Mac Boot Key Combos: These keys, when pressed at startup, give the desired effect.

• C--Forces certain Macs (Power Macs and the Macintosh 630 family) to startup from the CD-Rom drive instead of the internal hard drive.
• Command-Option-I–Forces the Mac to read the disc as an ISO-9000 formatted disk
• Command-Option-Shift-Delete--Forces your Mac to startup from its internal CD-ROM drive or an external hard drive.
• Command-Option-Shift-Delete-#--Forces your Mac to startup from a specific SCSI ID # (#=SCSI ID number).
• Command-Option-P-R--Erases parameter RAM if held down immediately after startup tone.
• Shift--Disables all extensions.
• Command-Option--Rebuilds the Desktop.
• Option--Starts without Finder windows open.
• Command--Boots with Virtual Memory turned off.
• Space--Causes Apple's Extension Manager (or Conflict Catcher) to appear during startup to allow you to change your extensions.
• Command-Option-T-V--Forces Quadra AV machines to use TV as a monitor.
• Command-Option-X-O--Forces the Mac Classic to boot from ROM.
• R--Forces PowerBooks to reset their screen.
• Command-Option-A-V--Forces an AV monitor to be recognized correctly.
• Mouse Button--Ejects a floppy disk at startup.

After startup Combos:

• Power--Brings up Shutdown/Sleep/Restart dialogue box.
• Command-Control-Power--Forces a Power Mac to reboot.
• Command-Control-Option-Power--Forces a Mac to quit all applications and shut down.
• Command-Option-Escape--Forces the front most application to quit.
• Command-Power--Drops a Mac into debugger mode (if MacsBug is installed).
• Command-Option-Power--Puts late model Power Macs and PowerBooks to sleep.
• Command-Y--Ejects a floppy or CD without leaving a disk image behind.
• Command-Shift-3--Takes a picture of the desktop.
• Command-Shift-4--Takes a picture of a specific area of the desktop (7.6 or later).

Application Specific Keys:

Conflict Catcher:

• P-Pauses the loading of extensions.
• Space or Caps Lock--Launches Conflict Catcher during startup.
• Command-Period--Skips the remaining extensions that haven't been loaded.
• Command-R--Forces the Mac to Restart while extensions are loading.
• Command-S--Forces the Mac to Shutdown while extensions are loading.

RAM Doubler:

• ~(Tilde) or Escape--Disables RAM Doubler at Startup.

Apple System Installer:

• Command-Shift-K--Offers a clean install option during System Software installation (System 7.5 and earlier).

Claris Emailer:

• Command at launch--Bypasses specified startup connections.
• Option at launch--Brings up rebuild options.

Back to Utils

E-mail comments to Lon Jarvis jarvislb@jmu.edu

Last updated 6/1/01