Using iDrive But Stop iDriveMonitor Autostarting

I like iDrive. It quietly keeps my selected folders backed up. But this isn’t a review of iDrive, it’s instructions for how to use iDrive but stop the iDriveMonitor application from forcing itself to the front of the startup queue when you login.

It took me a while to get to the bottom of the problem after I started delaying application launch to ease memory use on startup.

I knew I needed iDriveMonitor to start at login, but I didn’t want it to start first because it seems to bog down os x when started along with multiple other apps.

But if I removed it from the login items and manually started it, it automatically added itself back to my Login Items. There is no option to stop it doing this built into iDrive. How annoying.

Continue reading “Using iDrive But Stop iDriveMonitor Autostarting”

Delay Login Items and Applications for OS X 10.4 Including iDrive

Once you have had your mac for a while you are likely to have found dozens of applications that you love, and multiple items that you want to start when you log in.

So you add them all to your login-items and you’re done right? Wrong.

If you simply add them all to your login items then when you log in, they all try to start at once and it all ends in a massive delay before you can use any of them or even any of your other applications. It isn’t unheard of to see the rainbow spinner of death on some machines.

My solution was to create my own simple applescript that starts all the things I want, in the order I want and with delays between then to keep my mac in a usable state.

Continue reading “Delay Login Items and Applications for OS X 10.4 Including iDrive”

Play Any System Sound Through Airtunes Speakers

Airtunes speakers and iTunes are best friends and they don’t want to let anyone else play with them.

Well tough because now Airfoil is playing the good parent and making Airtunes play nice with everyone else too.

Install Airfoil on Mac OS X or Windows XP / Vista and you can select any application to grab the sound from and send it to your Airtunes speakers.

Continue reading “Play Any System Sound Through Airtunes Speakers”