Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Jaguar Edition, The

The Paperclip Trick

If all else fails, notice that tiny hole next to the CD slot, internal Zip drive, or floppy drive? That hole is paperclip size. Unbend a paperclip and push it in. It’s very safe as all you’re doing is releasing the mechanism that holds the disk in place—push firmly. You can even do this if the computer is turned off or unplugged and stored in a closet.

New machines might not have a paperclip hole! Use the mouse trick instead.

If you have an internal Zip drive, you might discover that the paperclip hole in the outer plastic casing does not exactly line up with the release mechanism on the drive inside. If you have trouble, pop the front off of the Mac (if that’s possible on your machine) and stick your paperclip directly into ...