When you find a Read Me document on your disk, TeachText is the application you use to read it. Read Me documents provide late-breaking news about new products or updates to Macintosh system software—information that may not be in the manuals. When you receive a System Software Update (available from your authorized Apple dealer or representative) or a new application disk, be sure to open any Read Me document you find there.
While you can use TeachText to create and edit documents of your own, Read Me documents are read-only. That is, you can read the document, but you won’t be able to alter its contents. If you want to print the Read Me document, drag a copy of it to your startup disk. Then select the Read Me icon and choose Print from the File menu.
Apple recommends that you make a habit of using the Installer to create and update the system software on your startup disks. (For complete instructions, see “Using the Installer” in Chapter 9 of the Macintosh System Software User’s Guide.) The Installer performs several important tasks for you and updates your System file without affecting your current fonts and desk accessories.
• When you have an existing startup disk and have used the Installer to update it, be sure to complete the second stage of installation—dragging new printer resources from the Printing Tools disk to the System Folder on your startup disk. DO NOT open the Chooser desk accessory until you have completed both stages of installation. If you open and close the Chooser and then try to drag new printer resources to your startup disk, you may get a message telling you that it can’t be done. If this happens, fix the problem by choosing Restart from the Special menu. After restarting the computer, you’ll be able to drag the printer resources you need to your startup disk.
• If you choose to update an existing startup disk by dragging the new System Folder to replace one on the older disk, be sure to start your computer from the new System Tools disk. If you don’t start from—and drag the System Folder from—the new disk, a special area used at startup time may not be updated properly on your older disk. This can cause problems when you try to start your Macintosh. Using the Installer will prevent such problems.
When you select an icon and choose the Get Info command from the File menu, you see a window containing information about the selected icon. If the icon is part of the system software, the overall system software version number (for example, “System Software Version 6.0.3”) appears near the top of the Get Info window. Just below the middle of the window, you will find the heading “Version” and the version number of the specific item selected (for example, Scrapbook version 2.3).
There are several new features in the LaserWriter Page Setup dialog box:
• If you have a non-Apple Postscript laser printer that allows you to use 11 x 17" paper, you can click the Tabloid button to take full advantage of the larger paper size. (Currently, Apple LaserWriter printers do not accept 11 x 17" paper. If you click Tabloid, what you print on an Apple LaserWriter will be clipped.)
• You can now choose smoothing for bitmapped text or for graphics—or both. Turning smoothing on or off gives you some additional control over special visual effects you may want to achieve.
Clicking the Options button brings up the LaserWriter Options dialog box with one new feature. At the bottom of the list of options is “Unlimited Downloadable Fonts in a Document.” When this option is on, you can use any number of different fonts in one document. Available memory no longer limits the number. However, when you print a document with a great many fonts, processing and printing will be slowed down accordingly.
The PrintMonitor Preferences dialog box has been enhanced to give you more control over how the Macintosh will alert you when there are problems in printing a document.
• “Show PrintMonitor’s window when printing” is preset to No. However, even when it’s No, you can always use the Apple menu to bring up the PrintMonitor window when printing. If you change the setting to Yes, every time printing starts, the PrintMonitor window will appear on your desktop. It won’t interrupt what you’re doing, and you may have to move other windows out of the way to find it.
• “When a printing error needs to be reported” lets you choose how you want to be alerted when a problem develops. The first choice indicates a problem by displaying a small diamond beside PrintMonitor in the Apple menu. The second choice displays the diamond and will also display a small, blinking PrintMonitor icon in the menu bar, above the Apple menu. (This is the preset choice.) The third choice has all the features of the previous choice and also displays an alert message—even if it means interrupting what you’re doing at the time.
• “When a manual feed job starts” also lets you choose how—or whether—you want to be alerted. The first choice means you do not want to be notified when a manual feed job starts. If your LaserWriter has a non-Apple paper feeder requiring that you select Manual Feed (although the actual process is mechanical, not manual), this is probably the setting you want. The second choice (the preset one) displays a diamond beside PrintMonitor in the Apple menu and a small, blinking PrintMonitor icon in the menu bar, above the Apple menu. The third choice has the same features as the second and also displays an alert message.
If you are working with MultiFinder and expect to use any desk accessories, it’s a good idea to open them at the beginning of a session—before you open the applications you plan to use. This gives you the best memory management.
HD Backup is very useful for backing up a hard disk. Here are some tips for working with this utility:
• Before you use HD Backup to back up or restore files, use the Set Startup command in the Special menu to turn MultiFinder off. (For complete instructions, see “Turning MultiFinder Off” in Chapter 10 of the Macintosh System Software User’s Guide.)
• Start your Macintosh from a startup disk (containing HD Backup) that’s NOT the disk you want to back up or restore. Then open HD Backup and follow the instructions in the Macintosh Utilities User’s Guide.
IMPORTANT: If you use HD Backup to completely restore files on a hard disk, check the restored System Folder icon to see whether it has a small picture of a Macintosh on it. If it doesn’t, it has not been identified as the startup System Folder and won’t work to start your Macintosh. There is an easy way to fix this problem:
1. Open the System Folder, select the Finder icon, and drag it out of the folder to the desktop.
2. Release the Finder icon on the desktop briefly, then pick it up again and drag it back into the System Folder.
That’s all there is to it. The small icon will appear on the System Folder, and everything’s OK.
CloseView is a utility designed to make it easier for visually impaired users to read or view screen images. With the CloseView icon in your System Folder, a rectangular frame will appear automatically every time you start your computer. To prevent this from happening and remove the rectangle, drag the CloseView icon from the System Folder; then choose Restart from the Special menu.
If your Macintosh is part of an AppleTalk network system such as LocalTalk or EtherTalk, Responder is important to you. It works with an Apple product called Inter•Poll (the AppleTalk Network Administrator’s Utility) allowing the network to recognize the name of your workstation. Responder also helps your network administrator to ensure network integrity and to isolate faults on the network.
If your network administrator uses Inter•Poll, make sure the Responder icon appears in your System Folder. If Responder is not there, insert and open the disk labeled Utilities 1. Then drag the Responder icon from Utilities 1 to the System Folder on your startup disk.
Responder will not interfere with local operations and will improve the manageability of your network.
When printing shadow, outline or bold text in large point sizes on the LaserWriter IISC, ImageWriter LQ or AppleFax Modem, some characters may not print. This problem only occurs with a Macintosh Plus or SE, and varies depending on the application, font, font style, and font size used. When this happens, Apple recommends using plain text.
