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Which keys do you press to boot from another Mac that's hooked up to yours by a FireWire cable?
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More keyboard shortcuts for Mac OS X


August 20, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   Last month I described some of the handiest (and least known) keyboard shortcuts for Mac OS X. Here are 10 more, in the form of a test. See how many answers you get right.
   (Note: Some of these key combinations might only work in Jaguar, the current version of OS X.)
   Which keys do you press to:
   1. Boot from another Mac that's hooked up to yours by a FireWire cable?
   2. View messages from the operating system during bootup?
   3. Turn off all extras (going into "Safe Mode") on bootup?
   4. Close all windows?
   5. Close the current window and open the parent window in the same folder?
   6. Save the document you are working on?
   7. Minimize (hide) the foreground window?
   8. Minimize (hide) all windows?
   9. Put your computer to sleep instantly?
   10. Cycle through all possible views of a window's toolbar?
   
   Ready for your grade? You pass if you get at least six right.
   1. Hold down the T key during bootup. This invokes "Target Mode." Unlike Windows PCs, Macs can boot from a range of devices -- one being the main hard disk on another Mac. Connect the two Macs using a FireWire cable, boot up the other Mac, then boot up your Mac with the T held down.
   2. Press Cmd-V during startup. This switches your Mac into "Verbose Mode" so that all messages from startup actions appear on the screen. It's a great way to realize how much goes on under the pretty desktop.
   3. Hold down Shift during startup. This turns off all extra features (such as programs you installed that do things at startup) and might be the only way to get your Mac going if someone does something really foolish. (You can then remove the offending item and boot up normally.)
   4. Option-Cmd-W.
   5. Option-Cmd-Up Arrow.
   6. Cmd-S.
   7. Cmd-M.
   8. Option-Cmd-M.
   9. Option-Cmd-Eject or Option-Cmd-Power.
   10. Cmd-Click button at upper right of toolbar.