I am trying to hook an HP keyboard to an old Mac desktop but the ADB end of the keyboard does not match to the female end on the Mac. Is there an adapter I can get to make it fit?

ADB Keyboards

The term "ADB" dates back to the mid-1980s and stands for Apple Desktop Bus. The ADB connector is a round, 4-pin connector which is the same type of connector used for S-video.

This is an obsolete connection system used on older Macintosh computers for connecting low speed devices such as keyboards and mice. ADB was used from 1986 through 1999 and has since been replaced by USB.

PS/2 Keyboards

Before exploring ADB adapter options, let's make sure that the HP keyboard connection isn't a PS/2 connector which looks similar to the ADB connector but has 6 pins instead of 4.  

Macintosh Keyboard Input Jacks

Now, let's look at the keyboard input on the Macintosh computer. If the female input has 4 pins, it is an ADB connection and should pair nicely with a 4-pin ADB keyboard connector. If the input looks more like a phone jack, then you'll need a compatible keyboard as those systems are not compatible with other systems. If your Macintosh sports a USB port, you should be able to find an adapter for either ADB or PS/2 keyboards.

ADB Adapters

If your keyboard is a PS/2 keyboard (with 6 pins) and the Macintosh has an ADB connector, you will need a PS/2 to ADB adapter. While I did find a PS/2 to ADB adapter on GeeThree.com, apparently it only works with mice, not keyboards. IOGear makes a product called MiniView Mac Adapter (GCV160) which allows you to connect a PS/2 mouse, PS/2 keyboard, and VGA, SVGA, or Multisync monitor to an ADB Macintosh. This is a legacy product and may or may not be available. You could check eBay or Craigslist as a possible source as well.

If your Macintosh has a USB port, connecting either an ADB or PS/2 keyboard is much simpler as both PS/2 to USB and ADB to USB adapters are readily available.

Question Mark over Program Icons and missing application files

It seems as though your computer has either lost, or can't find the system or program files that it needs to access your applications. This means that, while the icon is appearing in your applications folder, or in your Dock, the link to the corresponding application files is broken, or the files are missing or corrupt. Depending on how far into your boot up sequence you can get and the programs that are affected, you might be looking at an operating system re-installation.

Check your warranty

If you have only recently bought your Mac Book, you might want to check if it is still under warranty. If so, you can take it in to the retailer and their techs should be able to restore your programs for you. If you're not under warranty, or if you choose to troubleshoot it yourself, you can try these suggestions.

Run Mac First Aid from Disk Utilities

Power down your computer and put the OS X installation disk in the drive. Turn the computer on to boot up from the disk. Now,  open the Applications folder and then try to open your Utilities application. Next, choose Disk Utility. Now you will see the options to run tool functions for your hard drive. One called First Aid will attempt to repair permissions and fix corrupted file systems, you can try this.

Run Diagnostics

If this doesn't help, but you are able to boot your computer, then you can try to diagnose the problem. First, turn your computer off, then put your original install CD 1 into the drive, hold down the D key and turn the computer on. If things are working at all, then this should offer you some diagnostics. If these are hard to decipher, you can write us again and include this information and we can try to troubleshoot from there.

If you're not able to boot at all, then the cause might be a full hard drive failure, in which case I hope you're under warranty and can take it in for repair. I really hope that this helps, you can always write again with the results of these tests and then we can keep going from there. Good luck!!

The Mac G3 -- also called either beige or platnium g3s depending on their colour -- were the first Macs to use a PowerPC G3 microprocessor, and they were only manufactured between 1997 and 1999. Fortunately, the Mac G3s can theoretically support operating systems up to Mac OS X version 10.2.8, although not all functions will be enabled with the older hardware and connections. To run newer versions of Mac operating systems you will need to install a G4 processor upgrade.

Mac operating systems and application files

More important than your computer model, are the details of your G3's operating system. What is it running now, and are you able to boot up the computer with this system? If so, you can check the operating system version and look for any available updates that might get you into a better working order. You can try to recover the application files using a disk utility tool and repairing permissions, assuming that the content is still on your system.

Run a Mac recovery tool

Without knowing anything about your operating system or the functionality of your computer, is it hard to offer very specific advice for finding, restoring or replacing your missing application files. However, a quick online search will reveal several Mac File Recovery tools - some free and some available for purchase. Depending on your system, you could try accessing and running one of these tools. Without any startup disks, your only alternative will be to purchase a new operating system. A choice which may not prove cost effective considering the age and date of your hardware.

If none of this information is helpful, you can write again and include any details you can about your operating system, whether or not you can boot up your computer, and if there are any functioning programs. This will give us a place to start from and see if there are any ways we can improve your system, short of a new OS. Good luck!

Computer processes can slow down over time

Over time, computers can start to drag or hesitate during start up, this most often means that there are excessive programs or processes running automatically when you power up the computer. Luckily, it is relatively simple to check out your iMac's start up routine and eliminate any non-essential programs that are slowing you down. By reducing the number of tasks the computer has to perform during its boot up process, you can directly increase its start up speed.

How to delete unneeded programs from your start up process

To review your iMac's start up menu and delete unnecessary processes, follow these steps:

1.         Click the apple icon on the top left corner of your screen

2.         Scroll down to choose System Preferences

3.         This will open your computer system's configuration tools - under the System sub-heading, choose Accounts.

4.         Click to highlight your account on the left side of the menu, then click to select the Login Items heading on the right side.

5.         Everything that appears in this list is set to launch automatically when you turn on your computer. You can use the up and down arrows or click to select items to remove. To delete an application, first click to select it, then press the delete key on your keyboard.

6.         ***Note: the option to "hide" an application is different than removing it from the list. if you choose to hide a program, it will still open at start up, but the process will be hidden from the user.

7.         It's a good idea to remove everything that isn't needed, especially if you are interested in improving your computer's start up speed. However, keeping some programs set to automatically launch is a convenient way to pre-program the applications you use all the time.

Clear up some hard drive space

Another software-related tip is to clean up some space on your hard drive. The more space there is, the more flexibility and speed your system can optimize while running processes. You can do this pretty easily by emptying the trash, deleting unused programs, downloads and files, and by archiving old and infrequently accessed data into smaller files. The steps for this can vary among operating systems, so the most effective method is to visit the AppleCare Support pages and check out the advice offered there for your particular operating system model.

Enhance your hardware

In addition to software tweaks, there are also hardware options to increase your computer's speed. For example, adding RAM or upgrading your CPU can really boost your system's performance.

As hard as it is to find information on this problem, it is a remarkably common Mac issue. It is either a font cache issue or an incorrect font substitution problem. If the characters in the email overlap and don't look spaced evenly, then it is likely a font cache corruption. If the characters are unreadable, but are orderly and evenly spaced, then it is probably a font substitution issue.

Font Cache Problem

For Mac users, font cache problems show up in browser and email applications as well as graphic documents. When the fonts are activated, they are cached for use - some are handled by the operating system and some by the applications themselves. It is easy for these cache files to become corrupt and result in crazy, overlapping unreadable fonts as a result of incorrect or corrupt encoding information when mapping the character codes.

In order to fix this, you need to use a program like Smasher from Insider Software to "smash" the font caches. While this is a paid program, you should be able to clear these caches using the demo mode.

Incorrect Font Substitute Problem

If the font problem is still not fixed, it is probably an incorrect font substitute problem. When a document calls for a specific font and it is unavailable or inadequate, the operating system chooses another font which results in an incorrect substitution. The fonts in question are usually Times Phonetic or Helvetica Fractions fonts. You can try to find these particular fonts in the fonts folders and delete them, or use the program Font Agent Pro to manage all of your fonts. This program will show you a preview of the font so that you can see if it matches what you are seeing on your screen. You can then easily find and delete the font that is causing the problem.

Even though I can't see what is on your screen, I'm fairly confident that one of these two solutions will work for you.

Formatting your External Hard Drive for Mac

There is a good chance that your external hard drive is still formatted for a PC, not a Mac, as most components are pre-configured for use on Windows compatible systems. If this is the case, then your external drive is likely formatted as NTFS, which is normal in a PC, but not prime for Mac. Mac operating systems can read from NTFS drives but they can't write to one, which means that you could open files from your external drive but not save files to it. You can resolve this by reformatting the drive for your Mac operating system and an HSF+ configuration.

Check your External Drive Format

First of all, you can check the drive to see if this is the problem.

1. Connect the drive to your computer
2. Locate the icon on your desktop
3. Hold down the CTRL key and then click on the icon
4. Now click on Get Info
5. If properly configured, the drive will be formatted as Mac OS Extended. If not, it will show as PC Exchange

Save all Files from your External Drive

If it shows as PC Exchange, follow these directions to change it. You should realize that formatting the drive will remove any files, programs or other information that you have managed to save to it so far, so be sure to transfer all important data off the drive before you proceed.

Format your External Hard Drive

1. Open the Applications folder
2. Choose Utilities, then Disk Utilities
3. There will be two icons for each drive listed
4. Select the first external drive listing then click Erase
5. Choose Mac OS Extended
6. You might also want to check the external user's manual to see if there are any other recommended steps or advice.

Choose Clear File Names

Another good tip is to remove any special punctuation symbols such as / or + from your file names because they can interfere with normal paths. Alphanumeric file names are the best and safest option for communicating between devices. I hope this does it for you, good luck!

Charging iPods from Mac Laptops

Yes, Mac laptops won't charge through their USB ports when they are hibernating because the computer stops sending power to the ports. In fact, having an iPod plugged in when the computer isn't active will actually drain the iPod's battery. Mac designed its laptops this way to prevent external devices like iPods from overheating if they are left plugged in to the computer for too long, and to protect the computer from being on for too long, especially if you wander away. If you want to leave your iPod charging overnight, you can use an AC adaptor instead, which won't risk any damage to the computer or the device.

Getting Around iMac Sleep Settings

There are internal settings that you can change to alter the iMac's sleep settings. The thing about changing the settings is that there might be times when you want the computer to sleep when you aren't using it, and you might also want to heed the advice that warns against overheating and so you might not want to change the settings permanently. In this case, you can program your computer to keep it active. For example, keep iTunes on repeat so that the program stays on and prevents the computer from hibernating. This way you can let the iPod charge without changing the sleep settings, but be sure not to leave it on too long.

Mac Energy Conservation

To conserve energy, all Macs are programmed with the ability to sleep. When the computer isn't used for a pre-set amount of time it will go into a low-power mode until you activate it again. The sleep setting also conserves power and battery life. There are times, however, when you want to override the sleep settings in order to burn a CD, download a program or charge your iPod.

Change your Mac Sleep Settings

If you decide that you do want to change the settings, here's how to do it.

1. Open System Preferences and click Energy Saver, this will show you your current settings
2. Choose Battery or Power Adapter, or both
3. Click the Sleep tab
4. Move the arrows along the sliding scale to change the settings
5. Click the Options tab
6. Make any other adjustments that you want

Good luck!

Microsoft introduced a cool new feature known as System Restore when it launched the Windows XP operating system. This feature allows Windows users to roll back their system to previously set "restore point." For example, if you were to create a restore point today and then have major problems with your computer a week from now, you could perform a System Restore and roll back the computer to today's settings. It's like time travel in a geeky sort of way. What's neat about System Restore is that it doesn't affect your data - just your system files.

System Restore for Mac

But alas, you have a Mac so the Windows tool doesn't apply to your situation. Some would argue that since the Macintosh operating systems are much more stable than Windows, a system restore-type utility is not necessary. However, computer errors and file corruption happen, even on Macs.

Time Machine

Apple introduced the Time Machine utility with OS X Leopard. This utility is more like a full backup utility than the System Restore utility. If you have OS X Leopard or above, check to see if you have a backup from before your current problems began. More information about Time Machine is available on the Apple Web site.

Disk Utility

The Mac OS X (OS X 10.4 and above) Disk Utility is one option available to Mac users, but it requires that you create backup images of your disk and store them on an external drive. It is not automatic, nor is it as easy to use as System Restore. The Disk Utility can verify and repair disks, so it's worth trying. For example, if your Mac has file system errors such as after power surge or unexpected shutdown, it's smart to run the Disk Utility. You'll need your original installation CD or DVD. Boot up from the disk and choose the Disk Utility. Click the First Aid tab, choose the volume that you wish to repair, and then click Repair.

Mac Safe Boot

Mac Safe Boot, which is similar to Windows Safe Mode, is available for the Mac OS X 10.2 and above operating systems. When you start your Mac in Safe Boot, it will automatically check and repair the disk. Reboot your Mac while holding the Shift key to enter Safe Mode.

Mac FSCK

Mac's FSCK utility is used when Safe Mode or the Disk Utility either do not work or are unavailable. This is a command line utility that requires using either the Terminal Application or Single User Mode. Once at the command line prompt type in:

/sbin/fsck -fy

From there, the process will go through a series of five phases and will then give you one of two messages: the volume appears to be OK or the file system was modified.

If the file system was modified, you should continue running the FSCK command several times until you receive the "the volume appears to be OK" message. Once the volume is okay, reboot.

Mac Cloning Software

Another option is to invest in Mac cloning software. Many programs are available that will clone your drive and allow you to easily restore it should something go wrong. Two popular programs to consider are Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper.

While the Mac doesn't have the same System Restore utility that Windows offers, options are available. If all else fails, backing up your data and then restoring the Mac operating system from CD is a final resort.

Related Articles:

Windows System Restore  

Transferring Outlook Express Address Book to Mac

Outlook Express and Internet Explorer

Well, before you think about installing Outlook Express 6 onto your new iMac, you might want to think for a few minutes about the new options that are presented to you. As a former PC user, you are very used to using Outlook Express, which is the email program that is associated with Internet Explorer. Outlook Express is a free program, it isn't part of the Microsoft Office software suite, but it is used with Internet Explorer, the popular Microsoft web browser. Now that you are using a Mac, you are not going to continue using Internet Explorer, since Microsoft stopped supporting Mac operating systems in 2006.

Mac Web Browser - Safari

Mac now promotes its own web browser called Safari, which I am sure you have noticed set on your computer. There is another very popular web browser for Mac called Firefox, which many Mac users think is superior. You can download Firefox for free.

Download OE for Mac

Back to your question, since you aren't going to use Internet Explorer anymore, you are going to want to update your email server. There are patches and freeware programs out there that claim to offer tweaked versions of IE and OE for Mac, but I'm not sure you want to row your boat upstream. If it were me - and it has been - I would embrace the changes and get on with a Mac compatible email program.

Import your OE Address Book to your Mac

The email program built into your OS X system is called Mail. If you choose to set up Mail, then you can import your address book into your new account. You could also choose another email client that isn't associated with your computer operating system or web browser for more versatility now and in the future. Here is the Mac OS X Help page with simple instructions for transferring your address book from a Windows computer to a Mac. Let me know if there is anything else, and enjoy your new Mac!

Troubleshooting HP Scanjet Scanner on Mac OS

Even though I am sure you have already thought of this, it's always a good reminder to check all your cables. I'm not sure that a loose cable could be causing your problem, but it's sure a pain to go through a bunch of other steps only to realize that something isn't connected properly.

Sort Out your Driver Issues

First of all, we need to sort out that missing driver and make sure that you have the correct driver installed. However, it is unlikely that the driver is causing your printer production problems. To deal with this and with the scanner issue, I am going to suggest that you start by removing the scanner drivers and reloading them as well as the scanner and reinstalling it. Before you do, be sure that you have the installation CD that came with your scanner.

Remove the Driver and HP Scanner Software

To find and remove the scanner driver open a new Finder window, choose your hard drive, then System, then Library, Extensions and folder. If there is a driver installed you might need to check with HP for an uninstaller. To remove the HP scanner application and all of its associated folders, please follow this link to the HP Support Document for uninstalling HP Scanjet Scanners in Mac OS.

Reinstall the Scanner Software and Update with Mac Drivers

Once you've safely removed all the software, you should consult the user manual for directions to install the scanner. Make sure that you follow the instructions in order because they can be sensitive. Once you have installed the program you should update the drivers for Mac OS X, which you can find here.

Check the Bulb and Have the Unit Repaired

It is also possible that there is a bulb burnt out in your scanner so that your images are being underexposed. When you try to scan, watch for the light to get bright. If you think this is the issue, I suggest you contact an HP Customer Service representative for information on where and how to go about having the bulb replaced and the model repaired. If you don't get any help there, you can find a local repair person in your area who might be able to fix it. Sadly, it seems that often the price of a new scanner is less than the cost of repairing your existing machine so this one might need to be recycled.