If your favorite application keeps crashing, fails to load, or freezes your Mac, the problem could be within your plist files.

Property list (plist) files store specific application settings and preferences, and are usually found in either the Library/Preferences directory in the root directory of your hard drive, or in the Library/Preferences directory in your user folder.

Plist files are listed according their host application: for example, TextEdit’s plist file is named com.apple.TextEdit.plist (The beginning part of the name, “com.apple,” indicates the vendor that created the application, insuring that no two plist files will have the exact same name.)

If you have a problematic application, you may have a corrupt plist file. Here’s what you can do.

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Many people wonder how they can “reuse” a regular blank CD, so they can burn data to it multiple times. This is typically called session burning. You can purchase dedicated applications such as Toast to do this, but you can also use Disk Utility, which comes standard as part of the Mac OS.

Even though the cost of blank disks have dropped to well under twenty-five cents apiece, it makes no sense to burn a small file onto a blank disk, and leaving the rest of it empty. In the case of burning backups, it’s more efficient to burn multiple backups to one disk as opposed to burning a new disk each time. With the Mac’s Disk Utility we can burn Multisessions to a single disk. The Multisession feature only applies to CDs; you can not create a Multisession DVD. It takes a little planning to make this work, but it will certainly help cut down on the number of CDs you use.

First create a new folder on your desktop (Command-Shift-N) and give it a descriptive name. Now put the files you want to burn into that folder. Go to your Applications folder and open the Utilities folder. Double-click on the Disk Utility application.

You can also use Spotlight to quickly open applications without having to navigate through a whole mess of folders. Click on the Spotlight icon (or press Command-space bar), then start to type Disk Utility. When you see it appear in the list, click on it, or hit <Return> in Leopard 10.5

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Emptying the trash is one of those tasks nobody likes to do. It stinks! It drips juices onto the floor and your foot. And, you have to make a trip outside into the heat or cold. Fortunately, emptying the trash on your Mac isn’t so arduous.

There are several ways to deal with trash and the trash can. Firstly, to see what’s in the trash, just click the trash can icon in the dock. A finder window opens, showing you the trash’s contents. If you want to get something OUT of the trash, simply drag it out of the window, and onto the desktop or another window. Now, to send something to the trash, you simply drag and drop it onto the trash icon in the dock. But, there’s a quicker way! Any item(s) that you have selected in the finder can be sent directly to the trash by using the Command-Delete key combination (the Command key is the one with the Apple on it on Mac keyboards). Poof! It vanishes from your desktop and goes straight to the trash, without you having to drag it there.

When you are ready to empty the trash, Control-click (or right-click) on the Trash icon in the Dock. Select “Empty Trash” from the contextual menu that pops up. Everything that’s in the trash will be deleted without confirmation.

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There are times when you may want (or need) to start up your Mac in a different manner than usual, or perform certain tasks during startup.

To boot from a DVD, for instance, hold down the C key during startup. Or to put your computer into Firewire Target Disk mode, hold down the T key. Some other key combinations are especially useful during maintenance or troubleshooting.

A short list of keyboard combinations used for various tasks during startup is shown below. Click on the links within the table for more information.

These keys should be pressed right after you hear the startup tone, and held down until you get the expected response.