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General discussion

There's a real problem I'm having with my Mac...

Mar 16, 2008 7:31AM PDT

Its a small problem, but annoying, and one day its gonna bite me right in the ****.

Basically, it's a ****** to explain. But, I can only explain it as, my Mac is forgetting an item that I just copied, and when I go to paste, it's pasting the item I copied before that.

For instance, if I copy the text 'macintosh' and then copy the text 'windows', 9/10 when I hit CMD+V, the text 'macintosh' is pasted instead of 'windows'.

i'm rather concerned about this because i very rarely look when i paste something into a chat box or forum, and its only gonna be a matter of time until i offend someone by pasting the wrong data.

Any light on this?

Discussion is locked

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to copy or not to copy
Mar 16, 2008 8:49AM PDT

The normal answer to this question is that the second item was not actually copied and not that the Mac forgot what was copied.

I have no doubt that you are copying correctly, but have to ask,
since you specifically mention Command + V ;

Command + C
or
Right Click + Copy.
or
Edit/Copy from the Menu bar.

Which one works ALL the time?

P

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The third one?
Mar 16, 2008 9:13AM PDT
Grin I've mistyped/clicked on items for copying and the like so many times, I can't even begin to count them. The Edit bar is always there to work with you though.

My advice? Go to the Finder and under Edit, select "Show Clipboard". That may help you out if you find that the Mini is working correctly.

-BMF
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well I'll be damned
Mar 17, 2008 10:57PM PDT

The problem is persisting, and I don't really see any particular pattern. I am however noticing it more when I use the mouse to right click, copy, right click, paste.

This is really odd. And it happens on Mac OS X and on the Windows Virtual Machine which I run very often. Haven't noticed it on the actual Windows side, because I only ever boot that to play games, and then literally reboot straight into Mac OS.

Damn bloody computers... got gremlins inside Plain

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well, i've got my clipboard on.
Mar 16, 2008 9:35AM PDT

to be honest i'm not sure which key combination or click menu works. Depends what mood i'm in, sometimes I right click and copy, others I cmd+c and sometimes I use the menu bar.

I've honestly no clue... but i will try to keep an eye on it in these coming days and give you two an update.

thank you.

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There's a real problem I'm having with my Mac...
Apr 6, 2008 11:59PM PDT

This is an ongoing problem with me too. I am not using windows at all, it is a purely mac problem. Makes me crazy.

I will be using a text editor and mail program and running applescripts and macros to automate much of the process and sometimes the clipboard will 'take' the text I have copied to it and sometimes it displays the last batch of text I have copied. No rhyme or reason. Mostly it fails when I have just used an applescript to concatenate text and set that text to the clipboard. But not always.

I've tried waiting for several seconds before pasting to see if this is just a "it'll take a sec" thing. Doesn't consistently work. The fellow who programmed the keyboard macro program I used admitted it's a problem and said, "The clipboard on the Mac is sometimes cached a bit more than desired, so the programs do not always notice the changes... you may have to add in an application switch (switch to the Finder and then switch back to the last application before doing the command-V)." That failed, too.

It's tiresome. Any ideas or hacks will be appreciated.

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a hack that seems to work
Apr 7, 2008 1:02AM PDT

Okay I have investigated this a bit more because it was bugging me.

If I am using a script to set concatenated text to clipboard, I'll set it to clipboard, then have it paste in a bbedit before copying and pasting in the application I need it in. This bit of script is what I used inside the other script I was running:

tell application "BBEdit"
activate
make new text document at text window 1
paste
select text 1 of text window 1
copy selection
close document 1 of text window 1 saving no
end tell

So far so good.

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I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Apr 8, 2008 9:43AM PDT

But... I've just sold my Mac! I realised in the long run that OS X and Macs really weren't for me. I will probably use the money to buy an ASUS Eee and what's left will just be put away for a rainy day.

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The mini is gone?
Apr 9, 2008 1:53PM PDT

I'd pass on the Eee. I like the new HP 2133, aka, Mini-Note. Sure the VIA CPU isn't very good, but everything else is. I'd take that thing with Linux or XP any day.

At least you are one of few who have owned Macs, used them, and then decide you don't like them. Too many people dismiss Apple without having used a Mac. Well, hope you find the machine that is "just right". How about the iPhone? Grin That phone will take over the world of computing if Apple lets it.

-BMF

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Yes, indeed.
Apr 9, 2008 11:16PM PDT

I've considered an iPhone but not sure if I would benefit from it.

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Waiting is the trick
Apr 10, 2008 8:21AM PDT

It's amazing that the iPhone has not even been available for a year and yet Apple has advanced it so far. I'd say that within a given period of time, we'll see all sorts of licensed apps running on the iPhone. The App Store will be a big hit, once it takes off. Come June, and with an expected iPhone hardware refresh, it could work for everyone. Most of it is just speculation, but we shall see.

-BMF

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Copy/Paste Fails
May 5, 2008 12:45PM PDT

Your Mac will respond to failed attempt to copy by a screen flash, and sound.
That gives you a clue before going through the step to paste.

And only what the clipboard had previously will paste.
Not all you highlight is able to copy.

It might be text in a PDF, or text in part of an image.
Some sites use non copy type format. I hate when they do that.

Cheers