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How to Save Files on a Macintosh

Student Computing ServicesAcademic Computing, NEIU

B-107Web: www.neiu.edu/~scs

Email: [email protected]: 773-442-4390

http://www.neiu.edu/~scs


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

How to Save Files on a Macintosh System

Introduction: Many new computers sold today do not come with an internal floppy diskette drive. 3 1/2” floppies were first invented in the 1980’s. Twenty years later, their limited storage capacity and their vulnerabil-ity to damage from dust, heat, and magnetism have prompted the computer industry to explore new ways of storing and retrieving data. This document will help familiarize you with alternative methods on how to store your files on a Macintosh computer system.

• USB Flash RAM Drives......................................................................................................... 2These are small, removable drives which connect to your computer via the USB port. Storage capacities range from 8 MB to 4 GB (approximately 4000 MB). These drives are available from the campus bookstore as well as various computer and electronics retailers.

• Recordable Compact Discs (CD-R)..................................................................................... 4Many computers come with an internal CD-R drive which allows the user to store files onto a recordable compact disc. Storage capacity for CD-Rs range from 650 MB and higher. Please note that once a CD-R has been written to, the data on the CD-R can-not be modified.

• NEIU Account........................................................................................................................ 7All students attending Northeastern Illinois University have been allocated storage space on the campus server. Students may use an FTP program to store and retrieve files online. If you do not know your NEIU username and password, please visit http://neiuport.neiu.edu and click on Look up your NetID.

• Archiving Files & Folders.................................................................................................... 9Archiving files and folders will allow you to store backup copies that take up less room. They will also allow you to more easily transfer these files across the Internet

• Troubleshooting Section.................................................................................................... 10This section answers frequently asked questions and provides solutions to common problems and issues. If you still encounter difficulties, please consult a student lab assistant on duty in the computer facility.

How to Save Files on a Macintosh page 1 of 11 last updated: Jun 20, 2007

http://neiuport.neiu.edu

http://neiuport.neiu.edu

Using a USB Flash Drive on a Macintosh

USB flash drives are small, removable drives which connect to your computer via the USB port. Storage capacities range from 8 MB to 4 GB (approximately 4000 MB). These drives are available from the cam-pus bookstore as well as various computer and electronics retailers. Note: YOUR COMPUTER MUST HAVE A USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS) PORT IN ORDER TO USE A USB FLASH DRIVE.

Step 1. Connecting your USB flash drive to a Macintosh

You may connect your USB flash drive to any available USB port on the Macintosh. Ports are available on the sides of the keyboard and at the back of the computer.

A picture on the right shows two USB ports denoted by the USB symbol.

After you attach the USB flash drive to an available USB port, the drive will appear as a volume on the desktop.

Step 2a. Saving Files to your USB flash drive

To save a file which is currently open and in use, go to the File menu and select Save As... You may then specify what you would like to call the file and the location in which you would like to save it.

In order to save to your USB flash drive, please follow the directions below:

1. Show the directory contents in the Save dialog box.2. Select the USB flash drive from the dialog box’s

Sidebar. Please note that your USB drive may be labeled with a different name.

3. In the Save As: text box, type a name for your file. 4. Click on the Save button to save your file onto the

USB flash drive.

If you have already saved or downloaded your file to the computer’s hard drive, you can copy them to your USB flash drive. For instructions on how to copy files to a USB flash drive, please refer to Step 2b on the next page.


Step 2b. Copying files from the computer to your USB flash drive

1. Double-click on the USB flash drive’s icon on the desktop to open it. 2. Locate your saved files from the computer to the USB flash drive’s window. 3. Drag your saved files from the computer to the USB flash drive’s window.

Step 3. Ejecting the USB flash drive

You must eject the USB flash drive from the computer before physically detaching the device from the USB port.To eject the USB flash drive, drag the desktop icon of the drive to the Trash Can icon. The Trash Can icon will become an Eject symbol. After the USB flash icon disappears from the desktop, you may physically remove the drive.

Note: Do not remove the USB flash drive without first ejecting it from the desktop. Otherwise your files may become corrupted and lost.

If you encounter problems, please refer to the troubleshooting section at the end of this document.


Saving Files onto a CD-R(W) Disc

You may save your files onto a recordable CD [known as CD-R(W)] in the student computing facilities. CD-R disks are available for purchase from Beck's bookstore on campus and other electronic retailers. Many of the Macintosh computers in Academic Computing labs are capable of writing to CD-R and CD-R(W) disks. These instructions assume that you have already saved your files onto the computer’s Documents folder and now wish to transfer those files onto your CD.

Note: AFTER A CD HAS BEEN WRITTEN TO, THE CONTENTS CANNOT BE EDITED.

Step 1. Inserting a Blank CD

You may open the CD tray by clicking on the Eject symbol found on upper right corner of the menu bar. Insert the blank CD into the drive and close the drive by clicking on the Eject symbol on the menu bar again. (Please note that some computers have slot-loading optical drives). When you insert a blank CD-R(W) disc into the computer and close the drive, the following message may be displayed:

To copy files onto the CD, choose the following settings:

Action: Open Finder

Click on the OK button. The blank CD will be mounted on the desktop and is now ready to accept your files.


Step 2. Copying Files to the Blank CD

1. Open the CD window by double-clicking on the CD-R(W) icon. 2. Double-click on the Documents folder to access the files you have stored there. 3. Drag and drop your files from the Documents folder to your CD-R(W) window

Your files will be duplicated onto the CD-R(W) disc image and will show up in the CD-R(W) window. After you have copied all of your files to the CD-R(W) window, you may complete the process by “burning” the files onto the CD.

Step 3. “Burning” the files onto the blank CD

Click on the OK button. The blank CD will be mounted on the desktop and is now ready to accept your files.

Click on the Burn Disc button in a Finder window to “burn” the files onto your CD- R(W). A new Finder window may be opened by clicking on the Finder icon in the left corner of the Dock. The Burn Disc but-tons are situated in the sidebar next to the CD-R(W) and in the window toolbar.

Note: You may also initiate the burning process by dragging the CD icon to the Trash Can found on the Dock. The Trash Can icon will become a Burn Disc icon.


Step 4. Setting the CD-Write Speed and Completing the Process

A window will appear and ask you to confirm the burning process, select a write speed, and provide a name for the new CD.

Click on the Burn button to write the files to the CD. The process to burn files to a disc may take several minutes, depending on the number and size of your files as well as the speed of the CD-writer on the computer.

You may eject the CD from the computer after it has finished by clicking on the Eject symbol on the upper right corner of the menu bar or by dragging the CD icon from the desktop to the Trash Can.

Note: After a CD has been written to, the contents cannot be edited.



Transferring files to your NEIU account

Many Macintosh computers in the student computing labs do not have an internal floppy disk drive. Files saved on the computer's hard drive will be erased when the computer is shut down and restarted. You must save your files temporarily to the computer's hard drive (either the Desktop or the Documents folder) before you can transfer the files to your NEIU account. If you do not know your NEIU account username and password, please go to http://neiuport.neiu.edu and click on the link Look up your NetID.

Step 1. Launching Fetch

The Macintosh FTP program is called Fetch. It is denoted by the icon to the right and can be found on the Dock located at the bottom of the screen. Click on the icon to launch the program.

After you launch the program, the New Connection window will appear on the screen. Enter the following settings to access your NEIU account:

Host: ftp.neiu.edu Username: (your NEIU account username) Connect using: SFTP Password: (your NEIU account password)

Click on the Connect button.

After you successfully connect to your account, the window will list the files and folders which are in your NEIU account.




Step 2. Transferring files to your NEIU account

Locate the files you have saved on the computer’s hard drive. If you saved them to the desktop, the files are located on the right-hand side of the screen. If you saved them into the Documents folder, click on the Documents icon in the Dock to open the folder.

1. Move the Fetch window to one side of the screen so you may view both the Fetch window and your saved files side-by-side. You may move the Fetch window by clicking and holding down the mouse button on the title bar and dragging the window to a new location.

2. Click on your document file(s) and hold down the mouse button. Drag them into the Fetch win-dow and let go of the mouse button. This will copy your files from the computer to your NEIU ac-count. When the transfer has been completed, the file(s) will appear in the Fetch window.

Step 3. Transferring files from your NEIU account to your computer

After launching Fetch, enter your NEIU username and password and click on the the OK button. This step is discussed in greater detail in Step 1 of this document.

1. Locate your files in your NEIU account. 2. Click on the file, hold down the mouse button, and drag the files to your Documents folder or the

desktop. This will copy your files form your NEIU account to the computer. When the transfer has been completed, the file(s) will appear on the screen. Note: You may select multiple files at once either by “shift-clicking” or “command-clicking” on more than one file.

Please be sure to close the Fetch (ftp) window when you are finished transferring your files to prevent unauthorized access to your NEIU account.



Archiving Files & Folders

Archiving files and folders will create a copy of your information and place it into a single, compressed file. The compressed file takes up less room and is useful for making backup copies of your data or for send-ing information across the Internet.

To create an archive, first locate the files you wish to archive. Select the files / folders either by dragging a selection window around the items or by holding the command key and click on the individual items.

Next, click on one of the selected items and hold down the right mouse button. If you are using a single-button mouse, hold down the Control key while clicking the mouse button. A contextual menu will appear:

Select Create Archive of # items. This will create a new file entitled Archive.zip. Archive.zip contains all of the information of the files you just highlighted. You may copy it to a USB flash drive, to a CD-R or upload this file using FTP.

To uncompress Archive.zip in order to view its contents, simply double-click on Archive.zip. A folder en-titled Archive will appear in the window. Your original files are stored within this folder.


? Troubleshooting Section ?

The following section attempts to provide solutions to common problems and issues that occur when sav-ing files. If you still encounter difficulties, please consult a student lab assistant in the computer facility.

Troubleshooting USB Flash Drive Issues

When I try to eject the USB flash drive, the computer reports the error message: The operation could not be completed because the disk “drive name” is in use. How can I eject my drive?

You must first close the document window (or quit the program you were working in) before you can eject and remove the USB flash drive.

When I connect the USB drive to the keyboard, the computer reports the error message: “USB Low Power Notice.” Why?

The USB port you are using is unable to supply the necessary electrical power to the drive. Remove the USB drive and reconnect it to the computer via a USB port behind the computer or monitor.

I can read files from my USB drive but I cannot write to it. Why? 1. Your flash drive may not have enough empty memory to write a new file. Try deleting some files

from the flash drive. Note: If you move files to the Trash Can, those files still exist on your flash drive. You must empty the Trash Can via the Finder menu to completely remove them.

2. Some flash drives have a “write lock” on them. If your drive has one, you will have to toggle the write lock control on your drive before you are allowed to write to it.

I can use my USB flash drive on a Macintosh computer but not on a PC computer. Why? In order to use a USB flash drive on both PC’s and Macintosh computers, the flash drive must be formatted for the PC. If your USB flash drive is formatted for a Macintosh, it will only work with Mac-intosh computers. Note: Formatting a USB flash drive will erase its contents.

Troubleshooting CD-R(W) Issues

I am having problems copying files to a CD-recordable disk. What might be wrong? • If you encounter errors while trying to write to a CD, please try another blank CD and/or selecting

a slower Burn Speed. • Make certain there is no dust or any scratches on your blank CD-R before writing to it. Always

keep your CD’s and CD-R’s in a protective storage case.

I wrote to my CD-R disc before. Now I cannot add new information or make any changes. Why? CD-R discs are only able to record information once.

I wrote to my CD-Rewritable disc before. Now I cannot add new information or make any changes. Why?


Although CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) discs may be written to more than once, you must erase the disc before writing to it again. Important: This will remove all the information currently on the disc.

I am able to read files on my CD-RW in the computer labs but not at home. Why? Some older CD and DVD drives have difficulty reading CD-RW discs. This is because the laser within the CD drive is not powerful enough to reflect the necessary light from the darker-colored CD-rewritable discs.

Troubleshooting NEIU Account (FTP) Issues

I do not have my NEIU account information. How do I get an account? NEIU accounts for students are automatically created when they enroll and attend classes. If you do not know your NEIU account username and password, please go to http://neiuport.neiu.edu and click on the link Look up your NetID.

I do not have an NEIU student ID. How do I get a student ID? You may get a student ID at the Information Booth (near Beck’s Bookstore on campus).

I am an NEIU student but I am experiencing difficulties looking up my NEIUport username or reset-ting my password via the online form. What can I do?

Please contact the Help Desk department at 773-442-4230. I am a former NEIU student. Can I still access my NEIU account?

NEIU accounts are valid for up to one year after a student’s last enrolled semester. We suggest you download and save any important files from your NEIU account after leaving NEIU.

Troubleshooting File Archive Issues

Can the compressed file be opened on a Windows PC?Yes, it can. On windows, simply double-click on the file to view the contents. You may also right-click on the file and select Extract All... .

I archived a single item. Why isn’t it entitled Archive.zip? When a single item is archived, the compressed file is given the name “original file name.zip”. If mul-tiple items are archived together, the compressed file is given the name “Archive.zip”.

I have a file that was compressed using 7zip (or 7zX). How do I uncompress it?To uncompress a file which was compressed using the 7zip format, you must first install the 7zip (Win) or 7zX (Mac) application on your computer. These programs can be downloaded from the Internet. Convenient links to these download sites are listed at: http://www.neiu.edu/~scs --> Re-sources --> Software Downloads.

How do I open a file that was compressed using a format other than Zip and 7Zip? You may try using the program Stuffit Expander to open files stored in a variety of compressed for-mats. This program can be downloaded at: http://www.neiu.edu/~scs --> Resources --> Software Downloads.






