Q&A MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions about whether or not the Maps app from iOS 5 could be installed and used on iOS 6, how best to use an Apple ID for business purchases, if you can back up multiple internal hard drives to Time Machine, and how to tackle PDF files appearing black in Web browsers. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using Maps from iOS 5 in iOS 6
MacFixIt reader Peter asks:

Can we keep iOS 5's Maps app under iOS 6? The new Maps app under iOS 6 may look cool, but it's short of some main features that I use daily on my iPhone 4, and hope to keep using for years to come.

Is there any way to protect the iOS 5 version of Maps from being vaporized by the feature-challenged new Maps when I download iOS 6 in the next few days? And, if there is, will it still work in tandem with the new Maps?

Answer:
No, you cannot, at least not without jailbreaking the system or otherwise hacking it. Even if you were able to do this and get the older Maps for iOS installed, Apple's bundled applications are often OS-specific and would likely throw an error and not launch properly.

Question: Using an Apple ID for business purchases
MacFixIt reader Brian asks:

You recently suggested that businesses use the same Apple ID on each Mac to manage software updates -- does one ID actually work for more than 5 Macs? What about limitations of 5 Macs being able to be authorized with the same single ID for software purchases? Presumably authorizations don't matter for Mountain Lion itself, but if we buy 10 of the same program, wouldn't we need 10 separate IDs or 2 IDs to manage the 10 Macs?

Answer:
If you have a business that has more than five Macs, then Apple's App Store purchasing program for businesses will be a better approach for managing App Store purchases.

Question: Backing up two internal drives to Time Machine
MacFixIt reader Zack asks:

I have a SSD as my Boot Drive and the original 750gb HDD in the optical disk mount. Is there any way to set it up so that Time Machine will back up both the drives as one file?

Answer:
Time Machine should automatically back up all local drives to the same destination Time Machine drive.

Question: PDF files appearing black when opened in a Web browser
MacFixIt reader Sierra asks:

I have a MacBook Pro. I can no longer read PDFs. I have reloaded Adobe Acrobat/Reader/Flash. My MacBook states that all three are already installed. The PDFs are black in color, with no text. Is there anything I can do to restore my ability to read the PDFs? Please keep in mind my computer stills are extremely limited. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

Answer:
Try uninstalling Adobe Reader to see if that helps. OS X has built-in ability to read PDF documents, and should not need the Adobe Reader plug-in. Some versions of Adobe Reader have also been known to give a black screen when viewing PDFs in Safari.

Specifically, remove Adobe-related plug-ins from your Macintosh HD > Library > Internet Plug-ins folder if you are experiencing black PDFs in Safari.

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