Quickly and Easily View Folder Sizes

For most of us with MacBook laptops, especially those with MacBook Air laptops, hard drive space can be crucial. MacBook Air laptop come with SSDs (solid state hard drives) which usually don't have a lot of space because they are very expensive. So keeping your laptops hard drive space nice and tidy can become critical.

Here's a quick and easy way to find out what is taking up the most space on your hard drive.

Please note... this post is only going to show you how to find where all your hard drive space is going. But I do not recommend that anyone attempt to free up space by deleting files unless you are absolutely, 100% positive, that you know what you are deleting. A lot of files are very important to your Mac, so please, do not start deleting files or folders without proper research first.

- Open Finder
- Navigate to the location containing the folder you want to check.

- Switch to List View by clicking CMD-2, or navigating to View > As List, or clicking the List icon.

- Right-click anywhere inside and select Show View Options from the pop-up window.

- In the Options window check the Size and the Calculate all sizes options, and close the Options window.

- You should now see the folder sizes populated. This number represents the size of all files and subfolders inside that folder.

You can now start drilling down the folders to see exactly what's taking up all your space.

I like to start by sorting the view by Size so that the largest size is on the top. Do this by simply clicking the Size header.

Then one by one I open up the folders (by clicking the arrow next to the folder name).

That's it. You can now start to find out where all you hard drive space is going. And with some research, you may be able to delete some files and folders and free up some space.

Filling in, and Signing, PDF Documents the Easy Way [Mac OS X]

From time to time we all have to fill in and/or sign a PDF document. Whether it's for a contract, a registration or a warranty card.  Whatever the reason, we all have to do it. And there's a simple way using Mac OS X's Preview.

Setup

There's only one thing to setup before you can start signing PDF documents, you have to add your signature to Preview.

- On a clean, white piece of paper, write in your signature. Make sure it's clear.
- Open Preview by going to Applications > Preview.
- If you get the "iCloud for Preview" window to pop-up, just hit Cancel.
- Navigate to Preview > Preferences.

- Select the Signatures tab.
- Click the + sign to add a signature.

- On the following screen you will align the piece of paper with your signature in front of you iSight camera.
- You may need to move the piece of paper around until the signature looks correct in the Signature Preview box.
- Once the signature is aligned properly, click the Accept button.

- Repeat the steps above to add more signatures, if necessary (for computers that are used by multiple people).
- Once you are done adding all signatures, close the Preferences box.

Your signature(s) are now stored in Preview, ready to be used.

Usage

You are now ready to start using Preview to fill in and sign PDF documents.

- Double Click a PDF document. Your Mac should automatically open it with Preview, unless you have instructed it to use a different application. You can also right-click on the PDF and open it with Preview.

- Click the Show Edit Toolbar button.

- If you want to fill in some text fields, use the text toolbar button.

-  After clicking the text button you can click on any field to start typing. Do not worry about the alignment, you can move it later so that it fits correctly.

- You can also use the Fonts button to change the font and size when necessary.

- When you are ready to insert your signature, click on the Signature button. Please note that if you have more than one signature stored, you will first have to click the small arrow next to signature button in order to select which signature you want to insert.

- After selecting the correct signature and clicking the signature button, click on the signature line to insert your signature. You will be able to move and resize the signature so that it fits correctly by using the round handles around the signature.

You have now filled in the document and signed it. But now you have to save it correctly in order for it to be properly visible by anyone who receives it.

Saving

This is a critical step. Preview is funny how it handles PDFs, so you have to save your document the correct way in order to send it to anyone else. Here's how you do that.

- Click on File > Print...

- On the bottom left of the next window, click on PDF and select the Save as PDF... option.

- Then simply name your document, select a location and save it.

That's it! You now have a saved, signed and filled in PDF document that you can email to anyone.

Moving your iTunes Media folder

You iTunes Media folder contains the files for all the music, books, ringtones, iOS applications and, in some cases, movies, that you have in your iTunes library. As you build up a large library, these files can start taking up a lot of precious space on your computer's hard drive. Today I am going to explain how to move those files to an external or secondary hard drive.

Setup

First navigate to your external drive and choose the exact location where you want to place the media files (where you want to move them to). This should be on an external or secondary hard drive.  Once you are there, right-click to create a new folder called iTunes Media.

Next, make sure that the Keep iTunes Media folder organized option is selected in your iTunes Preferences:

- Open iTunes
- Navigate to iTunes  > Preferences...
- In the next window, click the Advanced tab
- Make sure the Keep iTunes Media folder organized checkbox is checked
- Click OK

Next we need to tell iTunes where to move the media files to:

- Navigate to iTunes  > Preferences...
- In the next window, click the Advanced tab
- Take note of where the current location of the iTunes Media folder is (you will need to go to it later)
- Next to the iTunes Media folder location box, click the Change... button
- Find and select the iTunes Media folder you created earlier on your external (or secondary) hard drive
- Click Open
- Click OK

Move the Files

Now it's time to tell iTunes to actually move the files to their new location. Here's how we do that.

- Navigate to File > Library > Organize Library...

 - Check the Consolidate Files box and click OK

Please note... This action copies all of your music and media files to the new location. There must be enough hard disk space available to copy all of your music and media files.

At this point iTunes starts copying all the files to the new location. Depending on the size of your library, this could take some time. Please be patient.

After the folder has been copied, quit iTunes by navigating to iTunes > Quit iTunes.

Confirm the Move Worked

Confirming that the move worked is as simple as navigating to the new iTunes Media folder and verifying that  all the folders and files are there.

Once you are satisfied that your move was successful, navigate to the original iTunes Media folder (you should have taken note of where this was located) and delete it.

Your iTunes library media files are now moved to your external (or secondary) hard drive.

Ripping DVDs with Handbrake

There are a good handful of applications for both Mac and Windows that let you rip (or copy) your DVDs to your computer. But after many years of ripping hundreds of DVDs, I have found that Handbrake is one of the best programs available. Best of all, it's free.

Handbrake will rip your DVD into an MP4 file, which is perfect to use on iTunes. This means that the movies can easily be transferred to iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs for easy playback.

Handbrake will not only rip DVDs, it will also convert other movie file formats into MP4. So if you have an AVI file (or many other types of video files), Handbrake can easily convert it into an MP4 for you.

Setup

Download Handbrake from here and install it.

Once it is installed, open up Handbrake. Before we can rip our first DVD (or other file) there are just a few minor settings we need to update.

Navigate to Handbrake > Preferences... and make sure the settings in the General, Audio and Advanced tabs look exactly like this:

libdvdcss

In order to correctly decrypt some DVDs, you will need to install one final file that will allow Handrbake to bypass the encryption.

For Mac Users:

1. Download this file.
2. In Finder, find the downloaded file and copy it (CMD-C).
3. On Finder's menu bar, navigate to Go > Go to Folder. When the Go to Folder box pops up, type in /usr/lib/ and click Go.
4. Paste the file you have copied into the /usr/lib/ folder (CMD-V).

5. Go back to the folder where you downloaded the file and delete it.

For Windows Users:

1. Download this file (64-bit) or this file (32-bit) depending on which Windows OS you are running (64 or 32 bit).
2. In Windows Explorer, find the downloaded file and rename it to libdvdcss.dll.
3. Copy the file (CTRL-C).
4. Navigate to the C:\Program Files\Handbrake folder.
4. Paste the file you have copied into the C:\Program Files\Handbrake folder (CTRL-V).

5. Go back to the folder where you downloaded the file and delete it.

Usage

Using Handbrake is actually quite easy.

1) Select the DVD or file you want to convert by clicking the Source button on the upper left corner. Find and select the file you are looking for. If you are ripping a DVD, simply pick the DVD from the Devices menu. Then click Open.

2) In the Destination field, make sure you select the correct path for where you want Handbrake to place the newly converted file. You can also just click the Browse... button to select a location.

3) Select "High Profile" from the Presets menu.

4) Click the Start button.

Handbrake will start to rip the DVD or convert the file. The file size of the original file and the processing power of your computer will determine how long it takes Handbrake to convert it. On average, expect a standard DVD to take between 30 minutes up to a few hours. Again, the newer and more processing power your computer has, the faster Handbrake will work.

When Handbrake is done, you will find the new file in the folder you selected.

Now you can move that file to your Media folder, add it to iTunes and do with it as you want.

Just in case, here is another blogger's handy step-by-step for using Handbrake.

Manage Your iOS Devices' Backup Files [Mac OS X]

When you plug in any of your Apple devices to iTunes and perform a Sync, the first thing iTunes does is create a backup of that device.

The backup is very important to have in case you lose your device, it gets damaged, or you get a new one.

But the backup files can take up a lot of room on your computer. Here I will show you how to manage those backups and how to, if necessary, move the backups to an external hard drive in order to free up space on your computer's hard drive.

Managing the Backups in iTunes

Open up iTunes and navigate to the iTunes > Preferences... menu option.

Once in the Preferences dialog box, click the Devices tab. Here you will see a list of all the backups iTunes currently has for your iDevices.

In some cases, you may end up with multiple backups of the same devices, some older than others. A quick way to gain some space on your computer is to delete the older backups and only keep the latest one for each device. If you want to delete a backup from here simply click on the backup and select Delete Backup.... Depending on the size of the backup it may take several minutes for the task to complete. Please be patient. Once done, don't forget to empty your Trash folder in order to actually gain the space on your computer.

Moving the Backup Files Location to a Different Hard Drive

iTunes stores your backup files in a somewhat hidden folder. And unfortunately, you can not specify to iTunes where you would like the backup files to be placed. But there's a simple workaround.

Please note... it is very important to understand that after you move the Backup folder to an external hard drive, you can not Sync your iDevice with iTunes unless that hard drive is connected to the computer. If you try syncing without the external hard drive connected, you may get unexpected errors.

Start by closing iTunes completely by navigating to iTunes > Quit iTunes. Do not just click the red 'x' button on the iTunes window. You have to Quit iTunes.

Open Finder and click on Go on the top menu. While on that menu, press down the Option key. When the Option key is pressed the Go menu will show an extra option for the Library folder. Click the Library folder to open it.

Once in the Library folder navigate to Application Support > MobileSync > Backup. In the Backup folder you will find the actual encrypted backup files for your iDevices. You won't be able to make heads or tails out of the backup files, but that's ok, you don't need to.

Now, right-click on the Backup folder and select Copy "Backup". Then navigate to the hard drive you want to move the Backup folder to, and paste it there. This could be on an external hard drive or a secondary hard drive on your computer.

Once the Backup folder is safely copied over to its new location, follow the steps above to navigate back and delete the original Backup folder. You may be required to enter your administrator password.

Creating a Symbolic Link

Now that the Backup folder has been moved to its new location, it's time to trick iTunes into thinking the folder is still located in the same place. We do that by creating a symbolic link to the new Backup folder location.

Start by navigating to the location of the new Backup folder. Once there, right-click on the folder and select Get Info. You can also just select the folder and hit CMD-i.

In the Info window, highlight and select the path to the location folder, listed next to the "Where". Copy the entire thing as I have highlighted below.

Open up the Terminal application (in Applications > Utilities).

You will now create a symbolic link using a command similar to the one below, replacing the /path_to_your_backup_folder portion with the path you copied above:

ln -s /path_to_your_backup_folder/Backup/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

So in my example above, this is the exact command I would enter:

ln -s /Volumes/Media/iTunes/Backup/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

And that is it. Now if you navigate back to the Application Support > MobileSync folder you will see a symbolic link has been created that points to the Backup folder in the new location. iTunes should be none the wiser and your backup files will now reside on your external hard drive.

Test New Backup File Location

Please note... I already said this above, but it is worth repeating. It is very important to understand that after you move the 'Backup' folder to an external hard drive, you can not Sync your iDevice with iTunes unless that hard drive is connected to the computer. If you try syncing without the external hard drive connected, you may get unexpected errors.

Now that you have moved the Backup it is time to test it. Open iTunes and plug your iDevice in. Click the Backup button. If everything went as planned, the backup will complete without issues.

Windows Users

I won't go into step-by-step detail, but in a PC running Windows the steps are very similar. Instead of Terminal open a Command Prompt.

In Windows 7 the location of the Backup folder is at:

C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

While the command to create the symbolic link (where "D:\Backup" is the path to the new folder) is:

mklink /J "C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"

In Windows XP the location of the Backup folder is at:

C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

While the command(s) to create the symbolic link (where "D:\Backup" is the path to the new folder) is:

cd Desktop
junction "C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"

Sharing your Google Photo Albums

On a previous post I showed you how to use Google's Picasa to upload your photo and video albums to Google Photos (Picasa). Now I am going to show you how to share those albums and photos with your friends and family.

First, log in to your Google+ account at https://plus.google.com/. Once you are logged in, navigate to the 'Photos' section and choose 'Albums'.

In the 'Albums' section you will see a thumbnail for all the albums you have uploaded.

Select the album you want to share by clicking on it.

In the album view, underneath the album name, you will see that the album is either visible to 'Only You' or to 'Limited'.

No matter which visibility your album is set to, click on the link that says 'Only You' or 'Limited'.

On the following pop-up window you will have the option to share the album by either entering the email addresses in the top field, or, you can choose to copy the link to the album and email it yourself.

Anyone that has the link will have access to view the album. You can email it, post it on another site, etc.

That's it. You have now shared that album with your friends and family.

You will have to repeat the steps above for each album you want to share. Unfortunately Google+ does not yet support sharing multiple albums at once, but I expect that option will come in future updates.