Today we do Mac tips.

"My partner and I both have G4 Macs. When he puts his to sleep the fan stops, but when I put mine to sleep the fan stays on. Any idea why they would be different?"

If you configured your Mac with the optional ATI Rage 128 PCI card, the Mac's fan will stay on even when you've put the Mac to sleep. The reason for this is that the ATI card is incapable of entering a state termed "low-power mode." If the sound of this fan is driving you crazy, your only option is to shut the Mac down rather than put it to sleep.

Next Question.

"In the old days we used to be able to transfer files between Macs using modems and a program called ZTerm. While this probably still works, I was wondering if there is a faster way that would be more practical for today's large file sizes that doesn't involve setting up a network?"

First, the old trick of using two modems does still work. Second, setting up a network with two Macs is really easy. All you need is an Ethernet crossover cable (this has different wiring from a standard Ethernet cable). Plug it between the two Macs, turn on Apple Talk and File Sharing, and away you go. For any volume you want to share with the other computer just highlight it and go to the sharing menu under File. If you want to add a third Mac, or some other device (printer?) you can get an Ethernet hub for $25 to $30. This will allow you to easily connect several devices together on a network.

However, if a crossover cable or network is not handy there is another way to transfer files quickly between two modern Macs. If they both have FireWire ports you can use a FireWire cable to transfer files using a mode called FireWire Target Mode (also generically called Target Disk Mode). Set up for this is easy. Turn off the target Mac and connect it to the host Mac with a 6-pin-to-6-pin FireWire cable. Hold down the T key while starting up the target Mac -- this puts the Mac into Target mode. When the FireWire icon appears on the target Mac, let go of the T key. You should now see the target Mac's drive icon on the host Mac's desktop. You are now ready to transfer files. To get out of Target Mode, simply drag the target Mac's hard drive icon to the host Mac's Trash and press the target Mac's Power key. In Target Mode you can boot from the target Mac's drive as well as copy files from the target disk to the host.