Since posting about the fact that I was rebuilding my Mac, I’ve received a lot of emails from readers curious about how I did it. I’m actually surprised about the number of questions on this subject so I thought I’d explain the steps I took in a bit more detail for rebuilding your Mac from ground zero:

1. Clone the Drive.

I use SuperDuper but CarbonCopyCloner also works. No matter what, have at least one clone before you push the button to erase and install. This way you’ve always got the old system available once you start the process of rebuilding. This also gives you the option to simply copy over your old data to the fresh OS X install. That process only takes a few hours and usually is good enough to fix most problems but this post is about starting from zero so I’ll push forward.

2. Keep Your Passwords and Licenses Close By

There are a lot of ways to save your passwords. Some folks use Yojimbo, others use Excel sheets and some of the smarter ones just keep a text file or a mail archive. I do it through 1Password which is great for the rebuild because it is all in the keychain.

3. Erase and Install Leopard

Get the new operating system installed and run the software update utility. It probably will need to run a few times before everything is square but before long you’ll have a very clean copy of OS X on your Mac.

4. Load the Stuff that Pays the Bills

In my case that is Microsoft Office, iWork, and the Omni Applications. Once again there will be a series of software updates.

5. Load the Stuff that Makes You Smile

Just the essential fun stuff. One of the points here is not to go crazy. So for me the photo and music software got loaded along with the stuff required for me keep MacSparky running.

6. Get Productive

There are a few applications that just make everything easier. In my case that is Text Expander, Quicksilver, Default Folder X and a few other gems.

7. Load the stuff that Keeps Your Mac Running

I put on the essential utilities like MainMenu, OnyX and other things geek.

8. Sync It Up

For me this was SugarSync and .Mac Sync getting everything sorted out.

9. Stop

The key for me on a rebuild is not to go crazy. Put on the essentials and make everything else earn its way back onto your drive. I view it as audition time for my applications. You’ll be surprised how many applications don’t make the cut and you will quickly realize what the silent heroes are.
Finally, I would recommend you only do a ground zero build up when you absolutely have to. All of those little tweaks that you’ve spent years making will be gone and you really will spend a lot of time getting it back. I have had some hardware issues that required this rebuild and while it really isn’t that hard, it can be a pain.
What did I miss? Sound off in the comments.

Having conquered the issue of printing to PDF with a keyboard shortcut, I decided to take on another little thing that frustrates me constantly. I often send links to friends and readers. In Mail.App, in order to get the “insert link” box you have to click the mouse three times.

Edit –> Link –> Add.
When you are in the middle of typing an email, this is a pain.
Once again, the Keyboard system preference pane to the rescue. Here are the steps…
1. Add a Keyboard Shortcut for Mail

2. Insert the Menu Title “Add…” Once again, for the ellipsis, make sure to use the key combination “option” + semicolon (;). I have no idea why this is so but don’t argue with results.

3. Type in your keyboard shortcut. I’m using shift + control + L

That is it. Next time you find yourself writing an email and want to add a link just type in your shortcut and forget about the mouse. Up pops the link window.

Dear Reader,

 This post was updated in 2013 with a fancy screencast. You should go there now.

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Here is one thing that has been driving me crazy for some time.  I constantly find myself saving from Safari to PDF.  Whether it is a utility bill or legal research, I have a fetish for saving PDF copies.  The problem is that in order to do so you must click print, then the PDF button, then the “Save as PDF” button.  Each step requires me to get the mouse in the right place and read the menu.  Granted this is probably less than 10 seconds but I do it a lot and it makes me just a little bit  nuts.

So I’ve been thinking about this and wondering if there is an Automator action or perhaps an Applescript that can simplify this.  Well tonight I stumbled upon

an excellent hint at MacOSXHints

that address this very problem very easily through with a keyboard shorcut.

Here is the walkthrough.

Open your Keyboard Shortcuts tab in the Keyboard & Mouse system preference pane.

Click the “+” sign to add a new shortcut for all applications.

Then a box pops up asking for the command.

Type in the Command exactly as it appears: “Save as PDF…”  For the ellipses, use the combination: option + semicolon.  Don’t ask me why because I have no clue.  Just do it.

For the keyboard shortcut use: command + P (I know this sounds like a conflict with the print shortcut, but trust me)

Now you are done.

Now go to your favorite webpage and hold down the command key and press “P” twice.

Bingo.  “Save as PDF…” lickity split.

I recently had a switcher friend ask me about selecting and moving around in text in OS X. It occurred to me that there are probably a lot of new Mac users abusing their arrows keys as a result of not knowing how to select text so here is a quick review.

Moving by the letter …

Arrow Keys

Selecting one letter at a time …

Shift + Arrow Keys

Moving one word at a time …

Option + Arrow Keys (right and left)

Selecting one word at a time …

Shift + Option + Arrow Keys (right and left)

Moving one paragraph at a time …

Option + Arrow Keys (up and down)

Selecting one paragraph at a time …

Shift + Option + Arrow Keys (up and down)

Move to Top or Bottom …

Command + Arrow (up and down)

Select to Top or Bottom …

Shift + Command + Arrow (up and down)

Move to Front/End of Line …

Command + Arrow (right and left)

Select to Front/End of Line …

Shift + Command + Arrow (right and left)
Did I miss anything?

Reader Anthony recently wrote me about the OS X slow motion features. That is, if you hold down the shift key while minimizing windows or activating expose’ or spaces, everything moves very slow. It really gives you a better idea of how the animation works in terms of both motion and fade.
I always thought of it as eye candy but Anthony makes a good point. When teaching your switcher friends how windows minimize into the dock, slowing things down can be helpful to demonstrate exactly how it all works.

Hitting the built in volume buttons on your Mac is great for quickly raising or lowering your volume but what about when you want to lower or raise the volume just a little bit. Once again Apple has a solution that they don’t tell anyone about.
Hit the following key combination ….
Shift + Option + Volume up/down
Now you have four clicks per volume notch. Note that if you are doing this on a laptop you may also need to hold down the function key depending on how your keyboard is set up. So the next time your significant other/roomate/neighbor/local peace officer ask you to turn it down, you can … barely.
***note
This may only be a Leopard feature. If anyone still running Tiger can confirm or deny this, drop me a note or a comment.
***Update
Thanks to reader Stephen who confirmed this does not work on Tiger.