Apple 145 manual Setting Up Your Programs

Chapter 6

Setting Up Your Programs

In this chapter

mInstalling or updating system software

mInstalling your programs

mWorking with several programs at a time

mUsing the Scrapbook

mUsing a RAM disk

Installing or updating system software

System software is the set of programs and other files that your computer uses to start itself up, keep track of your files, and run the application programs you use. When you turn on your computer, it looks for a disk that contains the system software, which is always in a folder called the System Folder. Any disk that contains a System Folder with system software inside it is a startup disk. The startup disk is usually the hard disk that’s inside your computer, though another hard disk or a floppy disk can also be a startup disk.

If your Macintosh cannot find a startup disk, it displays this icon in the middle of the screen:

If you see this icon, you need to install system software on your computer’s internal hard disk or you need to attach it to an external hard disk that contains the system software.

vIf your hard disk already has system software on it and you see this icon: Your hard disk or system software may be damaged, and you may need to reinstall the system software. See the section on testing and repairing disks in the chapter on disks. v

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