Laptop Computing

Unable to Synch Podcasts From ITunes To My Ipod…

December 1, 2012 by Dave

Podcasts Not Synching

I recently purchased a new IPOD. The first time I synchronized it, the podcasts did not synch the way they did on the old Ipod.

I didn’t realize the problem for a few days when I wanted to listen to one of the podcasts.

Then I realized: They were all missing!

I knew from past experience that there was a setting in Itunes that needed to be made.

However, I recently downloaded Itunes 11 and this complicated things a bit for me.

A Call To Apple Care

I put in a call to Apple Care and the first technician I talked to was very unhelpful and transferred me without my permission to the Ipod team.

Since, I knew this was a setting in Itunes, I knew that I did not need to be sent there.

The second technician agreed that she should not have sent me over.

Ok, Let’s move on!

What I Had To Do In Order To Synch My Ipod.

-With the Ipod plugged in to the computer wait for it to appear in Itunes.

When you click on your device inside of Itunes you will see a tab with ‘summary’ selected. Simply go to the ‘podcasts’ tab and select ‘synch podcasts’.

In Itunes 11, you have a drop down box that gives you several options, including: “all” and multiple variations of “most recent” etc…

One additional problem I had in Itunes 11 was finding my sidebar. Without the sidebar, you will not be able to see your device in order to click on it and get the options I described above.

In order to see the sidebar, go under the ‘view’ menu and select “show sidebar”. That’s all I had to do.

IPOD Upgrade

As a side note, I took my old IPOD from 2008 in to the Apple Store and asked about a battery replacement. Since they did not have batteries for that model any longer they said they would sell me a ‘new’ 2009 model for 55 Euros. I thought that was a good deal so I took them up on it. That model, I think is also ‘retired’ (I think) but it was an upgrade from my 80 GB Ipod to a 160 GB ipod.

Since this IPOD can also be used as a storage device, I have plenty of extra GBs to fill up with anything I want. That’s a one step better than toting around a bunch of thumb drives.
Comment below.

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Why Your Computer Has Slowed Down And No Special Tools or Programs Help…

November 30, 2012 by Dave

Poor Computer Performance Situation:

The apple care rep thought the PRAM reset would help me. But the reality is, it had nothing to do with my problem.

Unfortunately, I finally made my way to a ‘senior’ tech at Apple who told me what the ‘real’ problem was.

It doesn’t really matter what special tools you utilize to ‘clean your computer’. The problem has to do with something that many people just don’t know.

That’s why I am writing about it now. Because people should know about this.

Your computer needs about 15 percent of it’s hard drive space free to run programs.

If you have 120GB hard drive. you need to keep that last 20Gbs free in order to keep your computer running smoothly.

You might mistakenly think you need more ram for the programs you are running, but in fact, the hard drive space is the limiting factor.

So before you go out and waste money on additional memory, take a look at your free space. Before you purchase programs that are supposed to ‘clean up’ your computer, take a look at how much free space you have on your hard disk.

The Problem

Applications constantly write to your hard drive when they are in use. That space may again be freed up when you are finished using the application. This is the reason that ‘experts’ suggest that you leave at least 15% of your hard drive space free.

Very Annoying…

The 120 GB SSD hard drive I bought two years ago was very expensive. This is the reason that I didn’t bother buying a larger drive.

The problem is that is is very easy to fill up 120 GBs, particularly when you process video.

Unfortunately, there are only two fixes.

1. Is that you can reduce the amount of data stored on your hard drive.

2. The second is to get a bigger hard drive.

If you opt for number 2, you may run into issues when reinstalling your applications. You may have to put the license keys back in.

If you have bought apps in a manner that did not include an install disk, then you may also face the possibility that your program is no longer available from the digital source you purchased it from (such as the app store or other places).

That means you facing losing tools that you have grown used to utilizing and that you have relied upon.

That’s very sad, isn’t it?

The first option can work by moving videos, pictures, music and other items to an external hard drive. In this case you lose the benefit of having them readily available. You have to go through the extra step of accessing them through an external drive. Not very convenient, is it?

So, your ‘options’ are limited at this point! Which will you choose? Comment below

How To Reset The PRAM On A Mac…

November 29, 2012 by Dave

The PRAM Symptoms

I called Apple Support at 1-800-APL-CARE because I was having a problem with my computer.

It seems that disk utilities would show me that I had 1.5 or 2 Gigs free but within 30 minutes of doing routine work, I would get a message.

That message said: “Your Disk is Almost Full”

I would then open Disk Utilities again and sure enough, it would show that I had only a few megabytes of space left.

I would run a cleanup program and I would suddenly have more space again!

This continued about every thirty minutes or so.

Resetting PRAM

I called Apple Care for this problem. They told me that I needed to clear my PRAM – I had not heard of this before. (Silly of me, I know).

The procedure I was told to perform was this:

Restart the computer. Before the screen turn on, hold down Command-Option-P-R (4 keys) all together and hold them until you hear the ‘Chime’ Twice.

If you only here the chime once, you must restart again.

You need to hear the Chime TWICE before logging in.

This resets the PRAM.

Results

Sure enough, I checked Disk utilities again, this time I had a LOT more space than I was previously showing.

The problem seems to have disappeared now.

The only maintenance I had run previously was a ‘clean up’ utility and the repair permissions utility. I was not aware that any other routine maintenance was needed.

The only other problem I have had was with my battery – which AppleCare replaced for me at no charge!

So, now I know that sometimes there may be additional maintenance to perform.

Next time I need to do this, I will come straight to this post for the directions.

System

Just so you know what I am running in case you are thinking of comparing it to your system.

I have a 17 inch MacBook Pro with 8 Gigs of RAM, And a 120 GB HD that was installed by APPLE before I received the computer.

I am running LION 10.7.5 as an OS. The MBP was created in the summer of 2010. Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7

* note, I cannot warrant or guarantee the suitability of the information provided here for your machine and your unique situation, be sure to call Apple Care for assistance before attempting to reset your PRAM – just in case you need a different set of instructions or have a different problem altogether than you may think. Proceed at your own risk!

Any thoughts? Post your comments and experiences below.

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