 The dog. Is. Driving. Me. Crazy.
The Pavlov experiment was a failure. He’ll come get the treat when the DINK goes off, but then frantically wants outside, upstairs, anywhere to escape. Not getting anything done under the best of circumstances, to have him whimpering constantly after an innocuous computer noise is the last straw!
Finally: I think I’ve managed to turn off the Mac System Alerts (which I truly hope also mutes the loud, jolting startup sound from the internal speakers that the sleeping wife does not appreciate.)
In the event that it helps somebody else make a quicker end to these acoustic intrusions, go to Apple Icon, System Preference, Sound, Sound Effects.
Another small step in the right direction: created a Saved Search that lets me do a better job of finding images with terms included in the names and of a size greater than x megabytes. Took a while to figure out how to customize a search, get it to Favorites in sidebar and THEN show the search criteria fields. Sheesh!
As I was pouring the last of the coffee this morning, it occurred to me that this transition has been so very much like a move to a new house. The kitchen where I would prepare my meal is full of boxes. I’m familiar with stove, sink, refrigerator but the controls are differently shaped and twist rather than pull.
The boxes contain things I know in some way, but instead of “Kitchen Utensils” the box is marked “Culinary Management Applications”. And everything is in metric Hungarian. Translation is possible. But terrifyingly slow.
My fingers are blue. Oh yeah. I never started a fire in the woodstove this morning. I gotta go.
I sure hope the sound adjustment helps your boy.
I’m inclined to think the sounds are hurting his ears. If he was reacting from a past bad experience connected to the sounds, you’d know about that since you’ve had him from a baby. So I don’t think it’s a conditioned response, but a response to a sharp pain in his ears, caused by the sounds.
Hope both wife and dog rest better from now on.
I’m fairly sure that disabling the system sounds will not disable the startup chime.
it’s tied to the system volume. if you mute it before you shut down, you won’t hear it when you restart.
Have not tried it myself, but this little program claims to be able to disable it without needing to remember to mute before shutting down:
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/index.en.html
Fred, go with Jeremiah’s link or this one. It works great for that annoying start up. I’ve used it for months and months.
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/StartupSound/BETA/index.en.html
Sometime down the road, after you get used to the Mac, I’d like to hear whether you think it was worth it. Mac users insist we PC users are crazy not to switch, but they usually had a reason for being Mac people in the first place (they learned on a Mac from the start or had to use one at work or school). No one has yet convinced me that going through the hassle and expense would be worth it for me, for the things I do on a computer, which apparently are similar to how you use yours: photo editing with Photoshop, web site work with Dreamweaver, print design with Pagemaker; Word, Outlook, Excel, etc.
But sooner or later, do doubt sooner, I’ll have to replace all this hardware and software, so I’m hoping you’ll provide an objective assessment of making the switch — from one lifelong PC user who’s over 50 to another.
i don’t think i’ll ever be making the switch as my IT husband detests macs….. and he’s in charge of all the electronic purchases around here.
i do hope you find the solutions you need…