What should my "routine maintenance" include?
On my previous Dell, I routinely did the following, which helped the computer run smoother and faster for a longer time:
Disk cleanup.
Disk defragmenter.
Antivirus.
Spybot search and destroy.
My question is--what should I be doing with my Powerbook G4 (going on three years old)? Are there any applications which came with the computer or which are available for free online which I should routinely running to help keep stuff running smoothly?
Thanks
Disk cleanup.
Disk defragmenter.
Antivirus.
Spybot search and destroy.
My question is--what should I be doing with my Powerbook G4 (going on three years old)? Are there any applications which came with the computer or which are available for free online which I should routinely running to help keep stuff running smoothly?
Thanks
Comments
On my previous Dell, I routinely did the following, which helped the computer run smoother and faster for a longer time:
Disk cleanup.
Disk defragmenter.
Antivirus.
Spybot search and destroy.
My question is--what should I be doing with my Powerbook G4 (going on three years old)? Are there any applications which came with the computer or which are available for free online which I should routinely running to help keep stuff running smoothly?
Thanks
Disk cleanup. - Not familiar with
Disk defragmenter. - Info at:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25668
says is done automatically. I've used TechTool for some time. I probably don't need to optimize with it, but I run it every month or two. It says that I have fragmented files, so I run it.
http://www.micromat.com/index.php?op...=198&Itemid=85
Antivirus. - As far as I know, not needed for a Mac
Spybot search and destroy - As far as I know, not needed for a Mac
OS X runs the usual Unix maintenance routines at 3:30AM every morning, but those don't really do much for a GUI user.
Utilities that "deep clean" caches are laughable. Caches are there for a reason.
On my previous Dell, I routinely did the following, which helped the computer run smoother and faster for a longer time:
Disk cleanup.
Disk defragmenter.
Antivirus.
Spybot search and destroy.
My question is--what should I be doing with my Powerbook G4 (going on three years old)? Are there any applications which came with the computer or which are available for free online which I should routinely running to help keep stuff running smoothly?
Thanks
I'm afraid I am going to disagree with the good intentioned previous posters.
You're asking for ways to keep your system running smoothly and at peak efficiency. Though the Mac OS is based on FreeBSD UNIX and the Mach 3.0 kernel, which has a solid and stable reputation, there are some things you can do to keep your Mac running optimally.
Disk Utilitys
The first tip is Disk Utility.app in you utilities folder. It allows you to repair some HFS+ errors and will repair UNIX permissions that may get set incorrectly when installing some programs. Another program that completely rebuilds your disk directory rather than repair the current one is DiskWarrior (Commercial $99.95). Also see TechTool and Drive Genius below.
CRON Scripts
It's true the system does have CRON scrips built in and they are set to run automatically based on daily, weekly and monthly cycles at about 3:00am. But most casual users do not have there computer on at that time. There are several program that will manually run these, here are three of them:
- OnyX (Free)
- MacJanitor (Free)
- Cocktail (shareware $14)
Of these I prefer OnyX. It allows you to run the CRON scripts manually and has other useful features. It can also check the S.M.A.R.T. status of SATA disks. There are times when a cashe becomes corrupt, particularly the font cashe. OnyX will allow you to delete cashes when necessary. Also on the rare occasion when the computer is shut down incorrectly some virtual memory and temporary files don't get deleted. OnyX allows you to delete these as well.Defragmenting Myth
Again, the Mac OS does automatically optimize the system occasionally when there are changes or updates to it. However his does not happen often and the rest of the data is still fragmented on your HDD. There is no free defragmenting software that I know of and it's debatable with todays large disk cashes and fast speeds how much disk defragmenting will slow your system. That said, these are the programs that can defragment your HDD:
- iDefrag (shareware $34.95)
- TechTool Pro (Commercial $98)
- Drive Genius (Commercial $99)
iDefrag is a one trick pony, it defrags and that's it. TechTool and Drive Genius combine features of the previous applications and also have the ability to repair some disk directory errors.Viruses
What viruses?
Seriously, isn't this one of the reasons you switched to a Mac? [/end bostful rant]
Yes, one day the virus writers will target our beloved Mac OS, but that day ain't here yet. The best thing to do is to simply use a firewall. If you have a Router with a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall turn it on. Otherwise use the built in firewall in System Preferences.
Well, I hope you found this informative and helpful. If you have any further specific questions don't hesitate to ask. Good luck.
I'm afraid I am going to disagree with the good intentioned previous posters.
Me too... but with you.
I think if you research this a bit or test on your own system, you'll find that the oft-mentioned CRON problem with sleeping Macs does not exist and hasn't existed since Apple switched to using launchd for running the Unix maintenance scripts in an early Tiger release.
You'll find reports of it being buggy in the beginning (2005 to early 2006), but I remember monitoring this for a while well over a year ago. After waking my G5 before 7:00am, the daily script would always run sometime before lunch. The exact time would vary depending on what else I was doing and whether the G5 was sleeping again during the morning. But it never failed to run fairly soon after waking sometimes within minutes, sometimes within 3-4 hours.
I'm traveling with my MBP at the moment and I've been leaving it plugged into AC and not sleeping for few days so I can't see it in the log now. Daily ran at 3:18 and weekly at 3:19, but the monthly script on Jan 1 ran at 21:42. I think I was busy with other things on New Years day or using only the G5 until near bedtime and the MBP was asleep most of the day. It partied hard I guess. :
Defragging your drive is useless and just asking for trouble. Most modern drives ignore efforts to defrag them anyway.
Caches don't need to be "cleared" unless as part of a debugging series for a problem.
None of that stuff is necessary. The Unix maintenance scripts don't do much.
Defragging your drive is useless and just asking for trouble. Most modern drives ignore efforts to defrag them anyway.
Caches don't need to be "cleared" unless as part of a debugging series for a problem.
Yes. And to clarify my "me too" comment -- I was disagreeing with AquaMac's disagreement.
And just to follow-up on my launchd point. I put my MBP to sleep last night. Yet, the daily script ran as soon as I opened the lid just now at 6:42am, even though it ran at about 3:20 as expected the night before when not sleeping.
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Defragging an HFS+ journaled disk is asking for trouble:
There are no viruses that afflict OS X. None.
Other mal-ware requires you as the admin to install them. There is no protection from user error.
Do not run utilities like Onyx, those cache files are there for a reason. Deleting them merely slows the Mac down when it rebuilds them. When they get corrupted you will know about it. Delete them then. Corruption is not a function of time, routinely deleting them will not protect you!
Permissions repair is rarely needed and if you search this forum you will find that most of the "errors" should be ignored anyway.
The only thing you need is a good backup plan. Hard drives will fail and that is not a Mac vs. PeeCee thing!