Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Tip 359
Set the Default Operating System
If you have Microsoft Windows installed on your Mac alongside OS X, you
might always want to boot to it rather than to OS X. Holding down
OPTION
when booting will offer a choice of operating systems, but to make Windows
the default boot-time choice on your computer, open System Preferences
(Apple menu→System Preferences), click the Startup Disk icon, and select
the Windows option in the listing. Then hit Restart to restart your computer
and make the change permanent.
To revert to OS X being the default boot-time choice, boot to your Mac
installation and repeat the previous steps, this time selecting the Mac hard
disk in the list before clicking the Restart button.
Tip 360
Dump a Snapshot of Your Mac
There might be certain situations where you need a snapshot of your comput-
er. For example, if you spot a bug in a program, the developer might need to
know what your computer is doing when the bug occurs.
Taking a Snapshot of Everything Happening Right Now
The
SYSDIAGNOSE
command will dump all technical information about your
computer's state and configuration into a series of files. You can use
SYSDIAGNOSE
one of two ways: at the command line by simply typing it or by holding down
SHIFT
+
CONTROL
+
OPTION
+
COMMAND
+
.
(period). If you choose to use the key combina-
tion,
SYSDIAGNOSE
will take about a minute to complete, although there will be
no sign of its progress. Eventually a Finder window will open that shows the
data that's been gathered. This is stored in
/PRIVATE/VAR/TMP
.
Be aware that some personal data is included in the dump, including the
serial number of your computer, the computer name, and your username.
Don't hand over the
SYSDIAGNOSE
data to somebody you don't trust.
