This “Tip of theWeek” brought to you by S2M Computer Consulting

File Management
A common computer mistake, and not just on a Mac is file disorganization, or randomly placing anything and everything wherever the mood dictates. Sure you can always use Spotlight to find a file or email but why not just organize your Mac as you go and the next time you need to find something it will be right where you filed it. That said, there is no one way to organize your Mac’s files, you could do it alphabetically or maybe start off with a Personal and Business file system that branches off from there, the idea here is to make a filing plan and follow the plan.

A few key rules are not to mess with your iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand files or Libraries as these generally get managed by the Applications, automatically going in your Photos, Movies, and Music folders. The folder that you can mess about with is your Documents folder. Customize this as needed and create New Folders and Sub-folders for what-have-you. Think of your Documents folder like a real filing cabinet, how would you organize this if it was the real deal?

To create a new folder inside the documents folder make sure to first navigate to your Documents folder and once it is highlighted, all you need to do is simply go to the “Finder File Menu” and select “New Finder Window”. Pressing “Command-N” will do the same thing. The new Folder will be labeled “untitled folder” and will usually be highlighted meaning you can now type the name you want that folder to be. If you want to change the name of a folder later, select it by clicking on it once, wait a second and then click on the name of the folder till it highlights, now you can enter a new name for it.

Downloads Folder Mayhem
Everything downloaded from the Internet (Safari and Mail) will go into your downloads folder, over time the downloads folder gets so full that finding anything is nearly impossible! I recommend you clean this out regularly or it can get really out of hand and become overwhelming. It’s also really hard to remember what all these old download files are for, so making sure to file them accordingly or delete them when you are finished with them will make your life much easier in the long run.

Quitting Verses Closing an Application Window
If you come from a PC, chances are you will automatically close the window to an application on a Mac by pressing the red button in the top left hand window corner and think that you have quit the application completely. Most of the time this is not true! To quit an application you need to go up to the Application Menu and select “Quit Application Name” or press the “Command-Q” keys on your computer when you are in the Application.

If you are not sure how many applications you have running at the same time you can press “Command-Tab” to pull up all the running application on the center of your screen for easy access. Keep holding down the “Command” key and repeatedly press the “Tab” key to switch between running Applications. You can even quit them while Still holding down the “Command” key and then pressing the “Q” key. Give it a try!

Power Management – Shutting off the Computer
Most new Mac users shut off their Mac every time they finish a session, why not just put your Mac to sleep and it will be ready to go when you are… The only time You need to power-down or restart your Mac is when it asks you to, or when you are going on an extended leave of absence. The other exception to this is if you notice your Mac becoming sluggish or an Application is misbehaving, in most cases a simple restart will fix the problem.

To put your computer to sleep all you need to do is go to the “Apple Menu” in the top left hand corner of your screen and select “Sleep”. Your computer by default will also automatically put its self to sleep, to check these setting open your “System Preferences” (also found in the Apple Menu) and select the “Energy Saver” tab.

Hopefully these simple tips will help you gain some time and relieve a bit of the frustration…

(Posted by Mike)