suggested I use CrossOver. Of all the Microsoft programs that do work with CrossOver, it seems that Microsoft Access 2007 is the one program that does not work. I didn’t realize that until after I had purchased CrossOver, but the people at CrossOver were generous and provided a full refund.

I chose CrossOver first because it was cheaper than Parallels. But when CrossOver did not work, I gave Parallels a try. Parallels worked great for Microsoft Access 2007 and my client has been able to access his Access files (.mdb) on his Mac.

Here are a few points to remember if you are going to use Parallels on your Mac to use Microsoft Access 2007:

  • You must have a version of Windows and Microsoft Office. Parallels does not come with the operating system or program.
  • You can transfer over Microsoft Access files (.mdb format) to your Mac. You may need to look around for your .mdb files within Parallels. Look for them under ‘Computer’ and try to find them in the folders within your Mac.

    • If you are a heavy Microsoft Access user, Parallels is a great way for you to be able to use the program. There are also Mac database alternatives if you would like to completely make the shift to your Mac. Either way, you can easily transition from a PC to a Mac and continue to use Microsoft Access 2007 on your new Mac.

Make all images the same size on a Mac

Blog•on July 22nd, 2010•No Comments

I often run across the need to standardize the size of photos or images for a given project. In the past, I would go into an image editing software program to make all image sizes uniform. But if you have a Mac, there is a much easier way to do this:

  1. Place all relevant images into a new folder.
  2. Open that folder and select all of the images (command + A) and double click on one of the selected images.
  3. This will open Preview and all images will show along the right side of the application.
  4. Click on one of the images and do another select all (command + A)
  5. Under the Tools menu, click on Adjust Size.
  6. Here you can designate the width and height of each image.  There are some standard options to choose from as well as the ability to determine your own size.
  7. You’re done.  Now all images in that folder will be in the new customized size.

It may be a good idea to make a copy of the images folder before you make this change, just so you have the originals if you ever need them.

I need to give credit here to Josh Winkles for teaching me know how to do this.