Securing your Mac – Sharing (Too Much)

February 28, 2011 by

Sharing files on your home network is fantastically convenient. Mac OS X makes it especially easy to access others’ shared files too, because it all shows up front and centre in the Finder — well, actually it’s left-aligned, in the sidebar, but you get the point.

Making your Mac behave as a server, even if it is just for accessing your stuff at home, is something you do need to be aware of when it comes to security. Sharing your files on your home network is great — but are you sure you’re not unintentionally sharing too much when you leave the house with your MacBook?

In this second post in my Mac Security series, we will be looking at sharing, servers, and switching things off. [Read more…]

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: ,

Securing your Mac – Trust and the Firewall

February 11, 2011 by

“Macs don’t get viruses, do they?”

It’s a question I’ve been asked many a time by somewhat less tech savvy friends. There’s a perception that the Macintosh is impervious to security issues, and while it’s true that your Mac can’t run the majority of nasty software out there (unless you’re running Windows on your Mac of course!), complacency is never a good idea!

In this series of articles for For Mac Eyes Only, I’ll be examining some basic steps you can take to ensure your Mac is kept safe and secure. In this first post, I’ll be looking at some basic principles and then delving into the Mac OS X Firewall. [Read more…]

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: , ,

RDC Licensing and the Mac

July 28, 2009 by

Unlike Windows users, Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection Client for the Mac requires the purchase of a license (a TS CAL) for the Mac user to connect to a Windows Server. Without one, a temporary license (90 days) will be assigned.

Unfortunately, whether you have a proper TS CAL or not, the license information on the Mac needs to be reset from time to time. And in the first version of Microsoft’s client for OS X, this could be done easily by removing the contents of the folder:

/Users/Shared/Microsoft/RDC Crucial Server Information/

This process is detailed in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base article, 187614 (link)

When the old licensing information is removed, the Remote Desktop Connection client software will request a new one. Simple as that.

BUT, with the 2.0 release of the RDC Client, something broke and removing the licenses from a Mac client no longer worked. So that meant continuing to use the, older, buggier 1.0 release OR … well, there is no “or” because the client would just stop working with the error message, “You were disconnected from the Windows-based computer because of problems during the licensing protocol.”

So what to do?

Well, it turns out that – for me anyway – all I needed to do was remove the client license as before, but then first run the 1.0 client to connect to the server. After the 1.0 client established the connection and set up the new license, the 2.0 client would continue working again. If you try to run the 2.0 client first, the connection will fail and you’ll need to reset the license once again.

The downfall to this solution is that I need to keep the older client installed just for the odd occasion that I need to reset the license. The good news is that this process fixes, the less buggy 2.0 client too!

Republished from ESC!Webs Blogitorials, July 2009

Filed Under: How To

For Mac Eyes Only Tip Sheet – “How To: Digitize Your Old Vinyl”

May 12, 2008 by

For Mac Eyes Only Tip Sheet #21

> For Mac Eyes Only Tip Sheet: Digitize Your Old Vinyl – Pamela Arnone

Download this Tip Sheet to follow simple steps for importing your records into iTunes using GarageBand.

(PDF download)

Filed Under: How To, Tip Sheet Tagged With:
« Previous Page