Unless you assign a different app to open
the document using the Finder’s Get Info
dialog, opening that document in the
Finder will do so using the default app set
for that type of document. That should
normally be the most recent version of
that app on your Mac.
However, if you have more than one
version of that app available, and the
Finder can tell them apart, the “Open
with” item in Get Info should give you a
choice between those different versions,
normally with their version numbers.
When your Mac uses the wrong
version of an app, the solution is to hide
that version by Zipping it up, or
saving it on a disk image and
ejecting that. You should then
discover which is the next
version in line to be used as
the default.
Forcing a change is more
complex, as the tool required is
lsregister, which is buried deep
inside the LaunchServices
framework and has to be run
from the command line. That’s also the
tool to use if you want to delete the
database which stores these associations
and start again, using the Terminalcommand: lsregister -delete.
If you do want to try that, be aware
that sometimes it makes things worse
rather than better.
Using the right version of an app
How can I control which version of an app opens a particular document?
Select the right version of the app in the Open
with section of Finder’s Get Info dialog.
Runaway process in Activity Monitor
My MacBook Pro 12–inch has occasionally run its fans full blast. When I checked in Activity
Monitor, distnoted was using almost 100% of CPU. Why is that, and how do I prevent it?
DOES FORCE
QUITTING AN APP
CAUSE PROBLEMS?
If that’s the only way
to get rid of a frozen
app, use it. If the app
is writing to a file,
changes may be
incomplete and leave
damage. In most cases
those should be
rectified when you
open the app again.HOW ARE THERE
TWO FILES NAMED
NEW IN ONE
FOLDER?
This happens when
you disable display of
extensions in Finder’s
preferences. The files
New.pdf, New, and
New.text have distinct
names, so co–exist in
the same folder. Hide
extensions, and each
shows the same name
with different icons.distnoted is a well–known culprit for doing this,
and is part of macOS, not malicious. If it runs
away like this, you should just restart your Mac
when you can.
If this happens repeatedly, install any
outstanding macOS updates, then start it up in
Safe mode by holding Shift throughout startup.
Leave it a minute to rebuild its caches, then
restart in normal mode.
If this is triggered by a specific app, it’s hard
to trace. It can occur when there are incorrect
permissions set in your Home folder. Fixing that
is more daunting, and requires Recovery mode.
Details are at bit.ly/mac354rprprm.Image rights: Apple.
Identify the culprit in Activity Monitor by
sorting its list by % CPU. Here, four copies
of distnoted are behaving themselves.Persistent problems may
need you to follow Apple’s
procedure to reset
permissions, which is
done in Recovery mode.Tech Support & Techsplanations
maclife.com SEP 2020 69