Mikey has an old 20080 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, and he wants to upgrade the hard drive in it. He wants to know if any 2.5" hard drive will work, and if he can install Snow Leopard on it.
John has a MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt Display and an LG Display, but he can't connect the displays together via miniHDMI.
Jim is looking to buy a MacBook with Retina display laptop and wonders if he should wait until the new Haswell chip comes. Leo says that while he normally doesn't recommend waiting, since Jim is traveling, it may be a good idea to wait. Since Jim is looking to get a 13" model, it won't burn battery power as much, but Jim may be waiting awhile. So he should wait as long as he can and then decide. If it's taking too long, then just get it. It'll still run great.
Joan likes to watch TV on her Mac, but now she's getting a message about a blocked plugin. Leo says that Apple keeps a list of "unsafe" programs on Joan's Mac and all she needs to do is download and install the new Flash player. Once that's done, Apple will view it as safe again.
Jean has an old Dell from 2007 and it's starting to act up. Should she get a new computer? Leo says that a computer's age is like a dog's age. A six year old computer can't really do a lot of modern things. But just because she gets a new computer, doesn't mean she has to throw away the old one. She can always put Linux on it. She was told that her computer had a virus on it. Leo says that may be, but more likely he wants to sell Jean a computer. The AOL software that Jean is using is more likely just timing out, which is normal. So Jean may not really "need" a new computer.
Steve bought his wife an iMac and he's been trying to set up Wireless printing and is having trouble connecting. Leo says it's likely a driver issue. The Mac says "drivers unavailable." Leo wonders if the printer is compatible for wireless printing since it's older. It may not work with the wireless router. If the printer can be seen, then it probably is just a driver issue. Since Bonjour recognizes the printer, that's a good sign that the printer can handle network printing. Leo says that the Xerox site has drivers, but they're only supported on Lion (OS X.7), not Mountain Lion.
Steve has a Mac and wants to know if he really needs an antivirus utility. Leo says that the bad guys have slowly begun to write exploits to take advantage of the Apple platform. This wasn't the case a few short years ago, but as Windows users have gotten better at locking down their systems, the hackers have to go somewhere. So the short answer is yes.
Leo recommends Eset's CyberSecurity for the Mac. (Disclaimer: ESET is a sponsor).
Pam is having trouble watching videos online with her Mac. Apple probably blocked Flash since Pam had neglected to update it. Leo advises uninstalling Flash and then install it from Adobe.com/flashplayer to download the stand alone Flash installer. Then, install it with all browsers closed. She will have to keep it updated, or Apple will block it again.
Leo advises making a copy of the data and then running the Mac Disc Utility to repair it. Drives can go into read only mode for a variety of reasons, but it can be repaired. If he wants to get a complete copy of the data off of it, then it's just easier at that point to format it (HFS+) and start over. It may also indicate a physical problem with the drive controller. Job one is to get that data off, though!
