A minor puzzle arrived from a reader who was trying to choose his boot drive by holding down the Option key at startup. OS X has a variety of keyboard combinations you can press to invoke different ...

When Apple Computer Inc. introduced Open Firmware with the first G3 Macintosh computers, it was big news because it allowed Apple to easily modify system information previously stored in ROM. This ...

While users may never want to have to rely on them, it's comforting to know that PCs running modern operating systems have fail-safes and recovery modes that can help get the system back up and ...

Whether it's to fix problems with your Mac, or get it ready to sell on to someone else, macOS Recovery, also known as Mac Recovery Mode, is a powerful tool to help you. It would be great if Macs just ...

Safe mode is an important troubleshooting tool. It boots the OS in such a way that it uses the bare minimum files and apps to start and run. This can help you isolate issues, figure out where problems ...

Whether you're a newbie or an experienced Apple user, this guide will show you how to let your fingers do the walking around your Mac. The fastest way to navigate a Mac is to learn the glut of OS X ...

There are several utilities you can use on your Mac to secure it at startup. Here's how to use them to keep your Mac and data safe. Computer security is an important topic in today's digital world and ...

While using these suggestions, make sure you have enough permission on the user account for any needed modification. Boot Camp Assistant might stop responding, or installation failed. Startup disk ...

Jason Snell describes on Six Colors how Apple Silicon Macs will handle boot and recovery modes: With the advent of Macs running Apple-designed processors, things will get a whole lot simpler. As ...