![]() ![]() Luckily, they are rarely a cause of problems.Īs discussed earlier in this chapter, there are also a few other types of startup/login processes: system-level startup processes provided by the OS that start during BootX, startup items/processes provided by third-party vendors that are launched during BootX (but after the system's own processes), and login processes. In fact, the only way to move them is via root access. The files located in these folders were installed by Mac OS X, and should generally not be moved. If you've got a good grasp on user accounts and file organization at this point, you know that an admin user can modify system-wide files, and thus can affect all user accounts individual users can only manage items in their personal ~/Library folder.Īs mentioned in Chapter 1, each of these types of files (preference panes, fonts, screen savers, etc.) also has its own folder inside /System/Library. One way to deactivate files and still keep some semblance of order is to create a matching folder in the same directory as the enclosing folder that includes the word "Disabled" in its name-for example, create a new folder called "PreferencePanes (Disabled)" inside /Library and use this folder to store system-wide preference panes that you want to disable. Thus in order to prevent a particular item from being loaded and used at login, you simply need to move it out of the appropriate folder-for example, if a font isn't located inside one of the fonts folders at login, it won't be available to users or the OS. Third-party, system-level startup items must reside in /Library/ StartupItems. Preference panes must be located in /Library/PreferencePanes or ~/Library/PreferencePanes in order to appear in the System Preferences application. Fonts, for example, must be in /Library/Fonts (for fonts available to all users) or ~/Library/Fonts (for user-specific fonts). As discussed in Chapter 1, each type of file must reside in a specific location in order to be loaded by the OS. Managing files such as preference panes, screen savers, fonts, etc., is actually quite simple. In this section the phrase "login items" refers to files loaded by Mac OS X at startup and login such as preference panes, fonts, screen savers, and sounds, and is different from the files, folders, and/or applications each user adds to the Login Items pane in System Preferences (discussed earlier in the chapter). You can do this manually, or using a utility that automates the process. However, you can also manage files on an individual basis. ![]() A bit later in the chapter I'll talk about preventing the loading of any kernel extensions, login items, etc., by holding down the shift key at startup. Or perhaps font conflicts are causing problems with applications or even the OS itself. Or you may want to turn system-wide startup items, such as the Apache web server, off "permanently" so that other admin users cannot enable Web Sharing. ![]() For example, you may find that a particular screen saver causes System Preferences to crash. Nevertheless, there are still valid reasons to activate and deactivate services and system add-ons in Mac OS X. In addition, the amount of RAM used by most "startup" files is minimal, and because of OS X's superior memory management, the gain from deactivating such files is much less than it was under OS 9. Only kernel extensions actively modify the "guts" of the operating system, so to speak, so the chances for major conflicts have been reduced considerably. In Mac OS X, extensions, control panels, and startup items have been replaced by kernel extensions, preference panes, and login items. Generally the reason for doing this was to solve startup conflicts, to reduce the potential for such conflicts, or simply to reduce the amount of RAM used by the OS. ![]() In Mac OS 9 and earlier, you could control what startup files (extensions, control panels, startup items, etc.) loaded at startup-manually, by moving them in and out of particular folders, or automatically using utilities such as Extensions Manager or Conflict Catcher. ![]()
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