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Apple Start-Up Key Combinations |
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Written by Peter A. Haigh
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From time to time even a Mac needs a little troubleshooting. When the computer fails to start normally, there are several keyboard combinations that can help by starting the computer in special modes. Here is a brief run-down of the more commonly-used combinations. If you do not know what these start-up options do, DON'T USE THEM! You can SERIOUSLY further the downward-spiral of your computer!!! | Description | Key Combination | | Bypass startup drive and boot from external (or CD) | CMD-OPT-SHIFT-DELETE | | Boot from CD (Most late model Apples) | C | | Force the internal hard drive to be the boot drive | D | | Boot from a specific SCSI ID #.(#=SCSI ID number) | CMD-OPT-SHIFT-DELETE-# | | Zap PRAM | CMD-OPT-P-R | | Boot into open Firmware | CMD-OPT-O-F | | Clear NV RAM. Similar to reset-all in open Firmware | CMD-OPT-N-V | | Disable Extensions | SHIFT | | Rebuild Desktop | CMD-OPT | | Close finder windows.(hold just before finder starts) | OPT | | Boot with Virtual Memory off | CMD | | Trigger extension manager at boot-up | SPACE | | Force Quadra av machines to use TV as a monitor | CMD-OPT-T-V | | Boot from ROM (Mac Classic only) | CMD-OPT-X-O | | Force PowerBooks to reset the screen | R | | Force an AV monitor to be recognized as one | CMD-OPT-A-V | | Eject Boot Floppy | Hold Down Mouse Button | | Select volume to start from | OPT | | Start in Firewire target drive mode | T | | Startup in OSX if OS9 and OXS in boot partition | X or CMD-X | | Attempt to boot from network server (Hold until Mac Logo appears) | N | | Hold down until the 2nd chime, will boot into 9? | CMD-OPT | | OSX: Watch the status of the system load | CMD-V | | OSX: Enter single-user mode (shell-level mode) | CMD-S |
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