Normally, configuring a Mac to
start up into a user account
without using a password is a
seriously bad idea. Apart from a
complete lack of security, it also
means that every user of that Mac
would have access to the same
account, none could do anything
in privacy, and key features like
iCloud wouldn’t be possible. It’s
often simpler to set each Mac up
with a simple password which
users can type in from a note
placed on that Mac. However, if
physical access to the Macs is
strictly controlled and users are in
full agreement, it should be
possible, at least on a Mac without
a T2 chip, like the 2019 iMac.
Ensure that the startup disk
doesn’t use FileVault encryption,
and that the account to be used
doesn’t use iCloud to log in or for
its keychain. Open the Users &
Groups pane, and select Login
Options for the user account. Click
on the padlock and authenticate,
then enable the Automatic login
item in the pop-up at the top,
ensuring that no password is set
for that user.
You’ll also need to open System
Prefs > Security & Privacy, and in
the General tab ensure that none
of its upper checkboxes are ticked,
as they would prompt for a
password to wake that Mac up or
clear its screen saver. If the
firmware in these new iMacs still
doesn’t oblige, you’ll have to
revert to using a short and simple
password instead.
Howard Oakley
APPLICATIONS
Appsdon’tlaunch
I have recently had problems with
certain apps not working correctly
on my laptop. First, Adobe Reader
stopped opening – it would
appear to start, but then after the
spinning icon appeared nothing
happened. I tried uninstalling and
reinstalling, but no luck. I’ve
switched to Wondershare PDF
Element, which does work
without problems. Now Garmin
Express refuses to open too, again
after removing and reinstalling. I
checked with Avast Cleanup
Premium to see if there may be
issues – it flagged up 43 broken
shortcuts, which I allowed it to
fix, but the problem persists.
Allan BurdisThe blame almost certainly lies
with Avast Cleanup Premium. I
never recommend
cleanup tools, because
sooner or later they end
up introducing problems
precisely like those
you’ve encountered.
Their value is
questionable – they
rarely speed things up,
and tools like Windows’
own Storage Sense do a
perfectly good job of
keeping the clutter off
your system.
In this case, we suspect the
problem is linked to Avast
Cleanup’s ‘Background & startup
programs’ component. Navigate
here via the ‘Speed up’ icon, then
scroll down and click the green ‘#
programs sleeping’ link to expand
the section.
If we’re correct, you’ll find both
Adobe Reader and Garmin
Express are listed here – clickingWake next to each one should
restore them to life.
Nick PeersHARDWARE
Unstableupgrade
I recently upgraded my graphics
card to allow me to use a new 4K
monitor, but now the PC keeps
rebooting every few minutes after
fitting it. If I revert to the old card,
everything’s fine. What’s
going on?
Paul FrenchPaul confessed that he’d
simply swapped out his
old AMD card for a newer
Nvidia card without first
uninstalling the older
card. On closer
inspection, the crash
revealed the error was
being traced to the
‘Catalyst Control Centre’,
which is the AMD
graphics driver software. On
uninstalling this from his PC, the
problem ceased and he was able to
enjoy the full resolution of his new
display. It’s important to uninstall
your old hardware completely:
uninstall it in Windows, then shut
down your computer. Swap old the
old component for new, then
restart your PC – Windows should
detect the new card and install the
latest Microsoft-certified driver.
Once done, you can thenAvast Cleanup
can make
programs
apparently
vanish.I never recommend
cleanup tools, because
sooner or later they end
up introducing problems
precisely like those
you’ve encountered.