Tag: mac

Equivalent of bash / shell aliases for Windows command line

Relief comes from an unexpected quarter if you pine for your unix command line shell aliases and other such:

doskey ls=dir $*

is what you want. you can put it in an autorun setting in your registry by pasting this into notepad and saving it as something.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
"AutoRun"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Commands\\CmdAutoRun.cmd\""

If you prefer to do it by hand rather than by double clicking a .reg file, you don't need the extra quotes and escapes (but keep the outermost quotes):

"C:\Program Files\Commands\CmdAutoRun.cmd"

Note you use $* instead of %*. You can otherwise use $1-$9. Further escape codes are on the technet DosKey page

BootCamp Drivers direct download for Windows 7 and 8

Updated April 2014

Apple have at long last provided not only direct download links for Windows drivers, but also tables of which link you need for each model/year. If you can work out which model of apple you have, you can now get the direct download link from the apple site.

How to find the correct BootCamp direct download link for your Mac model

  • Go to this page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634
  • About half way down the page, find the heading "Boot Camp requirements by Mac model"
  • Under that, find the heading for your Mac model. There are headings for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook, iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro.
  • Each heading hides a table by model & year vs. windows version. There are direct download links for Windows 8 and Windows 7, for 32-bit and 64-bit.
  • Choose your download. Done.

How do I work out which Mac model I have?

  • The same page has instructions. With pictures!

I downloaded. Now what?

  • Each download link includes instructions

But I'm in Windows already, and I can't open this .pkg file download Apple has just given me

Then you want this page: www.cafe-encounter.net/p860/opening-a-bootcamp-driver-download-on-windows-7-or-8-with-7-zip

Only 64-bit drivers are listed but I want 32-bit drivers. Or vice versa

You're stepping into the realm of the unsupported, so you're at your own risk here. What you can try is: get the download you think you want; open it with 7-zip; Now instead of running the installer, open the Folder that contains the individual driver installers. Run each of those. If it doesn't work, you can uninstall from the Windows Control Panel and try again with the drivers Apple said you should use.

My model isn't listed on that Apple page

Ah. Thats sad. You may be looking for the impossible. Your last hope is probably to try this page on older Mac models http://www.cafe-encounter.net/p682/download-bootcamp-drivers For models older than that, you're in the era before BootCamp downloads, and you probably need an OS X Leopard or earlier install CD.

Apple Official Windows 8 Drivers – BootCamp 5

Apple has at long last published official Windows 8 support - but only for 64 bit Windows and only if you are running OS X 10.8.3. A tad irritating if, as on my machine, Windows 8 installed itself as 32 bit and not 64 bit.

The small print is at Boot Camp 5: Frequently asked questions

Best Download Manager for OS X?

I've use two of the download managers currently on the market for OS X and they are both a lifesaver if you have a poor connection and want to download large files. Not only are they faster than a browser — they open multiple connections to the server which browser don't* — but they resume incomplete downloads so they cope much much better with poor and failing connections.
They are ... how can I put this ... very similar. You could think they were different skins of the same product. iGetter shows the fact that it's 10 years old (which is about how long it's been saving my bacon), Folx looks more modern. They have different approaches to nagging non-purchasers: Folx distinguishes their free/pro versions, and requires a key-press to start a download. iGetter makes you wait for an increasing time when you launch the program.

They're both downloadable for free trial or purchase.

iGetter from Presenta Software £18.27
Folx from Eltima Software £13.95
Folx family pack £27.95

* Because major browsers respect the internet standard which says client applications should not open more than 2 connections to a server.