Emailing files to PC

I’ve been trying to send some Microsoft Word files as attachments to email in Outlook Express 5. Once I encoded them in AppleDouble and once in MIME format, but the PC users who received them couldn’t open the files. Why not?

Dario Mitidieri

There are three different settings which can cause problems for PC user recipients, and may prevent them from receiving email enclosures properly. The first is the encoding which is used to convert binary files into text for safe transmission across even the most archaic sections of the Internet; Macs most commonly use BinHex, while Windows prefers MIME with Base64. The second setting is compression, which squeezes the files into the smallest space to save transmission time; Macs normally opt for StuffIt, which is also available on PCs, but few PC users can cope with anything other than Zip. The final setting, which is a problem peculiar to PCs, is the file extension (for example .doc or .txt), which is used by Windows to determine the file type. Send a Windows user a Word document called thisdoc.exe and they will see it as an application!

So in Outlook Express, opt for Windows MIME encoding, no compression (you could use Zip compression separately if the files are large), and append Windows extensions to the file name (unless you do that manually). That makes it as easy as possible for them, but of course they could still be setting their email software incorrectly.

Which server

Our network (10 users on Macs and PCs, running Microsoft Office and connecting to the Internet) ran from a Windows NT server, but that has now gone. Could we replace it with a Mac server, or would we have to stick with NT? Would Mac OS X Server be a solution?

Scott Burditt

Mac OS X Server is a Unix-based server suite which is extremely powerful, but not always as easy to use as it might be. Before going to that weighty extreme, take a look at Apple’s AppleShare IP, which is fundamentally the standard Mac OS with additional extensions and applications to provide an excellent range of file, printer sharing and communications facilities based on TCP/IP protocols. While Mac OS X Server requires Unix-level expertise, many competent Mac users have set up AppleShare IP systems without additional training.

iBook expansion

I’ve expanded the memory in my iBook to 160Mb, and the hard disk is already two-thirds full. Should I be looking at replacing it with a new iBook, or expanding it further?

Duncan Sage

The iBook is not intended to be an expandable machine, and if you feel you will need expansion, you’ll find it much less frustrating if you buy a PowerBook instead. Even then, portable machines are never as expandable as desktop systems. The chances are that getting the latest iBook model will simply stave off its limitations for a bit longer. Upgrading memory to the maximum is well worthwhile, and saves you running with virtual memory turned on ­ if you’re still using virtual memory, turning it off will free up over 160Mb of disk space.

You still have plenty of free disk space anyway, and you may get by with a bit of discipline in moving off files which you don’t really need. In general, 80% of our files are only used for 20% of the time, and might as well be on an external USB hard disk, for instance.

Mac OS 8.6 shutdown

My beige G3 has an extra internal Quantum Fireball hard disk, a Umax Astra 600s scanner, Epson FilmScan 200, external 2Gb SCSI disk, and a LaCie 6x CD Writer. Since I installed Mac OS 8.6, it won’t shut down, so I have to turn off all the peripherals and then turn the Mac off at the mains. What’s wrong with it?

Keith Jones

You have so many peripherals, each with its own driver and other extension software, that the most likely cause must be some form of extension conflict or SCSI bus problem. A quick test, which may confirm this, is to shut your Mac down and disconnect all the peripherals. Then restart it with the shift key held down, to disable all extensions. If it can then be shut down fine, it’s almost certainly an extension conflict related to your peripherals.

If that still doesn’t help, check there is nothing in the Shutdown Items folder in your System Folder, and then run Disk First Aid, Norton Utilities, or your favourite disk checker, to ensure you don’t have any damage on your hard disk.

With so many SCSI peripherals, you’ll probably find a special SCSI utility useful, even when you’ve got everything up and running. The free SCSIProbe is a good start, as it lists each device that you have running, and gives its identity number, allows you to mount devices while your Mac is running, and more. Finally, do whatever you can to avoid having to shut down by turning the power off: that could damage your hard disk, and possibly worse.

Music notation

As part of a larger, more conventional design job, we need to produce some music pages of good quality. We’ve been recommended Sibelius, but is there anything cheaper which will fit the bill?

Jason Richards

Sibelius is an outstanding application for producing high-quality printed music, but at around £600 (including VAT), it is probably too expensive for the occasional user. At present, Opcode is offering the Web-downloadable version of its Fermata notation package for around $60 (www.opcode.com), and that might prove an ideal option for you to use. Alternatively, you could seek a specialist music bureau to sub-contract that part of the job.

Startup screen resolution

I’ve recently installed Mac OS 8.6 on my blue-and-white G3. Now, whenever it starts up, the first splash screen is always displayed at low resolution, and it then switches to the correct setting. Is there a patch to fix this?

Chris Cooper

This is normal behaviour for Mac OS 8.6 when starting up at a resolution other than the default 640 x 480 pixel resolution: in the first few seconds following startup, the screen briefly reverts to 640 x 480 pixel resolution, and then switches to your previously set resolution after that. It can catch some early-loading extensions unaware, though. If they display their load icon before the resolution is switched, you will see subsequent load icons spattered along the middle and bottom of the screen. This is true of sound card drivers, for instance.

Old devices, new Mac

I can only just afford to replace my old Quadra 800 with a new G4. Will I still be able to use my 14in Trinitron monitor, Hayes modem, Epson Stylus Color 600 printer, ADB keyboard and mouse? Is a USB Zip drive the best way to move files across between them?

Marc Carter

You shouldn’t have to replace too many of your peripherals, although it would be wise to upgrade some. Your monitor should be fine, for the time being, and is not dissimilar from current models. Your modem could be attached via a USB to a serial converter but you’ll find it much simpler to use the G4’s internal modem, which performs very well.

Your printer is not such an easy problem. It uses a serial interface, so you would need a serial-to-USB converter, but it’s not possible to predict how successful you’ll be in getting it to work. You may well find its software drivers don’t work properly with a converter. If you have a LocalTalk interface for it, you would need more expensive adaptors, in the form of an Ethernet to LocalTalk bridge, and you still may experience difficulties with the printer driver. So you really need to consider buying a USB printer. A new USB keyboard and mouse is now included in the price of all Macs.

Moving files between the two machines is easy over Ethernet, if your Quadra has an Ethernet interface, but will require some equipment. Talk to your local dealer or user group, as someone may be able to lend you a UTP hub and cabling to hook it up. You’ll probably need to have a thin coaxial connection (10-Base2) to the Quadra, and UTP cabling (10Base-T) to the new G4, from a hub. Trying to use Zip disks would require two Zip drives, one with a SCSI interface for the Quadra, a second with a USB interface for the G4; again, borrowing may be an option.

Hard disk reformat

Because of various problems, I ‘ve reformatted my hard disk about six times, even using the ‘zero all data’ option. How many times can I reformat my disk? If I do it too often, will it cause damage to the disk?

Eddie Wong

Although it affects different parts of a hard disk, reformatting it is not really much different from writing to it. Disks are designed so that they can keep changing their contents for a long time ­ this is normally expressed as the ‘mean time between failures’, and is usually in excess of 50,000 hours, or just under six years. So you could keep reformatting for a long time before you’re likely to suffer hardware failure.

However, reformatting is undoubtedly wasting a lot of your time, and you would be better devoting some of that time to working out what the problem is and how to solve it. MacUser’s Ultimate Mac Survival Kit (free with Vol 16 No 6) should provide plenty of help in that.

Zip disks and iMacs

I have an iMac with a USB Iomega Zip drive for backup. However, my computer now fails to recognise many Zip disks. Is there a problem with Zips and the iMacs?

Dave Eddison

There’s no particular problem between Zip drives and the iMacs, or any other Apple computer. However, Zip disks are not as reliable as conventional hard disks, CD-R or other removable media. You should not use them as your primary means of backup, any more than you would seriously depend on backups made on dozens of floppy disks. You can get more reliable backup systems for the iMacs: a particularly good and cost-effective option is a USB CD-R drive, for instance.

Regarding your failed Zip disks, you should raise this with Iomega, who may well replace the disks for you. You could also be suffering from a hardware problem within your Zip drive that is worth pursuing. Repetitive clicking while trying to mount a disk could be the ‘click of death’ syndrome, indicating imminent failure of the Zip drive. However, Iomega may not acknowledge this particular problem.

Multiple Scrapbook

Can I use multiple Scrapbooks under Mac OS 8.6 without installing a shareware utility?

Jennie Reis

Yes ­ it’s very easy to have as many different Scrapbooks as you wish, although because of the strange architecture of the Scrapbook application, this is a bit fiddly. While it’s normally installed in the Apple menu (and as such is located in the Apple Menu Items folder), the Scrapbook is a standard application tied to a single fixed document, the Scrapbook file, located in the System Folder.

If you want to be able to display multiple Scrapbooks at a time, you will therefore need to create several copies of the Scrapbook application, preferably kept in another folder, and then drag and drop a Scrapbook File to each one, as each application can only open a single file at a time.

Older versions of the Mac OS (back in System 7, for instance) don’t handle this so well, as the Scrapbook was then a special ‘stunted’ application known as a Desk Accessory, and couldn’t readily run outside the Apple menu.

External CD drive

I have a Mac SE with a Toshiba CD player. Although it mounts audio CDs, Apple Audio CD Player (System 7.1) won’t play them. Why not?

Simon Ward

Apple’s CD extensions and the Apple CD Audio Player application are only designed to work with CD drives installed by Apple in Apple-badged internal or external packages. While the extensions are very Catholic in their support for third-party drives, and thus widely used, the Player will normally only work with an internal (or Apple external) drive which is correctly connected. You may find Toshiba offers a suitable player application, that a generic package such as the FWB’s CD-ROM Toolkit will help, or that a third-party player works.

Unfortunately, it’s a matter of trial and error finding the correct solution, although you may be able to find someone with a similar drive who has already cracked it Therefore it’s worth checking around on the Internet and asking user groups whether they have heard of any solutions.