dscacheutil -flushcache

1. Launch Terminal and type the following command: sudo nano /etc/hostconfig
2. Find the following entry in the hostconfig file: SPOTLIGHT=-NO-
3. Change SPOTLIGHT=-NO- to SPOTLIGHT=-YES-
4. Save /etc/hostconfig by hitting Control-O and the return key. Next hit Control-X to exit the nano editor.
6. Disable the Spotlight index by typing the following in the Terminal: sudo mdutil -i on /
7. When you reboot, Spotlight will be enabled again.

If you would like to disable the Mac OS X Spotlight feature, follow our guide on How To Completely Disable Mac OS X Spotlight.

To do this, follow these simple steps.

Note that some other Mac OS X features and programs are based on Spotlight’s search abilities, therefore some applications could behave abnormally if you disable Spotlight, particularly in search functions.

Important: These instructions were created based on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. They may work on previous or future versions of OS X but they may not.

1. Launch Terminal and type the following command: sudo nano /etc/hostconfig
2. Find the following entry in the hostconfig file: SPOTLIGHT=-YES-
3. Change SPOTLIGHT=-YES- to SPOTLIGHT=-NO-
4. Save /etc/hostconfig by hitting Control-O and the return key. Next hit Control-X to exit the nano editor.
5. Disable the Spotlight index by typing the following in the Terminal:
   sudo mdutil -i off /
6. To erase the current Spotlight index, type: sudo mdutil -E /
7. When you reboot, Spotlight will be completely disabled.

If you find a need for Spotlight later, follow our guide on How To Re-enable Mac OS X Spotlight.

This is a fairly common practice but if you’ve never done it on Mac OS X, then you probably need a hint as to how to do this.

The Hard Way

Step 1: Open up a Terminal windows (this is in your Applications/Utilites folder by default)

Step 2: Enter the following command to open the local host file. (Note: The sudo command requires an admin password to allow you to open this file as root.)

$ sudo vi /etc/hosts

Step 3: Now you can edit the host file. To add a new host entry, on it’s own line enter it in the format:

IP Address Host
0.0.0.0 example.domain.com

Step 4: Save the changes to your host file by pressing SHIFT + Z twice in vi.

As soon as you save this file the changes you made will take effect. To check the changes, you can ping the host you entered to see if it returns the correct address or just go to that host in a browser and see if your development environment opens instead of the production.

Step 1: Open up a Terminal windows (this is in your Applications/Utilites folder by default)

Step 2: Enter the follow command:

$ sudo vi /etc/paths

This will open the paths file in vi (a simple command line file editor included on your system).

Step 3: Edit the contents of your PATH file by putting each path you want included on a separate line.

Step 4: Save the contents of your PATH file by pressing SHIFT + Z twice.

That’s it! Now you know how to edit the PATH on your Mac OS X computer system.

But as Apple continues it’s rise in popularity, you can feel safe in making the switch to an Apple computer now because there really is nothing it can’t do. With the addition of Apple Boot Camp software, which now comes with the Leopard version of Mac OS X, you can easily setup Windows XP or even Vista as a dual boot system.

There are a few tips that I can give you to make this process go smoothly because even though it is easy to get everything setup, there are a couple of things in the setup guide that I didn’t bother to read first that caused problems.

The first step is to run the Boot Camp Assistant application. You can find this by going to Applications -> Utilities. Run through the steps in this wizard and create the partition for your Windows installation. When you finish, it will ask you to put your Windows installation disk in.  You will need to make sure you have a full installation disk, not an upgrade disk.  Also, if you are installing Windows XP then it has to be a SP2 install disk.

Put in the installation disk and restart. This will allow it to boot to the installation disk and start the Windows installation process. Go through the installation wizard to the partition selection page. At this page, select the Windows partition you created with the Boot Camp Assistant. On the format options, make sure you select the Full format FAT32 option. You cannot use the Quick format option or it will cause problems with finishing the installation.

After the Windows installation has finished copying the installation files to the hard drive and restarts, make sure you hold down the Option button so it gives you the option to boot into the Windows partition. If you do not do this, you’ll never complete the installation because it will just keep booting to the Mac OS partition.

Once you’ve completed the Windows installation, you’ll need to run the setup.exe program from the Leopard installation disk to let it finish setting up and installing the drivers to make all of the hardware function correctly in windows.

One last optional step to improve the access to your Windows OS is to buy and install Parallel’s Desktop 3.0 for Mac. This will give you the ability to run both operating systems at the same time as well as mirror and share files between the two operating system.