Configuring Mac OS X 10.4
When your computer restarts after a Mac OS X installation, the Mac OS X Setup Assistant automatically appears. This program uses a simple question-and-answer process to get information about you and the way you use your computer. The information you provide is automatically entered in the various System Preferences panes of Mac OS X to configure your computer for Mac OS X. Tips
- If you just bought your Macintosh and Mac OS X is installed, the first time you start your computer, you'll see the Mac OS X Setup Assistant described here. Follow these instructions to configure your computer.If the Mac OS X Setup Assistant does not appear, Mac OS X is already configured. You can skip this section.If you upgraded from a previous version of Mac OS X to Mac OS X 10.4 only some of the Mac OS X Setup Assistant screens will appear and many of them may already contain configuration information. Follow along with the instructions in this section if you need help entering missing information.I managed to get some screen shots of the Mac OS X Setup Assistant when I upgraded Mac OS X on my production Mac. So although not all steps are illustrated here, there are enough screen shots to give you an idea of what you'll see when you configure Mac OS X.
To configure Mac OS X
1. | In the Welcome window that appears after installing Mac OS X, select the name of the country you're in. Click Continue. |
2. | In the Do You Already Own a Mac? window, select an options and click Continue:
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3. | In the Select Your Keyboard window, select a keyboard layout. Click Continue. |
4. | The Mac OS Setup Assistant attempts to determine how you connect to the Internet by sensing connections. It then displays appropriate screens for configuring your connection. If the options that appear are correct for your setup, continue following the instructions in step 6. If the options are not appropriate for your setup, click the Different Network Setup button and continue following the instructions in step 5. |
5. | In the How Do You Connect? window that appears, select one of the options for how you connect to the Internet and click Continue:
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6. | Enter information in the screen that appears to provide information about your Internet service or local area network and click Continue. |
7. | The Enter Your Apple ID window appears (Figure 15 ). If you have an Apple ID, enter it and your password. If you don't, leave both boxes blank. Then click Continue.Figure 15. The Mac OS X Setup Assistant prompts you to enter your Apple ID and password.[View full size image] |
8. | In the Registration Information window (Figure 16 ), fill in the form. You can press to move from one field to another. Click Continue.Figure 16. You'll have to fill in this form with registration information.[View full size image] |
9. | In the A Few More Questions window (Figure 17 ), use pop-up menus to answer two marketing questions. Turn on the check box to get information about Apple products via e-mail. Then click Continue.Figure 17. Answer some marketing questions in this window.[View full size image] |
10. | In the Create Your Account window, fill in the form to enter information to set up your Mac OS X account:
When you're finished entering account information, click Continue. |
11. | If you do not have an Internet connection, the Set Date and Time window may appear. Set the date and time and click Continue. |
12. | If you're a .Mac member, the Automatically Renew .Mac window may appear (Figure 18 ). To automatically renew your .Mac account, turn on the check box and click Continue. If you'd prefer not to automatically renew, just click Continue. Then click Continue in the Thanks for being a .Mac Member window.Figure 18. If you're a .Mac member, you can turn on the check box to automatically renew .Mac every year.[View full size image] |
13. | Continue following the steps in the section titled "To finish the installation" on the next page. |
Tips
- If your country is not listed in step 1, turn on the Show All check box to display more options.In step 3, you can turn on the Show All check box to show additional keyboard layouts.In step 8, if you have a .Mac account and a connection to the Internet. your contact information may already be filled in based on data stored on Apple's .Mac server.In step 8, you can learn about Apple's privacy policy by clicking the Privacy button. When you're finished reading the information in the dialog sheet that appears, click OK to dismiss it and return to the Registration Information window.When you enter your password in steps 7 and 10, it displays as bullet characters. That's why you enter it twice: so you're sure you entered what you thought you did the first time.Remember the password you enter in step 10! If you forget your password, you may not be able to use your computer. It's a good idea to use the Password Hint field to enter a hint that makes your password impossible to forget.
To finish the installation
Figure 19. This screen appears at the very end of the configuration process.
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Figure 20. At the end of the installation, the Mac OS X 10.4 desktop and your Home folder window appear.
Chapters 2 through 4 .To eject the Install DVD, press the Eject Media button on your keyboard or drag the DVD icon to the Trash icon in the Dock. I tell you more about ejecting discs in Chapter 3 .The Software Update utility may run right after installing Mac OS X 10.4. If any software updates are available for your computer, a dialog with update information appears. I explain how to use Software Update in Chapter 21 .If you chose the Install and Archive option when you installed Mac OS X 10.4, a folder named Previous Systems appears on your hard disk (Figure 21 ). You can move items you need out of that folder and into appropriate locations on your hard disk. Delete this folder if it is no longer needed. You may have to enter an administrator's password to delete it.