How to Clean Up Your MacBook System

Launch your disk inventory utility (Disk Inventory X, GrandPerspective or WhatSize -- all are freeware or shareware) to see a visualization of the files taking up space on your computer. Every bit of information on your drive is color-coded in this visualization. For instance, if you have a large music collection on your hard drive, these files will be indicated by large blocks of a solid color. Examining what takes up the most space on your drive can help you locate misplaced or unwanted files and determine what files can be moved to an external drive.
Connect a USB or Firewire external hard drive to your computer. Locate document and media files that you do not frequently use on the computer. Photos, music and videos are ideal candidates to store on an external hard drive. These files can be accessed anytime the drive is connected. Do not copy system or program files. For example, computer games may take up a large amount of space on your hard drive, but these files would need to be physically installed on the drive. Even then, running the game from the external drive would significantly decrease performance speeds.
Organize your system folders, primarily the Downloads and Documents folders. Click the asterisk button in the Finder window to create new subfolders and assign easily remembered titles to them. Drag and drop files into these new folders instead of storing a mixed bag of media in your Downloads folder. Many files downloaded from the Internet are automatically copied from the browser to your Downloads folder, however, so you may have a picture or an email attachment that was stored on your drive even though you only viewed it the first time you opened it. By default, the Mac operating system keeps your important system files together in a separate folder away from your personal and regularly accessed media. Do not try to copy and relocate system files.
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How to get Apple Computers for Teachers

Go to Apple's website for information on the educational discount. You'll see details for both institutions and individuals at the K-college level. (See Resource)
Purchase your items directly from the online site. You can also buy your computer at an Apple store or an authorized campus store.
Arrange for financing from the online site or store you visit. It takes just a minute to determine whether you can set up an account plan. Click on the financing section or call Apple for information.
Buy Apple's recommended package, 'Educator Toolkit.' This includes Apple's notebook computer, the 'MacBook,' a software package, 'I Work' and a year's subscription to .Mac, which provides storage plus an email program.
Join the 'Educator Advantage Team' to stay informed about special offers. You'll also get valuable tips on using your computer and software.
Join the 'Apple Learning Interchange' to see curriculum and lesson plans. This is a good opportunity to network with other educators.
Get free shipping if you order more than $50. Check the Apple website for further details.
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How to Test an Airport Card (4 Steps)

Close all your open programs. Go to the Apple menu and select the apple in the upper left-hand corner. Click on 'About This Mac,' which is the first link in the drop-down menu.
Wait for the dialog box to open. Select 'More Info.' This takes you to your System Profiler.
Scan the left-hand side of the System Profile menu for the 'Hardware' button, then click it. Select 'Airport Card' under 'Hardware.' If information about the card shows up in the right side of the System Profile menu, your computer recognizes the card.
Take the laptop to a place with free wireless Internet service that does not require a password, such as a hotel lobby or coffee shop. Open your web browser. Since the network requires no password, the airport card should immediately open your web page with no issues. If you get an error screen, the airport card isn't working.
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How to Clean Up a Mac OS X Hard Drive

Back up your hard drive. This helps protect your personal files if you accidentally delete a file while cleaning up the Mac OS X hard drive. Use a portable hard drive or flash disk, blank CDs or DVDs or an online backup service.
Empty your Mac OS X trash bin. When you delete an item on a Mac, it is placed in the 'Trash' in your Mac OS X dock. However, it still takes up hard drive space until you clean out the Mac hard drive by emptying the trash. Click 'Finder' in the top menu bar and select 'Empty Trash' from the drop-down menu.
Archive files that you do not regularly use. This consolidates multiple files and folders into a single file and also compresses the data size so that it takes up less room on your Mac OS X hard drive. Drag any documents, pictures or folders into a single folder. Right-click on the folder and select 'Archive' from the pop-up menu. Mac OS X will compress each individual file into a single file. Optionally, drag this archived file onto a backup volume (such as a blank CD) and delete the original off of your Mac OS X hard drive.
Run a 'cron' cleanup software program to delete unused system files and logs that may be taking up space on your Mac OS X hard drive. Examples include Monolingual and Cocktail. Both programs run automated scripts that quickly scan and erase unused system folders.
Uninstall unused applications. Over the course of time, you may have cluttered your Mac OS X hard drive with various software installations. Click 'Applications' in your dock and drag any unused programs to the trash bin. Empty the trash.
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