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Ask TUAW: Protecting files, Remoteless Front Row, Boot problems, and more

Mat Lu
Updated ·4 min read

In this final Ask TUAW of the year we'll tackle questions on password protecting files, starting Front Row without a remote, booting problems with a Time Machine drive, configuring the OS X firewall, updating an offline Mac and more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. And now to the questions!

Bob asks

Is there an app or a simple way of password protecting a folder? I just want my computer to ask for a password before opening up a folder.

As another reader pointed out the best way to do this is probably by creating an encrypted disk image with the Disk Utility. When you choose New Image make sure you select encryption. It will ask you for a password and then require that password to mount the image.

There are some other utilities like HideAway and Secret Folder that provide a very weak level of security just by hiding a folder by renaming it. Needless to say this is extremely weak security and may not work in Leopard.


Davsot asks

How do you open front row in tiger? I don't have the remote....

You should be able to open Front Row by hitting the key combo: ⌘ + ESC. Of course you can also purchase a remote from Apple Store for $29. There are also third party remotes like those from Griffin and Keyspan.


Dave asks

I have a problem with Time Machine. I have a macbook and I recently bought a usb powered hard drive that I Velcro'd to the back of my monitor to allow me to do Time Machine on the go (its ghetto I know, but it works). The problem that I am having is that whenever I start my macbook, it tries to boot off of the Time Machine drive. Is there anyway to prevent the computer from booting from external drives, or do I have to continue unplugging the drive for a split second as the computer turns on.

Frankly that's strange as the MacBook should default to the internal drive. It's particularly strange in that the Time Machine drive should not be bootable. I would suggest first resetting your PRAM as described in this Apple Support Document because the startup disk settings are stored in PRAM.

If that doesn't work, you can control which drive the computer boots from by holding down the OPTION ( ⌥) key while the computer is booting. This will then give you a menu of all the bootable drives connected to the computer and allow you to choose the one you desire. The process is described in this Apple Support Document.


E asks

What would you recommend for a good IP blocking program? I've read up on some good ones for Windows and Linux bases systems, but can't come up with one for Mac.

Actually OS X has a rather advanced stateful packet inspection firewall built in; unfortunately, however, that power is not really exposed in the System Preferences. WaterRoof will give you access to a lot of settings otherwise available only from the command line. Little Snitch ($24.95) from Objective Development gives you fine-tuned control on a per application basis, which also might be worth a lood.


christapher asks

how do i move movies and other files to my ps3?! its been out for over a year now and there is still no real solution for us mac users...

Are you sure you want to actually move them? We've covered a solution for streaming media from a Mac to a PS3. NullRiver has also apparently promised a PS3 analogue to Connect360 is coming soon. For actually moving the files I think your best bet is probably an external USB hard drive or flash drive.


Tomahawk asks

How do I go about updating a Mac that I doesn't have an internet connection (just go with me here, and please don't suggest that I connect it to the internet, I can't)? Is there a way that I can download the updates and then burn them to CD/DVD which I then can load onto this standalone to get it updated? What is the best way of being notified of updates, other then reading TUAW?

Apple makes Mac OS X updates available as standalone downloads. There's even a RSS feed for the category. Other updates (e.g. security, etc.) are also available in the Apple category. So just keep track of the RSS feed then download the update to a flash drive or external hard drive, copy them to the offline Mac and install them.