They have all bought a used Macintosh. Whether it was from eBay, a friend, or a donation, one way or another, they have a less than brand new machine.

Nothing wrong with this at all, everyone needs to eventually get a Mac. I would like to take this time to explain what you need to do to your newly acquired computer, to make sure it is trouble free.

Check specifications
Figure out what machine you actually have. Sure, you know it is an iMac, but there are many. Depending on what version it is, depends on how forward you can take the operating system, and how much memory you can put in it.

You can look up your computer in the Apple Spec Database.

Get current
According to Apple, in order to run OS X 10.5 Leopard, you need at least:

• Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
• 512MB of memory
• DVD drive for installation
• 9GB of available disk space

As long as you meet those requirements, you are good to go and should buy a copy of OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Your computer very well may have came with a copy already; just look at the DVD it came with, if it says 10.5 or Leopard on it, you are fine, and need not buy anything.

Make sure you have enough memory
While Apple likes to tell you that 512MB of memory is enough, I would say, bare minimum is 1GB. You can certainly buy the RAM and try to install it yourself, however, since this site is targeted to beginners, I would suggest taking it to a local Mac shop. I would strongly suggest not using the Apple Store, as their RAM prices are generally double or more going rate.

Wipe it clean
This is the most important part, and it has nothing to do with Windex or 409. Even if the previous owner claims that they did a new fresh install of the operating system, I would still be inclined to do it again yourself.

Not only will you learn how to install the operating system if you ever need to, you will now know for 100% sure that there is nothing malicious on the computer.

The process is simple, put the installer DVD in, and follow the on screen instructions to perform a full clean installation.

Make absolute certain that any data you personally have put on your computer is backed up in some way. You can use a DVD, a USB thumb drive, or any other portable media.

Once the new installation is done, just copy your personal data back; you now have a truly new computer, at least as far as the software is concerned.

Be good
Sometimes, you will find that the person you bought your computer from left all their data on it. I have found banking information, pictures, and other sensitive data.

Give the seller a call; ask them if they are aware of the mistake, and if they have a backup. If they have a backup, just ignore their data; it will be wiped clean when you do a new operating system install.

Everyone buys hardware to hook up to his or her computer; many times that hardware comes with software. This software, at times, can cause more trouble than it is worth.

If you are coming from Windows, it is near mandatory to install some software for any hardware you purchase. Whether it be a simple USB thumb-drive, a digital camera, or a printer, it is not going to work without software.

On OS X, this is sometimes the case, usually it is rare. In most cases, things just work. Installing software tends to make things work less well. There are always deviations from the norm, trying to keep your system clean is never going to cause you more trouble than haphazardly installing poorly written software.

Printers and their software
Let’s start with printers, as those are the biggest culprits. If you buy a plain printer, whether it is color, or a black and white laser, most of the time, the software it comes with is not needed. Even in the case of it being needed, it will already be out of date by the time you get it.

Will it work out of the box
Apple does a superb job of making sure your Macintosh comes with a boatload of printer drivers. Printer drivers are what explains to your computer, how a page should be printed for your specific printer.

In general, before you buy a printer, do some research, and see how others have reported it to work with the Macintosh. I find Amazon.com to be a great place to read reviews; there will always be a few Macintosh users in the reviews section that will post their experiences.

I just bought a Brother HL-2070N from Amazon. It is a simple, inexpensive, fast, black and white office printer. I plugged it in, clicked print, did a little printer setup built right into OS X, and have not had to think about it since.

This includes the printer being allowed to accept print jobs from anyone on my network, telling it to print manual feed or automatically, and even defining how long before it goes into power save mode. All this is configurable with no additional software from Brother installed.

Using the most current software possible
I would suggest, try it with no software installed, if it works, you are good. You know you will not have any strange problems caused by the introduction of new software. If it does not work, pull out the installer CD it came with, and note what version it is. Go to the manufacturers site, and make certain that it is the most current version.

By the time the manufacturer ships the printer, they usually have updated their software. In the case of printers, it is always a good idea to be current. Rather than using outdated software, go to the source, and download their most current offering.

All in one printers
I should offer where this scenario falls short. All in one printers. A printer that has a fax, scanner, and printer built into one device.

I am of the opinion, you could not pay me enough to install the software needed to make these printers work. If you absolutely need this all in one functionality, please, read reviews, and read as many as possible. You will absolutely need to install software to make an all in one printer work. Given the horror stories I have heard about how poorly the all in one printers work, at this time, I cannot personally recommend a single one.

Digital cameras and external hard drives
By now, you either are about to, or already have bought digital camera. The same holds true for these devices. I am yet to use a digital camera that I could not just plug right into my Macintosh and work.

Usually, iPhoto will automatically open, and ask me what to do. I can import all my images, or part of a group. In the case where you do not have iPhoto, Apple has a separate Image Capture application that will help you to copy the images to your computer.

Sure, the camera will come with photo album software, importing software, retouching software, and much more. To be honest, I am yet to see any software, whether it is Fuji, Nikon, Canon etc., which for a basic user, is not poorly made. Apple makes great creative tools. If you outgrow those tools, there are other options. In near all cases, the software that comes with digital cameras is going to cause you more of headache than just ignoring it.

External hard drives will almost all come with some driver installing tools, as well as back up software. Again, these tools are built right into Mac OS X. We will get into Time Machine in a future post, which does backups better than anything else I have used to date.

Formatting your drive is as simple as a quick trip to Disk Utility. Again, the point to take home here is that in many cases, less is indeed more. The only time more is better, is if you happen to like frustration.

Keyboards, mice and other misc peripherals
Speakers generally do not come with software, so you should be pretty safe to plug and play with those.

Keyboards amaze me. I have seen software install CD’s that come with Microsoft keyboards that put hundreds of megabytes of data on your computer.

What a few hundred megabytes of data can do to make a keyboard any better is beyond me. Plug it in, start typing, you should be just fine.

Mice are a small exception. As mice get more and more sophisticated, they get harder and harder for Apple to keep working without third party software.

If you get one with three or four buttons, the built in mouse preference pane in OS X should cover you just fine. If you have specific needs, you are going to need additional software.

Mouse software is the worst, as it installs what are called kernel extensions. These kernel extensions are one type of software that can cause your system harm.

There are numerous reports of brand name mouse manufacturers software causing severe issues with people’s computers.

Fear not, there are indeed great workarounds. SteerMouse and USB Overdrive are the two most popular third party drivers for mice out there. Read up on each; see which one supports the mouse you want to buy.

These are not steadfast rules, but small ounces of prevention. Certainly, not installing software is going to be safer than installing software, as you have not changed anything. There will be cases where you need to install software to make something work.

Please do not leave this article afraid to install software; that, by all means, is not the point. Software at times, can be highly valuable, well written, and beneficial to your experience. Doing a small bit of research and trial before popping that CD into your perfectly running machine is always great advice.

Everyone’s computer is plugged into a power outlet. Not all home power is of the same quality. Some power is clean, other power is dirty, and in strange cases, power can be “noisy”; all non conditioned power is potentially problematic.

Ever turn on an appliance only to have the lights dim? If you do not have an uninterruptible power supply, you are sending those power fluctuations down to your computer, and all the parts inside it.

Don’t forget about full blown power outages, where power is abruptly removed from your computer. Though perhaps the worst, is a brown out, where less than adequate power is supplied to your computer.

A home UPS is a small battery. Once plugged into your power outlet, it will charge like any other battery. You then plug your computer(s) and equipment into the UPS. From that point forward, your valuable electronics will be safely powered exclusively from the battery.

You can even pull the UPS plug from the wall, and your computer will still run, albeit for a short time. Though long enough to allow you to save your work and shut down.

In addition, this battery will protect you from any surges and drops in power. In my opinion, an uninterruptible power supply is a mandatory item to have. Your data is too important; computers are too expensive to repair. The chances of power fluctuations are too high to risk not spending a relatively small amount of money to protect your investment.

Heck, forget about the cost of your equipment; a blown hard drive, even with backups, is going to eat away a day of your life restoring data, applications, and preference settings, not to mention the hair you will loose from stress.

The great thing about Mac OS X, and the USB based UPS units, is that they communicate with each other. No need to install any additional software. Just plug the UPS into your wall, your computer into the UPS, and a USB cable from the computer to the UPS, and you are done. New options now show up in your Energy Saver Preferences that allow you to define what your computer does when there is a power outage.

Amazon has excellent deals on uninterruptible power supplies; I used to link to the one I owned, as I know it works, and I know it works with OS X perfectly. However, prices have come down, capacity has gone up, and quality has improved.

Your best bet is to browse the list of all Amazon’s UPS’s and chose the one that will meet your needs.

If you just want to be done with it, and buy the best, go with the
APC Back-UPS RS. This backup power supply will handle your computer, monitor, router, modem, and a few other small devices, for 30 minutes or more in some cases.

Around $130.00 is a small price to pay for knowing your computer will never fall victim to blown up components.

We are recommending Amazon for this purchase due to the shipping weight and return policy. Amazon has superior shipping prices and an excellent no hassle return policy. We find the APC brand of UPS to be Macintosh compatible across the board (without need for additional software), and excellent in build and manufacturing quality.

The easy part… turning your computer on.

If everything is hooked up correct, press the power button once. You will hear what is collectively known as the “startup bong” or “startup tone”. While this button has been placed in some less than ideal locations on certain Macintosh models, most people figure out how to turn on their computer with little hassle.

The harder part…turning off your computer.

A logical person would think pressing the power button once more would turn the computer off. This is not always the case. There are two things this button can do. First is turn off your computer, the other is restart it. You can further bypass the button entirely and use your mouse to tell the computer to restart, shut down, or even sleep.

Let’s go through all the options.

Software based restart, shut down, and sleep.
If you move your mouse to the upper left corner of the screen to the apple logo, click and hold, or click once and release, you will see three options. Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down. Selecting “sleep” will put your computer to sleep.

Sleep means your computer is on, but in a very low power mode. Your hard drives will “spin down”, meaning they are drawing very little power. Your open applications and unsaved data will be relatively safe, waiting for your return. Depending on your model and configuration, you wake your computer my moving the mouse, clicking the mouse, pressing a keystroke, or pressing the power button.

You can always tell if your computer is asleep, as the power button will have a gentle pulsing light glow to it.

Shut down will remove power to your computer. You can safely chose this option at any point in time. You need not worry about unsaved data, as you will be prompted to save your data in any open applications.

Restart is just like shut down, with the exception that the computer will automatically boot back up again. Restart will run through all the same steps that shut down does, with the only difference being the computer comes back to a clean state. This can be a great first troubleshooting step if something is misbehaving.

Hardware based power control
You can also control these options with the actual power button. Pressing it once will pop up a dialogue on your screen where you can select to restart, sleep, shutdown, or cancel the operation. These methods will behave in the exact same ways as mentioned above.

Your power button can do one thing you can not do any other way. The power button, when held down for more than five seconds, is a somewhat more graceful method of yanking the power cord out of the back of your computer.

As much as we would like to think computers never get stuck, at times, they can get cranky. Poorly written software can take your computer down, lock it up to the point where you can not do anything. At other times, failing hardware inside your computer can wreak havoc on its performance.

About the last thing you want to do is abruptly rip the power chord out of your computer. Simply hold the power button down for a few seconds, and it will shut your computer down. Sounds harsh, but at times, it can be necessary.

I would say more than 3/4 of the tech support calls I take the customer states they pulled the power plug. Given this, I have to assume not too many new users know about holding the power button for a few seconds.

At any rate, it sure beats crawling around under your desk, or digging around the back of your computer.

A final note, if you are a laptop user. Simply closing the display of your laptop will drop it into sleep mode. Laptops take special efforts to manage power as efficiently as possible, so there are a few different types of sleep your laptop can go into. At this time, just know, it is more than safe to simply close the lid on your laptop.