Mac maintenance question

yankees25122yankees25122
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hey Guys,



This is my first post but I have been visiting this website for a while. I just got my new Macbook the other day. I've used Macs a lot before (I'm a communications major) but this is the first one that I've owned.



What is some of the normal maintenance I have to preform to keep my Mac running like new?



Thanks for the help in advance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    amodaamoda Posts: 17member
    just check for updates everynow and then and download any which are relevant to you. No anti-virus programs needed or anything (unless you share files with alot of pc users, then you should check for viruses that might infect them not you), so yeah just check for updates really.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    yankees25122yankees25122 Posts: 2member
    but no disk checks or temp file deletions or anything like that?





    sorry...I'm still tuned for Windows...
  • Reply 3 of 6
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    You can use the disk utility application to check and repair permissions occasionaly. There are also an abundance of utilities out there (Tinker tool, etc) for people who want to do more advanced maitinence.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by yankees25122


    but no disk checks or temp file deletions or anything like that?



    sorry...I'm still tuned for Windows...



    Unless you suspect a problem is related to the drives, no. If you do think you have a disk-related problem, then there is Disk Utility where you can verify the disk. There is a program called SMARTReporter that you can use to keep tabs on the health of the drive. OS X automatically defragments files on the system drive, so long as you give it a little free space to deal with it, leaving 5% or more free space is a good idea.



    One thing you should do is buy an external drive that's larger than your Mac's current drive. Use a program like SuperDuper (in my opinion, the easiest) or Carbon Copy Cloner to maintain a backup copy of your Mac in case the drive fails.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    frediographyfrediography Posts: 28member
    Brings me to a question too : I have been told that unlike PC's macs dont get slower as they get older...

    I know that PC's do since i'm on a 2.66GHz pc and it now feels like a 1.5GHz...

    Is this true?
  • Reply 6 of 6
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Frediography


    Brings me to a question too : I have been told that unlike PC's macs dont get slower as they get older...

    I know that PC's do since i'm on a 2.66GHz pc and it now feels like a 1.5GHz...

    Is this true?



    I think it does but maybe not to the same extent. As you use the system, you will probably install apps that you will eventually won't need anymore, some of those apps might have related services that take memory (might add swapping) and processor time. So you should still do occasional pruning.
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