MacWorld coverage of changes to Mac OS 10.6.3

MacWorld article with some details of the improvements in the minor OS upgrade offered on Monday.
Scroll to the bottom for a Terminal command line to show a detailed list from your machine of files modified (once the free update is installed.)

The Unofficial Apple Weblog’s take here.

Free Application at "The windows Club" fixes 50 windows Vista and 7 issues:

While in the midst of troubleshooting an unrecognized Airport Base Station in windows 7, I found a freeware utility to correct some obscure windows Vista and windows 7 problems.
The utility, 'FixWin' is available over at "The windows Club", and allows you to select among 50-odd repairs to windows.
They don't list the repair options, so here's a quick reference:

Reset recycle bin icon.
Reset 'Folder View'.
Reset 'Games Explorer'.
Reset 'Folder Options'.
Reset 'Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives'.
Reset 'Sidebar'.
Reset 'Explorer.exe'.
Fix CD, DVD drive not showing.
Reset 'Thumbnails' in windows explorer.
Reset Internet Explorer icon.
Bypass run once in Internet Explorer.
Reset 'Internet Options' tab in 'Internet Options' control panel.
Optimize maximum Internet Explorer connections.
Remove forced msn default homepage.
Fix Internet Explorer "Runtime Errors".
Repair/Reset internet connection, or reset TCP/IP to default.
Fix blurry fonts / text in Internet Explorer 8.
Reset Internet Explorer.
Restore right-click Internet Explorer contextual menu.
Correct a variety of Media Player / Media Center issues.
Enable Task Manager.
Enable Command Prompt.
Enable Registry Editor.
Enable MMC snap-ins.
Reset windows search.
Reset System Restore to defaults.
Reset Device Manager.
Repair windows Defender.
Correct Action Center / Security Center not recognizing any, or old antivirus, or firewall programs.
Fix blank 'Turn windows Features On Or Off' dialog.
Enable hibernate and/or hybrid sleep features.
Reset sidebar gadgets.
Reset sticky notes delete dialog.
Correct blank windows Update webpage.
Reset windows help files in 'windows Help'.
Fix corrupted desktop icons / cache limit.
Restore taskbar 'jump' list or recent programs list.
Restore Aero Snap, Aero Shake, and /or Aero Peek.


FixWin is one of several free windows Vista and windows 7 utilities offered by these fine people.
Ultimate windows Tweaker
Fix IE
Fix mSE (microsoft Security Essentials)
Fix wU (windows Update)
windows Access Panel (Easy one click access to windows maintenance programs)
Prevent (Set a hot-key to allow cut, copy, paste, move, send, copy to, rename, and access to end processes, and some contextual menus.)

Happy (bug) hunting.

Unbootable windows partition on a Macintosh:

If you experience an unbootable windows partition, short of reinstalling windows, some options are:


While starting the computer up, hold down the 'F1' key to get to the windows boot screen, allowing for a memory scan, and 'F8' to select the various "safe modes" to boot into.

The 'F8' menu also contains the option for the 'Last Known Good Configuration' in-which the machine (hopefully) was recently booted from.

Of course, you can also hold down the 'Option' key while booting, to select another operating system partition to boot from.

Possible Fix for Script Errors in windows with outlook and internet explorer:

While visiting a relative, we discovered the inability to print email from outlook 2003 and anything from internet explorer 8.


The script error [1507] appeared in a dialog box, and prevented printing.
(Other documents printed, just IE and outlook would fail.)


The machine was running windows 7, and had experienced a ‘Blue Screen Of Death’ (crash) in the afternoon after updating through microsoft update earlier that morning.
Whatever the cause, I was unable to correct the problem without extensive Googling/troubleshooting…
I tried the following three fixes, [the last one having solved the issue,] then set a restore point to save the repaired environment after verifying the resolution:




Fix 1)  Turn Off Script Error Reporting.


Sometimes an alert may appear just to inform you the web page doesn’t conform to microsoft standards. (Though it may conform to Web standards, ...but I digress.)
To stop these alerts:


[windows 7 screen shot; other microsoft OS attempts are similar.]


Click ’Start’ (windows marble),
Click ‘Control Panel’,
Click either ’Network and Internet’, then/or
Click ‘Internet Options’,
Click the ’Advanced’ tab;

Click the ‘Custom level’ button,
Scroll down and check the box next to ‘Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer)’,

Scroll down and check the box next to ‘Disable script debugging (Other)’,

Click ‘Apply’,

Click ‘OK’.




Fix 2)  Register a dynamic link library file which tends to become orphaned.


Apparently windows occasionally looses track of a .dll file -possibly due to a crash, or improper shutdown.
As described here, a microsoftie does a good job of outlining the fix attempt:


Click ‘Start'
Click 'All Programs’
Click ‘Accessories’
Right-Click 'Command Prompt’
Click 'Run as Administrator’
Type the command:    regsvr32 ole32.dll
Press ‘Enter' on your keyboard,
Click ‘OK’




Fix 3)  Run this FREE utility to correct {some} script errors.


Kai Schätzl, a microsoft Professional has several scripts for microsoft’s various attempts at operating software.


This ultimately cured the ailing computer, restoring the ability to print from outlook, and ie 8. Yay.


Click for Kai Schätzl’s internet explorer script repair page.






Solutions received from kind people:


Additional outlook, outlook express, and internet explorer help (Thanks, Tomas H.!)


Link to newer post containing additional resources here.


Hopefully this will work for you. Scouring the web is tiring; if by chance you discover another fix, please leave a comment, and we’ll add the fix here.

iChat connection issues: Undefined AIM Socket Error

Problem:
iChat is unable to connect:

Solution:
[Assuming you have internet connectivity]
Check your System Firewall settings;
(Directions from Mac OS 10.6; earlier versions are similar)

Click ‘System Preferences’,
Click ‘Security’,
Select the ‘Firewall’ tab,
If the padlock is closed, click it to enter the administrator password,

Click ‘Advanced’,
Insure ‘Block all incoming connections' is not checked.
Scroll down to ‘iChat’ and ‘iChatAgent’ listings,
Click each listing at the arrows (right-hand edge) and select ‘Allow incoming connections’.

Click ‘OK’,

Close System Preferences,

Quit iChat, if running, and try running iChat now.

If you receive the same error,  check additional software firewalls (McAfee, Norton, etc.)

Check any hardware firewalls such as routers; try bypassing the router it eliminate that as an issue. 

Note: cable modems require unplugging its power to release the device’s address it was communicating with. (unplug the modem, and plug it back-in when switching between routers and computers.) 

Further, when using a VOIP, or Digital Voice (cable phone) modem, you must pull the backup battery, or push the reset button hidden through a pinhole in back to actually reset it.

….

Additional Norton 2010 Firewall help:

Run Norton Firewall,

Select ‘Firewall Settings’

Is Connection Blocking On? -No, Skip to Application Blocking below.

-Yes, Connection Blocking is On; Click ‘Configure…’, Scroll down below the listing for ‘iChat’ the line should read ‘Allow    All other connections’, if not click on the 'Block    All other connections’ line to highlight, and Click ‘Edit’, Select ‘Allow’ from the drop down menu.

Is Application Blocking On? -No, 

-Yes, Application Blocking is On; Click ‘Configure…’, Scroll down to the ‘iChat’ and ‘iChatAgent’ listings, and insure ‘allow’ is selected. (Double arrows at right of each listing toggles the setting.)

Click ‘Done’

Quit Norton Firewall.

Quit iChat, if running, and try running iChat now.

windows unresponsive, displays an error on restore.

Before re-installing, again, try this:

Symptom:
The computer freezes (locks up, or stops responding) on boot-up.

Possible Solution:
Reboot holding down 'Fn' and 'F8' keys and select 'Safe-Boot' then try restoring the system to an earlier time.

Configuring USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows 7

From the previous post:

After troubleshooting an entire day, I was able to connect a HP PSC 2110 printer plugged into an Apple Airport Base Station (wireless router/hard drive) and print from an old Dell running windows XP, and a new MacBook Pro running windows 7.

The Apple laptop (while running Mac OS 10.6) printed as soon as I joined the wireless network, so I knew the network, printer, and computer were operating properly.

However, booting the Apple laptop into windows 7 (ultimate edition) was a different story.

The machine failed to see the printer; it would surf the net fine, but no printer.

The same held true for the Dell (windows XP); surfed OK, no printer available.

After Googling around for a  quick  fix, I began to troubleshoot:

This is the result of that nightmare...

windows 7:

Click to configure USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows XP.

[SECTION 1]  Preliminary.

If using multiple computers, work with one at a time.

Verify you have web connectivity. (If not, correct this before proceeding.)

Install the printer directly to the computer following the printers directions; run the disk, or download the software from the manufacturers site. (This insures the drivers are resident on the machine.)

Print a test page.

Printed?  Good.

Take a deep breath.

Unplug the printer USB cable from the computer, and plug it into the Airport Base Station.

Disable your firewall software. (EX: Norton, McAfee, windows, etc... This is temporary.)

[SECTION 2]  Adding the printer.

Click 'Start' (windows marble),

Select 'Devices and Printers',

Click 'Add a printer'.

The Add Printer Wizard starts up,

Click 'Next',

Select 'Add a local printer', (Yes, Local. NOT network, wireless or Bluetooth.)

Choose 'Create a new port', and select 'Standard TCP/IP Port'

Click 'Next',

Enter the Airport Base Station's IP Address (Default is 10.0.1.1),

Choose a port, and change the Port name to reflect the new port (9100, 9101 worked for me, or 9202),

Click 'Next',
Select 'Custom', and Click 'Settings',
Change the Raw Settings Port Number to your selected port,

Click 'OK',
Click 'Next',

[SECTION 3]  Installing the printer driver.

Select your printers manufacturer from the list at left.
Select your printers model from the list at right.

(If the model isn't listed, Click the 'Windows Update' button to download more from the web; be patient, this may take several minutes, depending on internet and processor speed....)

(If the model still isn't listed, pick the closest one; this will be replaced later with the pre-installed one.)

Click 'Next',

(If asked to choose whether to keep existing driver, or replace, keep existing, unless your compelled to choose otherwise.., and Click 'Next')

Change the printer name.   EX: yourprintername (Wireless)

Select default or not,

Click 'Next'

Select 'Do not share this printer' (as it will be networked),

Click 'Next', continue on to...

[SECTION 4]  Tuning the printer driver.

Click 'Print Test Page';

-Prints?; Yes? Click 'Finish' (or 'OK'); continue at [section 7].

No test print?; Click 'Finish', (or 'OK'),

Click 'Start' (windows marble)

Select 'Devices and Printers'

Right-Click your new printer icon, and select 'Printer Properties',

Choose the 'Advanced' tab,

Look at the listed Driver:

Does it match your printer's model?

If YES; the listed driver matches your printer model, continue at [section 5].

If NO, select the printer from the drop-down list,

Click 'OK',

Click the 'General' tab,

Click 'Print Test Page'; -Prints?; -Yes? Click 'Finish' (or 'OK'); continue at [section 7].

No test print?; Continue on to...

[SECTION 5]  Tweaking the printer driver.

Click the 'Ports' tab,

Uncheck 'Enable bidirectional support',

Click the 'General' tab,

Click 'Print Test Page',

     Prints?; -Yes? Click 'Finish' (or 'OK'); continue at [section 7].

No test print?; Click the 'Ports' tab,

Check 'Enable bidirectional support',

The highlighted port in the list should be your newly added port,

Click 'Configure Port',

Change the port number to 9100, or 9101, or 9202 and modify the Port Name to reflect the new port number,

Click 'OK',

Click the 'General' tab,

Click 'Print Test Page',

     Prints?; -Yes? Click 'Close'; continue at [section 7].

No test print?

Repeat trying all the ports in [SECTION 5]

If all ports fail;

[SECTION 6]  Brute Force

Close any open windows.

Click 'Start' (windows marble),

Select 'Devices and Printers',

Right-Click on the new, non-working printer we tried to setup, and select 'Remove device',

Click 'Add a printer'

Click 'Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer',

If by some miracle, the printer actually appears, try it, I'll wait here.

Click 'The printer that I want isn't listed'

Click 'Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname',

Click 'Next',

Select the device type 'TCP/IP Device'

Enter the Airport IP address (The default is 10.0.1.1)

Add something like "Jet Direct" to the Port name,

Click 'Next',

Select 'Hewlett Packard Jet Direct' (The actual printer brand doesn't matter at this point, its just a printing format.)

Click 'Next',

Refer back to [Section 3] for tuning and tweaking....

{If after trying all listed ports, and the generic driver, you are unable to print, we suggest posting to the manufacturers forums for further help.}

[SECTION 7]  Completion.

Re-enable your firewall.

Try printing,

     Prints?; -Yes? Great, you're done with this machine.

No, not printing? Open the port you configured in your firewall software.

For example, if you've installed the current (2010) Norton Security Suite, you would run the program, hover the cursor over 'PC Security' and select 'Manage Firewall',

Select the 'Traffic Rules' tab,

Click 'Add',

Select 'Allow', Click 'Next',

Select 'Connections to and from other computers', Click 'Next',

Select 'Any computer in the local subnet' Click 'Next',

Select protocol to allow 'TCP',

Select 'Only communications that match all types and ports listed below',

Click 'Add',

Select 'Individually specified ports',

Select 'Local',

Enter your printer port (9100, 9101, 9202) you configured, Click 'Next',

Select 'Create an event log entry',

Select 'Apply this rule', Click 'Next',

Rename the rule (EX: Wireless Printing Port XXXX), Click 'Next'

Click 'Finish', Click 'Apply', Click 'Close'

{Please refer to your firewall software support network for its specifics}

Click to configure USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows XP.

Configuring USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows XP

After troubleshooting an entire day, I was able to connect a HP PSC 2110 printer plugged into an Apple Airport Base Station (wireless router/hard drive) and print from an old Dell running windows XP, and a new MacBook Pro running windows 7.

The Apple laptop (while running Mac OS 10.6) printed as soon as I joined the wireless network, so I knew the network, printer, and computer were operating properly.
However, booting the Apple laptop into windows 7 (ultimate edition) was a different story.
The machine failed to see the printer; it would surf the net fine, but no printer.
The same held true for the Dell (windows XP); surfed OK, no printer available.
After Googling around for a  quick  fix, I began to troubleshoot:


This is the result of that nightmare...




windows XP:
Click to configure USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows 7.


[SECTION 1]

If using multiple computers, work with one at a time.

Verify you have web connectivity. (If not, correct this before proceeding.)

Install the printer directly to the computer following the printers directions; run the disk, or download the software from the manufacturers site. (This insures the drivers are resident on the machine.)

Print a test page.
Printed?  Good.

Take a deep breath.
Unplug the printer USB cable from the computer, and plug it into the Airport Base Station.

Disable your firewall software. (EX: Norton, McAfee, windows, etc... This is temporary.)



[SECTION 2]

Click 'Start',
Select 'Printers and Faxes',
Click 'Add Printer'.

The Add Printer Wizard starts up,
Click 'Next',
Select 'Local Printer',
Uncheck 'Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer'. (Yes, Local. NOT network.)



















Click 'Next',
Select 'Create a new port',



















Choose 'Standard TCP/IP Port' from the drop-down menu,

Click 'Next'.
The Add Standard TCP/IP Port Wizard starts, click 'Next'.
Enter the Airport Base Station IP address (Default is 10.0.1.1)
Add (or change) the port number to 9100, or 9101 worked for me, or 9202 and modify the Port Name to reflect the new port number:

Click 'Next',
Select 'Custom',
Click 'Settings'
Change the Raw Settings Port Number to reflect your port number, and Click 'OK',

Click 'Next'.
Click 'Finish'
Select your printer's manufacturer from the list on the left.
Select your printer's model from the list on the right.

(If the model isn't listed, Click the 'Windows Update' button to load more from the web; be patient, this may take several minutes, depending on internet and processor speed....)

(If the model still isn't listed, pick the closest one; this will be replaced later with the pre-installed one.)

Click 'Next',
(If asked to choose whether to keep existing driver, or replace, keep existing, unless your compelled to choose otherwise.., and Click 'Next')

Change the printer name.   EX: yourprintername (Wireless)
Select default or not,
Click 'Next'
Select 'Do not share this printer' (as it will be networked),
Click 'Next', continue on to...


[SECTION 3]

Click 'Print Test Page'; -Prints?; Yes? Click 'Finish' (or 'OK'); continue at [section 5].

No test print?; Click 'Finish', (or 'OK'),
Click 'Start'
Select 'Printers and Faxes'
Right-Click your new printer icon, and select 'Properties',
Choose the 'Advanced' tab,
Look at the listed Driver:

Does it match your printer's model?

If YES; the listed driver matches your printer model, continue at [section 4].

If NO, select the printer from the drop-down list,
Click 'OK',
Click the 'General' tab, Start again at [section 3].


[SECTION 4]

Click the 'Ports' tab,
Uncheck 'Enable bidirectional support',
Click the 'General' tab,
Click 'Print Test Page',


     Prints?; -Yes? Click 'Finish' (or 'OK'); continue at [section 5].

No test print?; Click the 'Ports' tab,
Check 'Enable bidirectional support',

The highlighted port in the list should be your newly added port,

Click 'Configure Port',

Change the port number to 9100, or 9101, or 9202 and modify the Port Name to reflect the new port number,

Click 'OK',

Click the 'General' tab,

Click 'Print Test Page',

     Prints?; -Yes? Click 'Close'; continue at [section 5].

No test print?

Start over again at [SECTION 4]  {If after trying all listed ports, you are unable to print, we suggest posting to the manufacturers forums for further help.]

[SECTION 5]

Re-enable your firewall.
Try printing,

     Prints?; -Yes? Great, you're done with this machine.

No printing? Open the port you configured in your firewall software.

For example, if you've installed the current (2010) Norton Security Suite, you would run the program, hover the cursor over 'PC Security' and select 'Manage Firewall',

Select the 'Traffic Rules' tab,

Click 'Add',
Select 'Allow', Click 'Next',
Select 'Connections to and from other computers', Click 'Next',
Select 'Any computer in the local subnet' Click 'Next',
Select protocol to allow 'TCP',
Select 'Only communications that match all types and ports listed below',
Click 'Add',
Select 'Individually specified ports',
Select 'Local',
Enter your printer port (9100, 9101, 9202) you configured, Click 'Next',
Select 'Create an event log entry',
Select 'Apply this rule', Click 'Next',
Rename the rule (EX: Wireless Printing Port XXXX), Click 'Next'
Click 'Finish', Click 'Apply', Click 'Close'

{Please refer to your firewall software support network for its specifics}




Click to configure USB printers to Apple Airport Base Station with windows 7.