When it came to the traditional spinning hard drive, everyone pretty much knew what you meant when you wanted to get rid of all the drive’s data and encrypt the drive’s contents so that no one can detect its contents.  However, when it comes to SSDs(solid-state drives), traditional methods of erasing a drive such as repeatedly using data location overwrites often does little to affect the drive.

And sometimes when you overwrite the data on SSDs, there’s a big possibility that a portion of the overwritten data may still be accessible on the drive, which poses a security threat.

So, how is it possible to erase SSDs safely without compromising the function of the drive? Is it possible to permanently erase data and make it no longer accessible?

Review how the Disk Utilityfunction is a possible solution for erasing and protecting information by reading the article Disk Utility for macOS Sierra: Erase a volume using Disk Utility.

Let’s look at how to securely erase an SSD without damaging the drive.

SSD Architecture
Like we already stated, most people are aware of how to erase the traditional hard drive. These drives store data in a linear format, which makes it easy to clean up and erase them (since it’s easier to access the data to read and write it).  In short, you are getting rid of the volume and partition maps, so you can overwrite each data location according to a data pattern.

Because of how many times the data is written and the pattern used for wiping the traditional hard drive, the sanitation procedure complies with most government agency regulations (including the DOD).

Unlike traditional hard drives that have a linear pattern, SSDs have various storage combinations that make it harder to map out the layout of the drive. The multiple layers—called flashtranslation layer (or FTL)—help determine how the data is managed on the drive.

SSDs have more flash memory than they need. So, the excess memory becomes empty data blocks that are used when you rewrite the drive (as out-of-band sections).

Thanks to the various mapping layers of the drive and how the flash controller handles the distribution of memory on the drive, it makes it very difficult (almost impossible) to get rid of traces of all data ever written on the drive.

For example, when editing a document you have created, you would think the changes made to the document would erase the data that was replaced. Instead of the data blocks with the original data being rewritten with the new data, the original data is left untouched, and the new data is stored in available empty data blocks. The physical map of the drive is changed because the new edits create an update that point to the newly-filled data blocks.  Therefore, the original data blocks no longer in use will read as free space but are still filled with the original data. Also, these data blocks will remain accessible until the SSD’s garbage collection system takes care of it.

Because of the FTL architecture, it is impossible for a traditional hard drive erasefunction to get rid of all the data on an SSD since some data locations will not be accessible.

SSD Secure Erase
The designers of the solid-state drive realized there needs to be a simple way to clean an SSD thoroughly. The ATA command is one solution to this problem. The NVMe command was also a proposed solution for cleaning SSDs effectively.  Also, the designers proposed a Secure Erase Unit to clean SATA-based SSDs, and the Format NVM to clean PCIe-based SSDs.

There are two primary ways SSDs securely erase their data. For SSDs that use the encryption function that’s in the controller, the crypto-erase format is used that will allow changes to the internal encryption key, which will render the data unreadable. Another way to erase data securely on an SSD is to use the block erase format that will allow you to do a full media erase (even the FTL memory and out-of-banddata). There are also SSDs that can combine the use of crypto-erase and full media erase.

Unfortunately, SSD designers did not create software utility apps to support Format NVM or Secure Erase Unit natively on Mac computers.   Most Mac users will have to employ the use of a Linux-based SSD utility program(hopefully created by the SSD manufacturer) or a bootable Windows partitioning and formatting utility that will allow the Mac to run the Secure Erase function.

Since some companies that create SSDs don’t have utility programs that allow you to run the secure erase feature, you may have to opt for using a third-party utility app such as GPartedor PartedMagic.

The Encryption Option
As already stated, some SSDs have simplified securely erasing their data using the crypto-erase function which renders the data inaccessible.  They are often referred to as Self-Encrypting Drives (or SEDs).   Also, please be reminded of the various utility programs out there that can change or remove the encryption key.

FileVault is an awesome disk encryption system or encryption function feature in APFS utilized by Mac computers that securely cleanthe drive. If you did not set up the FileVault feature when you first set up your Mac, you can do so using the steps explained in the article:Use FileVault to encrypt the startup disk on your Mac.

Once the encryption feature is available, you can clean your drive with the Mac’s Disk Utility Erase function and erase the 256-bit encryption key on the drive. When the encryption key is deleted, all information that used to be available on the drive will no longer be accessible.

If you still feel the need to take a further step (like to deter forensic recovery methods), you can do a flash memory reset.

One More Thing
If your SSD has built-in encryption features, you can physically destroy the drive’s controller to prevent the ability to recover the data. Since the flash memory chips encrypt data, the destruction of the controller renders them inoperable. However, if you want an extra layer of protection, you can destroy the flash memory chips also by drilling a few holes in them.

Wrap Up
As stated earlier, the problem with erasing SSDs comes from trying to treat them like traditional hard drives. You can’t just overwrite the data multiple times because it does not work on an SSD. Therefore, you have to do a little more than just overwrite the data. The best option is to use encryption features on your Mac when you first set it up.

You can’t go wrong using the encryption features with an SSD. Fortunately, most SSDs have their own encryption tools to make cleaning your drive a simple process. However, even users who have SSDs that are SEDs can benefit from the Mac’sencryption system because it gives them another layer of control over how their data is stored and removed.

If you’re wondering why your laptop keeps dying, hopefully,the following information will help you decide to finally get that MacBook battery replaced.

You’ve had your MacBook for years, so you should not be surprised that it’s now hardly keeping a charge like it used to do.

It’s kind of frustrating trying to see how long your charge will last before your MacBook goes completely dead. After all, no one wants to find a dead laptop when they are expecting to do some work on it. Knowing what to expect from your current battery’s performance can make life a lot easier when trying to determine how much time you have before the battery goes dead.

Checking Your MacBook’s Battery Condition

To find out about your battery’s performance, you can go to the menu bar and select the battery icon. One of four battery states will be displayed:

1. Service Battery:The battery isn’t performing properly, and your MacBook needs to be taken to an authorized Apple store or computer repair store to be serviced. However, you can still work on your MacBook until you go get it serviced because the problem should not affect other parts of your computer.
2. Replace Soon:The battery is performing at its best, but the battery is not holding a charge likeit used to when you first got it.  You can still use your computer until you get ready to get the battery replaced.
3. Replace Now:The battery is performing at its best, but the battery has a highly noticeable decrease in performance when it comes to holding a charge. However, you can still use your computer until you get ready to get the battery replaced.
4. Normal:The battery is performing at its best.

Regardless of the condition, you still have some time to use the battery before deciding on getting a new one or a new MacBook.

Determining Your Battery Cycle Count

Although battery cycles may vary for various types of MacBooks, most are able to endure at least 1,000 cycles. A cycle count is made when you fully recharge a battery after the battery has run down completely. That means, you can drain your battery over halfway (about 60%) one day and recharge it, and it won’t count as a full cycle until the battery has done a complete depletion before recharging it.

When your battery has done 1000 cycles, your battery can function at a capacity as high as 80%.  Your battery can endure more than 1000 cycles but expect your battery to work at a much-diminished capacity. If you want to check your present cycle count, you can always go to the System Report tool to find out how many cycles your battery has completed.

When you press the Alt key and select the Apple icon (in the upper-left corner), you will see the System Report option. Click on System Report and click the Power option from the left panel. You should then see the term “Cycle Count” in the Battery Information Section under the “Health Information” section.

Replacing Your MacBook’s Battery

Those needing to have their battery replaced need to take their MacBook to an authorized Apple Store or computer store with authorized personnel to have their battery replaced. If you go to an authorised Apple Store, you can expect to pay between $189 and $500 to have your battery replaced. Alternatively, you can do it yourself with a new battery from NewerTech for as low as $124.99 – as well as being cheaper, this option also allows you to replace old batteries in machines for which Apple will no longer provide service.

If you chose to purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan, then the process of replacing your battery becomes a whole lot easier if your MacBook’s warranty has not expired. If you’re still covered under warranty, you can get the whole MacBook replaced instead of buying a battery.

When the fans on your Mac are working overtime (and even making a lot of noise) to keep your computer cool, and the battery seems to be performing poorly with each charge, then you may be encountering the results of cryptojacking.

Keep in mind that these experiences can also be the result of other factors. For instance, hot weather can affect your Mac’s ability to cool and run properly. Also, audio/video processing can cause your Mac to take a dive in performance—especially when engaged in a lot of simultaneous processes.

But you can’t rule out the possibility that you have been a victim of cryptojacking. We will explore the concept of cryptocurrency and how the mining of cryptocurrency may be impacting the performance of your Mac

Cryptojacking: Malware with a Friendly Face
Cryptojacking is the ability to take advantage of your Mac’s processor to make money.  The goal of cryptojacking is to use your Mac’s processing power to solve complex mathematical equations to unlock access to cryptocurrency. Each solved equation will be worth coins or fractions of coins in the targeted cryptocurrency the hacker is mining.

It’s called cryptojacking because this mining of cryptocoins via the use of your Mac’s processor is being done without your consent. But first, let’s take a moment and discuss the pursuit of bitcoins, so you can understand why hackers are cryptojacking people’s Macs for their processing power.

Coin mining is simply the process by which people obtain a well-known cryptocurrency called Bitcoins. When coin mining first began, all a computer had to do was complete a simple mathematical task for the user to earn coins. As cryptocurrency grew in popularity, the mathematical equations that had to be performed became more difficult to perform by a single computer in a reasonable amount of time.  Therefore, people began using specialty-made computers that worked together to solve the equations and gain cryptocurrency within a decent amount of time.

Coin mining increased in difficulty as the demand for cryptocurrency grew, which meant people could no longer use a simple computer to solve the equations anymore.  Coin mining now requires computers specifically designed to work together to solve individual parts of the equation. This notion of using various computers to work on a specific part of the equation has led to the onset of cryptojacking.

Hackers discovered they could have multiple computers working for them to solve specific parts of a complex equation by installing mining software onto the computers of unsuspecting users. Then, the hacker takes over that person’s computer processor without the person’s consent and starts performing various processes to gain cryptocoins.

Types of Cryptojacking
There are two ways cryptojackers take over a person’s computer to use coin mining. software. One less commonly used way is to introduce the mining app through traditional Trojan malware. The trojan will imitate a well-known app. Once the unsuspecting user has downloaded the imitation app, the coin mining software gets installed and goes to work coin mining.

The other (and more common) way Mac users become prey to cryptojacking is by visiting a hacked website. Hackers use JavaScript because it can run on all web browsers.  All the cryptojackers need to do to implant the mining software is either input the JavaScript mining code into a website that’s been hacked or input the JavaScript in ads that will be placed on several websites. Once you go to the hacked website, your Mac will be cryptojacked and will start running the cryptocurrency mining code.

The second and more common approach to cryptojacking a Mac offers hackers many benefits. For starters, the process is relatively simple to implement because all they need to do is create and place an ad with an online advertising service that will spread the ad to multiple websites. Unlike the less common approach, the hacker doesn’t have to convince the user to download and use an app to start running the mining code. The ad on the webpage requires no installation code. The browser used to access the website will continue running the mining code while the webpage is open.

How Can You Tell Cryptojacking is Happening to Your Mac
The art of cryptojacking is in its infancy stage, so the methods to implement it all tend to use JavaScript. JavaScript uses a lot of your computer’s power and rapidly increases CPU usage. You can use the activity monitor app that comes with your Mac to discover the culprit behind the excess memory usage. To use the app:

1. Go to /Applications/Utilities and select Activity Monitor.
2. Select the CPU tab in the Activity Monitor window.

When you select the CPU in the Activity Monitor window, you will see a graph at the bottom of the window that displays the CPU usage. Any time you go to the internet and open a web page, you will see the usage go up on the graph while the page is loading. Once the page is loaded, the usage graph returns to normal.  However, when you go to a web page that has cryptojacking taking place, you will see the CPU usage on the graph go up very fast and remain that way the whole time you are on the web page. When you leave the website or close your web browser, you will see the CPU usage drop back to normal.

If you don’t want the Activity Monitor window open on the desktop while working, you can always click on the Activity Monitor dock icon to show the CPU usage history. Just select Dock Icon from the Activity Monitor menu and close the current Activity Monitor window.

An example of a page that impacts CPU usage because of cryptocurrency mining is  TheHopepage.org (ran by UNICEF).  Unlike the illegal pages that cryptojack your Mac without your consent, this page asks for your consent to have some of your Mac’s processing power (that you set yourself) to mine for cryptocurrency as donations to provide food, water and vaccinations for children. When you close the web page, the website is no longer mining from your computer. Other sites that are involved in cryptojacking usually don’t ask for your permission and tell you why they want to use some of your computer’s processing power.

Cryptojacking Prevention
Since cryptojacking involves the use of JavaScript, you can use ad-blocking browser extensions to protect your computer from most cryptojacking websites. For example, you can use MinerBlock, No Coin, Adblock (and Adblock Plus) to help combat cryptojacking attempts on your computer. These extensions have a working database of sites that utilize cryptojacking methods. However, not all ad blocking extensions prevent cryptojacking, so you may have to check the setting of the extension you use (if you choose one not already mentioned above) to see if it has a cryptojacking prevention tool.

You can also use anti-malware apps (like the premium version of Malwarebytes) that have cryptojacking prevention features that prevent cryptojacking sites like Coinhive from using your Mac. Coinhive is a popular coin mining service that employs the use of JavaScript code to take a cut of a website’s generated cryptocurrency. There are also websites that heartily use Coinhive to generate cryptocurrency on their sites.

When it comes to the less common technique of cryptojacking—using an app—the more popular apps used to be Miner-D, DevilRobber and Coinbitminer until Apple created a security update that prevented these apps from being successful.

Nowadays, you won’t find many mining apps around like mshelper, a cryptojacking app that has not yet been figured out as to how it works. One thing IT scholars do know is that mshelper tends to work in conjunction with other downloaded apps (like Flash updater).

You can use an anti-malware app to remove mshelper, but your Activity Monitor app should also work. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to /Applications/Utilities and select Activity Monitor.
2. Select the CPU tab in the Activity Monitor window.
3. In the Search field, type mshelper and hit return.
4. If you don’t see anything listed from your search, then that means the app is not present on your Mac.
5. If you do see “mshelper” listed from your search, then that means the app is, present on your Mac. Select the mshelper app from the list and then select the Force Process to Quit button (the button with the circle and an “X” going through it) found at the top left section of the Activity Monitor toolbar.

When the app has stopped, you will now need to remove two files from your Mac:

1. Go to Finder and select /Library/LaunchDaemons/.
2. Find the file named com.pplauncher.plist, and delete it.
3. To find the second file that needs deleting, go to Finder and select /Library/Application Support/.
4. Find the file named pplauncher, and delete it.

Make sure you are searching the startup drive’s Library folder and not your personal Library folder.

The Friendly Side of Cryptojacking

Cryptojacking is a friendlier type of malware because it only uses your computer’s processor and does not try to damage your computer. Also, this type of malware is not designed to steal personal information or ransom your data.

Since the increase in cryptojacking, there has been a decrease in ransomware attacks because hackers tend to get caught more often while using ransomware than they do while using coin mining software. Also, there is an increase in websites that offer consensual cryptomining opportunities to decrease the presence of ads on their websites. For example, those who read Salon have probably observed the opportunity to remove ads from their view of the site by consenting to cryptomining.

Since Salon’s coin mining is in the beta stage, it probably won’t be a permanent substitute for ad revenue. However, it is noteworthy to see how some sites are using cryptomining without stealing the use of someone’s computer processor.

If you’re at all like me, you probably have a bunch of old flash drives lying around – stuffed into junk drawers, hidden in a purse, stashed away in the car, spread throughout kids’ schoolbags… sound familiar?

If this is the case, read on for some interesting tips for how to get some more use out of them.

Of course, all of the usual uses for flash drives apply – they’re great for easily transferring data between computers, temporary backup locations, sending secure electronic documents via post, storing the kids’ homework, etc. – but chances are you already know about those (those uses are why we end up with so many of these devices in the first place!). In this article, we want to show you some more interesting uses of which you might not be aware.

Join a Bunch of Flash Drives Together as a RAID0 Array

The basic idea is this: join a bunch of flash drives together to make one large volume which, due to the system being able to split data across the multiple drives, will have much faster read and write speeds than any individual flash drive. If you have ever used an external RAID storage device, the idea is the same.

To set up a RAID0 system using flash drives, it’s best if you have a powered USB hub – something like the Anker 10 Port Hub would suit. Once you have the hub, connect your flash drives it.

Once they’re all connected, you can use Apple’s RAID Assistant software (built into all recent versions of macOS) – or 3^rd party software like SoftRAID or SoftRAID Lite – select all the flash drives that show up, and create a ‘Striped (RAID 0)’ volume.

(Apple’s RAID Assistant, built into macOS)

As a note on storage size, a RAID setup will treat all of the connected flash drives as if they have the capacity of the smallest drive – if you have one 16GB drive and three 128GB drives, the RAID array will treat all the drives like they are 16GB drives (the size of the smallest single drive), giving you a total of 64GB for the entire RAID0 volume, even though the sum of all the drives is much greater.

Once you have done all of that, you will have a RAID0 array striped across the various flash drives.

Some things to note:

• Because data is striped across all of the drives, read and write speeds will be faster than any individual drive – this can be useful if you are using this setup as a scratch editing drive for video, for example.
• The faster the speeds of the individual flash drives, the faster the overall array will be – speeds of USB3 flash drives vary widely with the fastest drives being around 200 MB/s, and ‘normal’ drives seeing around 25 MB/s write, and less than 100MB/S read.
• The more flash drives you use, the faster the overall array will be – because the data is striped, the more parallel reads or writes you can do at once (ie. the more drives connected), the faster it will be.
• All of the included flash drives will need to be present for the data on the volume to be readable. This adds a level of security to anything on the disk – if one of the drives isn’t present, the data is inaccessible. If you want a way to store sensitive data, or if you’re a spy, this might be useful.
• On the flipside of the above point, if you lose any one of the flash drives, or if one of them fails, you will lose all the data on the volume. If this could cause a problem – especially if you’re using it for video or audio production – be sure to have backups!

Using a Flash Drive as a Two-Factor Key

If you have ever been sent a text message by your bank, or some other service, to confirm that you are really you, you have used two-factor authentication.

While more secure than just a password alone, SMS messages sent to your phone are relatively easily spoofed (faked), and not a particularly secure form of two-factor authentication. A more secure form is one that relies on your having a physical device in your possession – this sort of thing can be achieved via an app on your smartphone or – surprise – by using an old flash drive.

The easiest way to do this is using a 3^rd party app, like RohOS to convert your ordinary flash drive into a hardware token as part of a two factor system.

In short, once set up, as well as knowing your password, you will also need the flash drive present to prove that you are you – this could be set up for your internet banking login, Google account, etc. Rather than needing your phone to receive an insecure text message, you would need the physical drive – this is a lot more secure, as it can’t be electronically spoofed by someone without the drive!

The intimate details explaining how to create two-factor keys for your Mac are a bit more complicated than can be explained here – if you’re interested, I recommend checking out the documentation at RohOS.

Use a Flash Drive as a Portable, Bootable macOS System Disk

If you have any flash drives around that are at least 16GB in size (although more is more, despite the saying) you could set up one as portable version of a Mac. Then, you could plug the flash drive into a Mac, start up holding down the ‘option’ key to boot from the flash drive, and instantly be accessing your own installation of macOS running on the flash drive, perhaps with some essential apps installed.

Some good apps for this use are:

• Could storage apps, like DropBox, or Google Drive – to give you an easy way to get your files onto the system
• 1Password – to give you access to all your passwords
• Disk utilities, like DiskWarrior, DiskDrill, or similar – for troubleshooting failed drives
• Backup utilities, like Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper! – for cloning drives
• System utilities, like Onyx, or TinkerTool
• A copy of the macOS installer – for restoring the Mac to new
• Word processing or other office apps

Once you have the flash drive connected and formatted, getting a system like this set up is fairly simple.

First, download a copy of the macOS installer from the macOS store and run it. When you get to the installation location screen, choose your flash drive, rather than Macintosh HD.

(Install a version of macOS onto your flash drive directly from the macOS Installer)

Once the installation is complete, you will be able to boot from the flash drive. Then, you can set it up however you like, with whatever apps you need – be aware that all of the Apple apps (Safari, Mail, etc.) will already be installed, so space might be a bit tight. You could always use some of the tips in our National Clean Out Your Computer Day post to help find some files you can get rid of. Having this bootable flash drive can be invaluable for troubleshooting if anything ever goes wrong with your Mac – a great use of a spare flash drive!

Use a Spare Flash Drive to Create a macOS Recovery Partition

This tip is similar to the above, but more suited to flash drives, as it doesn’t need as much space. The result will be a portable copy of the macOS Recovery Partition in your pocket which you can use to reinstall macOS on a computer, utilise Disk Utility, get back data from a Time Machine backup, access Terminal, and even get onto Safari on a completely dead Mac.

To set this up, first use Disk Utility to make a new partition on your flash drive – ideally about 1GB, with the format settings: Mac OS Extended (Journaled); and, GUID partition scheme.

Once that’s done, you will need to copy the Recovery Partition from your Mac to the flash drive.

If you’re using an earlier version of macOS (El Capitan or earlier), you will need to get Apple’s Recovery Disk Assistant.

If you’re using Sierra or later, you’ll need a cloning utility like Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) – I recommend this app, because they even have specific instructions to help you through the process. If you’re using CCC 4, use these instructions. If you’re using CCC 5, the instructions are here.

(Carbon Copy Cloner – a tool for cloning your Recovery Partition to a flash drive)

Create a Portable Linux Boot Disk

The last suggestion here is another variation on a theme – you can create your own portable computer running a version of Linux, like Ubuntu, which allows you to be up and running  pretty much anywhere. Ubuntu is a good one to try, because it will run natively on your Mac, without any mucking around.

(Completely change your Mac, and try something new, by running Ubuntu Linux from a flash drive)

Hopefully the idea is interesting enough to you that you will be willing to read further on it – the steps are a bit too involved to go into here. Fortunately, the instructions are well laid out in the Ubuntu documentation – you can find them here: Create a Bootable USB Stick on macOS.

We hope you found something useful that you can do with your spare flash drives – more useful than having them sit in a drawer, anyway. Have any other ideas that we missed? Let us know!

I could take or leave Valentine’s day (given the choice, I’d opt for ‘leave’). Fortunately, there’s another, nerdier occasion to celebrate in early February – National Clean Out Your Computer Day.

This year, the auspicious event falls on Monday, February 12^th. Even if you like Valentine’s day, the space in between the two dates should give you enough time to recuperate, and enjoy both. How lucky!

The idea behind National Clean Out Your Computer Day is to remind us to dedicate some time, once a year, to organising and cleaning up the files and data on our computers. Initially proposed and sponsored in 2000 by the Institute for Business Technology, we have grown fond of the extra ‘holiday’, and the reminder to get our bits in order. In this article, we’ll share some tips to help you deal with the lowest hanging fruit.

Before we begin, we recommend making sure all of your data is BACKED UP. That is, make sure you have a completely redundant copy of all your files. We should all have this set up as a matter of good practice, but sometimes we need an occasion like Clean Out Your Computer Day to actually get it set up. If you don’t currently have any backups, stop now and set them up – you can use Apple’s built-in Time Machine software, something like Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone of your entire hard drive, or a service like BackBlaze to keep a constantly-updated offsite copy of all your files backed up to the cloud (or, preferably, all three).

With that done, let’s look at some quick ways to clean up your Mac, and get back some space.

Desktop Folder

For many of us, the ‘Desktop’ folder on our Mac is a magnet for junk – it’s right there, easy to find, and easy to manage (up to a point). As a result, we can end up with piles of files scattered all over the place. Unfortunately, having a lot of files on your desktop can actually result in your Mac taking longer to start up, so we think you’ll agree it’s a good place to start cleaning.

The first step I take is to ruthlessly delete anything I no longer need – web pages relating to DIY projects I’m never actually going to do, screenshots from years ago when I was trying to explain something to a friend over email, ‘entertaining’ attachments from emails that have long since exhausted all their value – being brutal, using the Space Bar to preview selected files with Quick Look, and using the cmd + delete keyboard shortcut to send files to the Trash helps.

If there are files that you still need – perhaps you really are going to finish that DIY project – the easiest, laziest way to deal with them is to name them well (with any and all information you might need to find them again later), make a folder named ‘Desktop from #DATE#’ with today’s date, dump all those miscellaneous files from your Desktop in there, and dump the new folder into your Documents folder. This gets those files off the desktop, and you should be able to find anything that you need in future via Spotlight search – it’s the equivalent of stuffing a bunch of stuff into a drawer, if your drawer can hold a huge amount of things and is searchable…

If you are someone who likes having things more organised, you can really do as much filing as you want – you could make subfolders relating to projects, dates, etc. – but I’m trying to make this as easy as possible. Easy means more likely to get done!

Since most of these files will probably be small in size, and since the search on Mac has gotten so good, you should be able to find anything you need later and the overall collection won’t have too big an impact on the space available on your Mac (especially after you’ve completed the initial step of deleting un-needed files). Any files that are large enough to be significant, we’ll deal with later.

Final Note – don’t forget to empty your Trash! You can do this via the Finder menu, or by pressing shift + cmd + delete. Your space isn’t actually recovered until you delete the files from the Trash, so you will need to do this to see results.

Duplicate Files and System Files

Another couple of pieces of low-hanging fruit, we can clean up these problems with the help of some specific applications.

For duplicate files, we recommend Gemini2 – it’s a smart, dedicated app for detecting and dealing with duplicate files on your Mac. It’s free to try it out, so I recommend downloading it and seeing what it finds.

For cleaning up your System and cache files, we recommend Onyx – it is a long running, donation-supported application that can clear up a bunch of space with just a couple of button clicks.

Both of these apps do the heavy lifting for you, and will almost certainly give you back some more space, as well as cleaning out some things in the background that you didn’t even know were there – it’s like having a robot vacuum under your bed.

Dealing With the Big Stuff

After taking care of the low hanging fruit, the next most effective way to clean up a bunch of space on your Mac is to use an application to find out where all your storage space is being used, then see if there are any big files that you can get rid of.

To analyse where space is being used on your drive, we recommend DaisyDisk – it’s pretty, free to try, and easy to use.

You have to be a bit careful when deleting files, but since you have good backups in place (you do, don’t you?), you can probably clean up quite a bit of space – chances are there’s at least one video file somewhere that you no longer need but which is taking up a bunch of space.

Also, if you use a cloud service like DropBox, you can actually choose what gets synced to your computer – if you have files in your DropBox that you don’t need locally, turn syncing off for those files so they aren’t taking up your disk space!

And that’s it for now – National Clean Out Your Computer Day might be over, but even by just following those few steps above, you should have some more space on your computer, and perhaps will be slightly less anxious about how your Mac looks when it starts up…

To finish, doing this once a year is a good start but, if you found this process helpful, there’s nothing stopping you setting a reminder to run through these steps once every month or so.

Let us know how you go, or if you have any other tips to share – you can always add to this list!

There is no excuse to stop learning just because the week is about end. After all, learning about the Apple devices you like the most is always fun!

Today, we are going to put the spotlight on Messages, the very popular iOS app. Used in order to receive SMS, MMS, and iMessage files, the app is one of the most interesting iOS apps available at the moment. Capable of keeping us in contact with our loved ones on a constant basis, this app truly rocks.

Given below are some important tips that will help you use Messages in a whole new and fun way:

1. Send any voice message

It may seem like typing a text message on your iPhone or dictating something to Siri is as easy as it gets, but there is something even easier: sending voice messages.

To start recording a message, simply launch your Messages app and put the recipient’s name. Note that it is important for a recipient to have iMessages compatibility in order to receive your messages. Whether a person can receive iMessages or not can be understood by checking the color of that person’s name. If the person can receive iMessages, his or her name will appear blue. Otherwise, it will appear green.

A small button resembling ‘Microphone’ toward the right corner of the edit field of iMessage will help you record your message. To record something, simply press and hold the button. During the recording phase of your message, the screen of your device will show visual speech representation.

You continue recording your voice message as long as you keep your finger on the ‘Microphone’ symbol.

You lift your finger and this is what happens:

If you want to hear your recording, choose the ‘Play’ button. If you want to remove the recording, pick ‘X’, instead. The ‘Up’ arrow is useful if you want to send it.

In case you like to do things quickly, you can even slide your recording finger directly up after recording your message. That way, your message is recorded and sent in one go!

2. Send a video message within seconds

If you are on a vacation and you shoot a mesmerizing video, you do not need to edit your video and then fit it inside an email to share it with your friends. If you choose to, you can send it to your friends with just a single tap!

Toward the left part of the edit field of the app, one camera button can be found. You have to use that when recording a video message. Generally, the button takes care of the purpose of attaching pictures to a message, but it can be used to capture videos, as well. When you tap the button and hold it for a while, you will find that a semicircle appears on the screen.

Your device’s background starts showcasing whatever scene your camera is pointed at. After that, it is just a matter of tapping on the red button you see to begin recording a video. If you want to stop a recording, you can tap the same button once more.

You can even take stills to complement your video. For the purpose, tapping the button with camera icon is enough.

If you want to switch from FaceTime or front camera to iSight or rear camera, and vice versa, you can do that by using the small camera button which can be found toward the upper right corner.

Checking your video clip before finally sending it is possible, too. Once you are done recording a video, the ‘Record’ button transforms into ‘Play’ to allow you to do exactly that. To send your video, locate the button resembling up arrow, and tap it.

3. View when a message was sent or received in time stamp mode.

The Messages app keeps track of the time when a message is sent, or received. However, at first glance, that may not seem obvious, as it hides the time-stamp in order to keep the appearance free of clutter. If you want to see when a message came in, you can just swipe toward your left and have the time-stamp appear in all its glory. Once you lift your finger after swiping, the time-stamp will disappear automatically.

4. Let Siri say it all

If you get a quite lengthy message from your buddy or boss, and you have no desire to read it yourself, you can simply ask Siri to read the same for you.

Locate the message and double tap on it. Once that is done, a menu will appear containing the options ‘Speak’ and ‘Copy’. Select ‘Speak’ to hear Siri read your message. In this case, Siri will even speak misspellings pretty well.

Note, however, that you must allow the feature beforehand. In order to do that, Go to ‘Accessibility’ under ‘General’ settings and tap the ‘Speech’ option.

5. Get your message sent using Siri

Even at times when you do not have the convenience of typing a message for someone, you can still get your message through using Siri. Just use the microphone of your phone to record your voice message, and send it. In case you want to send a video message, the camera will be of assistance.

This feature is especially helpful for keeping in touch with people via message when you are driving. To enable the feature, take your iOS device, go to ‘Siri’ under ‘General’ settings, and allow the ‘Hey Siri’ feature.

You can send many different messages with the help of Siri. One example of what you can dictate is “Hey Siri, tell Janet I’m on my way home.”

Whatever message you choose to send, Siri will present to you a screen containing your message in every case. However, be sure to avoid looking at the same in case you are driving your car. Siri will also ask you whether you would like to send your message, or not. To allow, say ‘Send it’, or ‘Yes’.

In case you want to cancel sending the same, you can simply say ‘Cancel’. You can even review your message if you want to, by giving the command ‘Review the message’ to Siri. When you ask Siri to review your message, your message will be read back by the app, followed by seeking your confirmation to send the same.

If, after hearing your message, you do not want to send it you can simply change your message by asking Siri to ‘Change it’.

1. First, you will need to log into your user account.
https://www.macfixit.com.au/customer/account/login/

If you placed your order as a guest, you’ll need to follow the link below in order to create an account.
https://www.macfixit.com.au/index.php/GuestAccount/Front/AccountForm

2. Once you have reached the user dashboard, you will need to click on the product return link on the left hand side of the screen.

3. From this section you will be able to see your returns history and request a new product return. You can do this by clicking on the grey button that we’ve highlighted on the screenshot below.

4. Select the order that the item that you wish to return belongs to.

5. Once you’ve reached this area, you will find two information fields. Please check that the personal details in the “main information” box are correct. In the “products” box you will need to specify how many units you wish to return, the reason for returning them, and a quick description of the issue that you’ve encountered.

6. Click on the “Submit request” button.

7. Once this is done, a member of our staff will get back to you to confirm that you’re eligible for the return. You will also receive an email asking you to log back into your account to print the appropriate documents.

Please note: we try to review all return requests within 48 hours. If you haven’t heard back from us after a week, please login to your account to check the status of your return. Alternatively you’re more than welcome to contact our support team at helpdesk@macfixit.com.au.

8. Once the status of your return has switched to “product return accepted”, please click on the “view” link on the right hand side.

9. Click on the “Print Product Return Form” button.

10. Please read the terms and conditions carefully, tick the “I Agree” box, and then the “Submit” button to print the documentation.

11. Pack your item safely with the relevant paperwork, and ship it to:

Return Department
Macfixit Australia
PO Box 2244
Footscray
Victoria 3011

Please keep in mind that all returns must be sent out within the RMA validity period.

As always, please let us know if you have any issues doing this and we’ll be more than happy to give you a hand!

The release of iOS7 has given iCloud users the ability to prevent anyone from erasing or activating their iDevices without entering their Apple ID and password first.

This feature is designed to prevent mobile devices from being stolen and it has helped to reduce iPhone-related theft in Major cities. However it turned out to be an issue for the iPhone’s second hand market. The feature must be disabled before a device is passed on or sold to another person. Failure to do so, renders the device unusable for the new owner.

From now on you can very easily check online if the device is locked before your purchase it. Just enter the IMEI or Serial number on this page. If the lock is ON you’ll need to make sure the current user disable it by going to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. If the lock is OFF, you’re good to go as the device can be erased by anyone.

Once again our good friends at iFixit have come all the way down to our office in North Melbourne to do their famous iPhone teardown.

Thanks to the magic of time zones,  Australia is the first country to have the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus release worldwide.  This is why iFixit flew from California to get their hands on the new phones on the very first hour of release.

You can follow their live teardown here.

If you need a case to protect yours you can find some here for the iPhone 6 or here for the iPhone 6 Plus.

There are many reasons why you would want to do a clean install of OS X. Here are a few of   them:

• After replacing your Hard Drive with a larger capacity one;
• After replacing your Hard Drive because it failed;
• After replacing your Hard Drive with an SSD;
• After adding a second hard drive in an Optibay;
• After a major software issue;
• Just because you want to clean up your Mac properly.

By doing a clean install you will end up with a fresh installation of OS X. One of the main reasons why you would want to do a clean install, instead of restoring your old system, is that you’ll get rid of all the unused junk that accumulated over the years. You could call this a nice spring cleaning.

Before we continue, please note that a clean install will erase all of the contents on your drive so you’ll need to back up all your important files, settings and Apps before proceeding. A time machine backup is usually more than enough.

Creating a Bootable Flash Drive

In order to install OS X, you’ll need to boot from another drive where all the installation files will be located; a minimum of 8Gb is required. You can use any USB stick or external Hard Drive to do so. Please note that you’ll need to erase all of the external device’s content so you might want to stick with an 8Gb thumb drive.

1.  Go on the Mac App Store to download the latest version of OS X (at the time of writing, it is 10.13 – High Sierra).

2. Download the App called DiskMaker X to assist you in the creation of the USB Thumb Drive. Follow the assistant prompts. It will ask you which version of OS X you want to install, where the file is located and which external drive you want to use.

Restart and Install

Now we move on to the Installation process:

1. Restart your Mac with the Thumb Drive connected and hold down the Option (Alt) Key. You should get to a screen that allows you to select the Thumb Drive and boot from it.

2. Select the Disk Utility App to initialise/erase the drive you’re going to put the OS on. Just select the new drive in the left column, then use the erase tab to format the drive. If you have multiple drives/partitions, please make sure you select the right one as an error here might be fatal for your data.

3. Close the Disk Utility App to get back to the OS X Utilities list and select Install OS X.

Import all your Data

Now that you have a clean OS we would recommend not to use the Migration Assistant to import all of your data as this will bring back all the unwanted junk as well.

1. It is worth taking the time to install all of your Third Party Applications from scratch as this will also guarantee that you have the latest updates available.

a. Start with the Mac App Store, just log in with your account and go into the Purchases tab to reinstall any Apps that you have previously purchased.

b. Then you’ll probably need to go and download all of the other Apps that you want from their respective websites. Another suggestion would be to try to stick with as few Apps as possible. You might realise that at the end of the day you only need a few extra Apps and not the ten dozen you used to have.

c. If you still have some installers on CD or DVD that can’t be found online, we’d recommend that you create an image of them so that you can keep a copy on your backup drive as well. You can use the Disk Utility App for this.

2. For your personal files (documents, photos, videos, music, etc.), we would suggest to manually copy and paste them into the desired folder. This is to keep everything as clean as possible.

Quick Tip : Some Apps, like iTunes, might need to be directed to the right folder after the transfer. To do that, just hold down the Option (Alt) key when starting iTunes and you will be prompted to choose a library file.