How to Force iMac to Boot EFI

Shut down your iMac from the Apple menu. If you are trying to reboot into a special mode because your iMac is locked up, shut down the computer by holding the power key for five seconds.
Press the power key briefly while holding down the Option key. This provides a list of available disks with bootable Mac systems. Click on an alternative startup disk to boot your Mac from that drive, such as an optical disc or an external drive.
Repeat Step 1 if this does not produce the desired result.
Hold down 'S' and press the power key to launch into single-user or 'safe' mode. This provides you with a Unix prompt and instructions you can use to repair your boot volumes. These commands perform similar repairs to what can be done within the Disk Utility application, but this process will allow you to repair an iMac that cannot be booted.
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How to Reset PRAM NVRAM on the MacBook Pro

Turn off your MacBook Pro computer.
Prepare to press the 'Command,' 'Option,' 'P' and 'R' keys. You will need to press all four of these keys in unison immediately before your MacBook completes its boot cycle.
Turn on your MacBook Pro.
Press and hold 'Command,' 'Option,' 'P' and 'R.' Your MacBook Pro will reset your PRAM and NVRAM, and will restart.
Continuing holding down the keys until you hear the Mac startup sound.
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How to Remove a MacBook Password

Start up the computer using your OS X install disc. To do this, put the disk in the computer and press the startup key while holding down the “C” key on the keyboard. Keep the “C” key pressed down until the OS X startup screen appears.
Choose the language you wish to boot in and press the arrow button.
Enter the “Password Reset” window. In the “Utilities” menu at the top of the screen, select “Password Reset” or “Reset Password.”
Remove the MacBook password and replace it with a new password. Choose the hard drive volume for which you want to remove the password. Use the pull down menu to select the name of the user whose password you wish to change. Enter the new password twice. Add a password hint if desired. Press “Save” to store the new password.
Close the “Password Reset” window by pressing the red button on the upper left corner of the window. In the “Mac OS X Installer” menu, select “Quit Mac OS X Installer.” Press “Restart” to complete the process.
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How to Disable Verbose Mode Startup on a Mac Mini

Open 'Applications > Utilities > Terminal.' The Terminal application allows the user to give text-based commands directly to the operating system.
Type the command “sudo nvram boot-args=” into the Terminal window and press enter. The command must be exactly as written and should not include the quotation marks.
Quit Terminal and restart the computer to verify that verbose mode startup has been disabled on your Mac Mini.
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How to Troubleshoot a MacBook Boot Problem

Disconnect any external devices and peripherals from the computer. Press the power button. If there is no response, proceed to Step 2.
Locate the small battery meter on the left side of the MacBook where the ports are located. Press the small button to the left of the LEDs. If they do not light up, the issue may be a dead battery. Connect the computer's power supply and press the power button. Proceed to Step 3 if the computer does not boot up.
Disconnect the power cable and wait a minute before reconnecting it. Press the power button. A small LED on the tip of the power cable should light up when connected. If not, remove the plug and check the power port for debris or dust. Gently blow air into the port and into the plug connector and reconnect it.
Hold down the 'Command' key, the 'Ctrl' key and the power button at the same time for three seconds. A chime or tone should emit from the computer before it starts up. If not, proceed to Step 5.
Press the power button and immediately hold down the 'Command/Option' key, the 'P' key and the 'R' key at the same time until you hear at least two instances of the chime or tone.
Disconnect the power cable and turn the laptop over if it still does not turn on. Remove the battery. On early 2009 and older MacBooks, locate the coin-slot locking mechanism and turn it with a coin until the battery pops up. On mid-2009 onward MacBooks, remove all of the backing screws and lift off the back. Locate the battery and use the pull tab to lift the battery out of the compartment.
Hold down the power button for five seconds after the battery is removed. You should hear a long tone that lasts a few seconds. Replace the battery and power supply and press the power button once more.
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How to Make a Windows Boot Disk on a Mac

Launch the Disk Utility program on your Mac computer. Disk Utility is located in the 'Utilities' folder within the 'Applications' section of your Mac hard drive.
Insert the Windows CD that you want to use to create a boot disk.
Highlight the Windows CD from the list of media on the left side of the Disk Utility window.
Click on the 'New Image' button in the top toolbar.
Choose to save the new disk image on your desktop, select 'DVD/CD master' as the image format and press 'Save' to begin copying the contents of the CD to your hard drive. Disk Utility will create a .cdr image file that will act as a replica of the CD.
Close Disk Utility when the image creation process is finished and go back to the Finder.
Open the 'File' menu and select 'New Burn Folder.'
Double-click on the burn folder icon and then drag and drop the .cdr image file from the desktop into the burn folder.
Press the 'Burn' button and insert a blank CD-R into your disc drive. The computer will begin burning the image file onto the CD, and when the process finishes, the CD can be used as a bootable disk in Windows.
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How to Restart a Mac Into a PC Setting (3 Steps)

Press and hold down the 'Option' key. Turn on the Mac. Wait for the 'Volume selection' screen to appear before releasing the 'Option' key. Select the icon of the disk image that has been made from the Windows operating system. Click the 'OK' button to have the Mac boot up as a PC running Windows.
Double-click on the 'System' folder inside the Mac's main hard drive to open a window. Double-click on the 'Library' folder inside the window. Double-click on the 'PreferencesPanes' folder inside the new window that appears. Scroll down to 'StartupDisc.prefPane.' Press down on the 'Option' key while dragging 'StartupDisc.prefPane' to the desktop. Place the 'shortcut' icon of 'StartupDisc.prefPane' that was just made in the lower right corner of the screen. Close the open Finder windows by clicking the red buttons in their upper left corners. Double-click on the 'StartupDisc.prefPane' shortcut icon. The Mac will now reboot as a PC running Windows.
Go to the 'Apple' menu. Select 'System Preferences' from the drop down menu. Select 'Startup Disk' from beneath the 'System' tab in the window that appears. Click on the icon of the disk image that has been made from the Windows operating system from the list of choices presented in a column in a new window. Click on the 'Restart' button beneath and to the right of the disk image's icon. Click on the 'Restart' button on the confirmation window that pops up.
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How to Switch from Mac to Windows at Startup

Turn your Mac off.
Hold down the Alt (Option) key on your Mac keyboard.
Turn on your Mac computer. Select 'Windows' to load Windows on boot-up.
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How to Hook Up a MacBook to a Larger Monitor (5 Steps)

Locate the mini-display port plug on the left side of the laptop, when looking at the keyboard. It's the third input from the right, or the first large plug from the right after the headphone inputs.
Plug the small mini-display port adapter into the plug on the side of the MacBook.
Plug the DVI cable from the Dell monitor into the DVI side of the adapter and tighten the screws.
Turn on the computer and the second monitor and allow it to boot up. Open up the System Preferences pane on the dock and click on the 'Display' icon on the second row, one column to the right. This will pull up the Display pane on both screens.
Choose the resolution that you want for your second monitor by clicking on the appropriate number. Then click on the 'Arrangement' menu option. Use the mouse to click and drag the monitors into the orientation that you want. For example, if you have your MacBook on the left and the second monitor on the right, then drag the second monitor to the right of the other using the mouse. This will allow you to drag your mouse from one side to the other without interrupting the flow. You can also align the two screens vertically so that the mouse tracks correctly.
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How to Delete Reinstall Macbook (3 Steps)

Press the power button to turn on the computer, followed by inserting 'Mac OS X Install' DVD into your DVD-ROM drive. Hold down the 'Option' key until the software loads. Press the blue arrow key to boot the program. Click 'Continue,' and click 'Agree' on the license agreement page. Select which drive you'd like to erase, and click 'Options.'
Click 'Erase and Install,' followed by clicking the 'OK button. Click 'Continue' and then click 'Install.' The installation process can take several minutes and will show a status bar to indicate the completion process. When the installation is complete, click 'Continue' followed by 'Restart.'
Click 'Continue' to begin the Mac OS setup assistant. This program will set up your computer's country, personal information, network and Apple account. Follow the onscreen instructions to register your computer and complete the setup assistant.
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Increasing Virtual Memory on a Mac

Reset your Mac's parameter random access memory (PRAM) and nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM). Press and hold the 'Command,' 'Option' and letters 'P' and 'R' on your Mac keyboard as you start the computer. Listen for the second set of chimes and release.
Free additional disk space on your boot volume. VM on a Mac requires free disk space on your startup disk. If your startup disk is nearly full, your Mac's performance will be degraded. Delete files you no longer need. Movies take up a lot of drive space, which makes them good candidates to delete.
Consider installing a larger hard drive in your Mac. If you cannot find enough files to delete on your boot drive, it may be time for a larger drive. It is best to consult with an expert or Apple Genius for this delicate process.
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