Indicators that the SMC might need to be reset

These symptoms might mean that an SMC reset is necessary:
• Your computer's fans run at high speed, even though it isn't under heavy usage and is properly ventilated.
• The keyboard backlight behaves incorrectly.
• The status indicator light (SIL), if present, behaves incorrectly.
• Battery indicator lights, if present, behave incorrectly on Mac notebooks with a non-removable battery.
• The display backlight doesn't respond correctly to ambient light changes.
• Your Mac doesn't respond when you press the power button.
• Your Mac notebook doesn't respond properly when you close or open the lid.
• Your Mac sleeps or shuts down unexpectedly.
• The battery doesn't charge properly.
• The MagSafe power adapter LED, if present, doesn't indicate the correct activity.
• Your Mac performs unusually slowly, even though its CPU isn't under an abnormally heavy load.
• A computer that supports target display mode doesn't switch into or out of target display mode as expected, or it switches into or out of target display mode at unexpected times.
• The illumination around the I/O ports on a Mac Pro (Late 2013) doesn't turn on when you move the computer.

How to reset the SMC on Mac notebook computers First, determine whether the battery is removable. Mac notebook computers that have a non-removable battery include MacBook Pro (Early 2009 and later), all models of MacBook Air, MacBook (Late 2009), and MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015 and later). Learn more about Mac notebook batteries. If the battery is non-removable:

• Shut down your Mac.
• Using the built-in keyboard, press Shift-Control-Option on the left side of the keyboard, then press the power button at the same time. Hold these keys and the power button for 10 seconds.
• If you have a MacBook Pro with Touch ID, the Touch ID button is also the power button.
• Release all keys.
• Press the power button again to turn on your Mac. If the battery is removable:
• Shut down your Mac.
• Remove the battery. (Learn about removing the battery in ⦁ MacBook and ⦁ MacBook Pro computers.)
• Press and hold the power button for five seconds.
• Press the power button to turn on your Mac.How to reset the SMC on Mac desktop computers Follow these steps for iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, and Xserve.
• Shut down your Mac.
• Unplug the power cord.
• Wait 15 seconds.
• Plug the power cord back in.
• Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac. For Intel-based Xserve computers that aren't responding, you can shut down locally or by using remote commands. You can also shut down by pressing and holding the power button for five seconds.

While Macs rarely get viruses, they can commonly get malware from accidental installation of software or internet plugins that cause search engines to change, annoying advertisements to pop-up as well as pop-ups claiming you have a virus and to call an 800 number to resolve. These are common malware symptoms that people and companies use to try and scam money out of you as they claim they are repairing when they don’t actually remove the malware. Contact us so we can help get your machine cleaned up and running smoothly.

Taking screenshots are a great way to show people what you are seeing or how to do something. There are 3 different options for taking a screenshot on your Mac, all of which save the screenshot to your desktop with the file name Screen Shot followed by the date and time taken.

Option 1 (Entire Screen) Press the Command key + Shift key + 3 key This will capture the entire screen.

Option 2 (Select the area to capture) Press the Command key + Shift key + 4 key This will give you cross hairs that you can then use to select the area to capture.

Option 3 (Specific Window) Press the Command key + Shift key + 4 key and then press the Space Bar key This will give you camera icon as your cursor that you can hover over any window you want to capture and then click the mouse on that window to capture the exact dimensions of that window

Hard drives have been around for many years as the primary method of storing users files. As time has gone on hard drives have got larger as users need to store larger files like photos and videos. Unfortunately, hard drives have now become the biggest bottleneck in most computers. Hard drives are mechanical and the platters inside can only rotate so fast while the head moves across reading and writing data to these platters.

Solid state drives have become extremely popular in today’s computers as they eliminate the mechanical part of a drive which improves the overall reliability as well as increases the performance significantly by storing the data on chips. The average hard drive can read and write data between 80-160 MB/sec while solid state drives can read and write data between 400-2500 MB/sec. Solid state drives huge performance increase makes the computer boot quick, application launch faster and overall data access much more responsive.

Hard drives still do have a place in today’s computers as solid state drives are still more expensive than hard drives when comparing GB for GB and solid state drives have a lower capacity than hard drives. Overall for the average workstation that doesn’t need tons of space a solid state drive is the best way to go, for workstations needing lots of space having a spinning disk is the way to go, if you have multiple drive bays available a combination is ideally with your operating system and applications on a fast solid state drive and your large files on a large hard drive. Contact us to discuss your scenario so we can help determine the best upgrade path for your computer.

Remote monitoring and maintenance is a great service which some service providers offer. We offer this monthly service as it helps keep software up to date with the latest security patches to keep you as protected as possible as well as perform maintenance that helps keep your operating system running at optimal speed and prevent issues from building up leading to larger issues, data loss and lost time. Ask us about our monthly remote monitoring and maintenance packages.