Mouse and external monitor

[Lymon R.]

I know this is REALLY basic, but I've got a new MacBook and external monitor, and I can't get my mouse or trackpad to jump on to the external monitor. It's got to be obvious, but I can't find it in the manual or in help, and that's frustrating. The displays are linked, side by side, but the mouse doesn't seem to know it. I'd be grateful for any help.
(Migration Assistant appears to be a big dud as well, but that's another story.)

 

[JustGretchen]

Migration asst. is very limited as far as what it lets you choose to migrate...other than that, it has worked well for me in the past.

As far as your linkage problem, make sure that the monitor is set to be on the side of the screen you think it should be. I'm sorry if that sounds dumb, but it could be as simple as that.

All of the settings should be in the Displays area of system prefs.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Go into System Preferences -> Displays -> Arrangement and rearrange the layout to approximate their position in reality. You may have to shift them about a bit to make sure your mouse doesn't appear to jump about as it moves between displays.

 

[Lymon R.]

Yes, that was it. How embarrassing. I had the screens flopped. Once I went right to go left, I was there--sort of like the Red Queen.

It was Apple tech support that told me to give up on Migration Assistant. (He said, "We've had a lot of problems with it. It isn't working.") They're telling me to pull everything onto an external hard drive via a USB and then back onto my new Mac. Seems ridiculous that I can't use Ethernet, doesn't it? I may just return the new MacBook and buy one on line that has Fire Wire. If I can't pull over applications, I lose CS2. But maybe I wouldn't have been able to pull that over anyway.

One last question: is the fancy new track pad on the MacBook stiffer than earlier ones? My thumb was feeling a little carple-tunnelly last night. I'm thinking this new machine really demands a mouse.

 

[MooneyFlyer]

After a few days of using my Alu MB I got used to it. I did find it a bit tougher to push the trackpad at first (my first Mac laptop). You can turn on tap to click in the System Preferences.

 

[BlueRevolution]

It was Apple tech support that told me to give up on Migration Assistant. (He said, "We've had a lot of problems with it. It isn't working.") They're telling me to pull everything onto an external hard drive via a USB and then back onto my new Mac. Seems ridiculous that I can't use Ethernet, doesn't it? I may just return the new MacBook and buy one on line that has Fire Wire. If I can't pull over applications, I lose CS2. But maybe I wouldn't have been able to pull that over anyway.

Sure you can use ethernet. Just plug a cable between the two computers and enable file sharing on your old computer. If your old computer is also Intel, you can even use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the entire system to your new MacBook.