Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Air has become slow; any good housekeeping tips for a Mac?

S

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,046
329
I have had my Macbook Air for a little over a year. I am a PC convert. On a PC I regularly defrag the drive, remove temporary files and periodically do some house keeping using a utility like CC cleaner. But I have no idea what to do when it comes to a Mac.

Of late my Air seems to be running a little slow. Now when it wakes up from sleep it takes about 4-5 seconds before the touchpad becomes active, where as before it used to be instantaneous. A couple of times recently I have seen the spinning disc when doing certain things. I don't think I ever saw it until now. So I am thinking my Mac needs some cleanup of junk files, temporary files and such.

I have installed and uninstalled a bunch of apps and for uninstalling, I have just dragged the application to trash because somebody told me that is all you need to do to delete applications and you don't have an 'uninstall' option like Windows. Is this the right way to uninstall apps? If not, what is the correct way? Also how do I clean up any junk files left over from the applications I have removed.

In general are there any other housekeeping tips that will help make my Air zippy and like its old self again? I am still running Snow Leopard btw.

Thanks!
 
First, the Air's SSD will slow over time so file access and loading apps will slow down (not to HDD speeds though).

OS X like many other unix systems run system maintenance scripts over night at 1am (or is it 3am?). If the Air is asleep then that won't run. They're supposed to on wake but in my experience that never happens. There are scripts for daily, weekly or monthly that clean out the kruft. Thankfully you can run these manually using Terminal commands or frontend apps like Cocktail or Yasu. Generally, logs and such don't really slow your machine down much but OS X and iOS run smoother if those logs are periodically cleaned (on iOS it seems to happen only on sync).

You can delete most apps just the way you have been. The few exceptions are the ones that install themselves and have an uninstaller (ex. Mac:Office). People will tell you that doing so will leave behind the apps preference files but those are tiny (only a few kb) and don't seem to bog anything down (especially on an SSD). You can get apps that will delete any files associated with an app on deletion like AppZapper but it's not necessary.
 
Last edited:
Open the Activity Monitor and see what is running.

Then delete anything that is from old installs that might be still running in the background.
For example, if you ever installed the Intego Virus Barrier, is leaves something running in the background, even after you "uninstall it"

Also look into the Console for the log of the things that are going on with your Mac.
 
One thing to check is Disk Permission corruptions. You will find the tools to check and repair them in Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app
 
saintforlife said:
I have had my Macbook Air for a little over a year. I am a PC convert. On a PC I regularly defrag the drive, remove temporary files and periodically do some house keeping using a utility like CC cleaner. But I have no idea what to do when it comes to a Mac.
Click to expand...
Read the performance tips link that simsaladimbamba posted.

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process.

These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt.

Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

QuarterSwede said:
OS X like many other unix systems run system maintenance scripts over night at 1am (or is it 3am?). If the Air is asleep then that won't run. They're supposed to on wake but in my experience that never happens.
Click to expand...
There are daily, weekly and monthly scripts. If the Mac is off or asleep at the scheduled time, they do, indeed, run the next time the Mac is awake. You can get the Maintidget widget, which will tell you the last time the scripts ran.
QuarterSwede said:
You can get apps that will delete any files associated with an app on deletion like AppZapper but it's not necessary.
Click to expand...
In most cases, app removal software like AppZapper doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this and this. If you just want to delete the app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other software needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, no removal apps will do the job.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Moonjumper said:
One thing to check is Disk Permission corruptions. You will find the tools to check and repair them in Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app
Click to expand...
Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.
Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.

You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.
Click to expand...
Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?

Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.

Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.
Click to expand...
There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:
If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.
 
GGJstudios said:
Maintidget widget, which will tell you the last time the scripts ran.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That'll help.

GGJstudios said:
In most cases, app removal software like AppZapper doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps.
Click to expand...
Personally, I use AppCleaner which does a thorough job. Most of the time it surprises me at how many files it finds when I trash an app (it monitors when you trash something). Even if you don't want to use it to trash the files it will allow you to see where they are which helps with manual deletion.

GGJstudios said:
Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps
Click to expand...
You need to listen to John Siracusa's (of ArsTechnica) excellent talk on why HFS+ needs to be replaced to understand why repairing permissions is a futile effort currently (Basically, HFS+ is such a hack job that almost everything the hard drive writes causes file permission issues). He goes into great length as to why. It's on Hypercritical on Dan Benjamin's 5by5 network.
 
QuarterSwede said:
Personally, I use AppCleaner which does a thorough job. Most of the time it surprises me at how many files it finds when I trash an app (it monitors when you trash something). Even if you don't want to use it to trash the files it will allow you to see where they are which helps with manual deletion.
Click to expand...
While it is more convenient to use such applications, especially automated ones, they don't find all files (sadly, as Finder makes it so simple, and is strange, why an uninstall application could not use the same mechanism):
image is clickable
2012_04_09_pA1_UninstallAppComarison.jpg
 
QuarterSwede said:
Personally, I use AppCleaner which does a thorough job. Most of the time it surprises me at how many files it finds when I trash an app (it monitors when you trash something). Even if you don't want to use it to trash the files it will allow you to see where they are which helps with manual deletion.
Click to expand...
Actually, AppCleaner does a pretty dismal job. In almost every single case, you can remove an app using AppCleaner, then use the manual method I posted and find files that it left behind. Look at the links I posted, including a test of AppCleaner 2 weeks ago. The results are obvious.
 
GGJstudios said:
Actually, AppCleaner does a pretty dismal job. In almost every single case, you can remove an app using AppCleaner, then use the manual method I posted and find files that it left behind. Look at the links I posted, including a test of AppCleaner 2 weeks ago. The results are obvious.
Click to expand...
I'm speaking from my personal experience. It finds stuff I'd never know existed. I don't expect it to find everything but it definitely does a better job than I would.
 
QuarterSwede said:
I'm speaking from my personal experience. It finds stuff I'd never know existed. I don't expect it to find everything but it definitely does a better job than I would.
Click to expand...

Not anymore, if you've read what's been linked ;)
 
QuarterSwede said:
I'm speaking from my personal experience. It finds stuff I'd never know existed. I don't expect it to find everything but it definitely does a better job than I would.
Click to expand...

But you can use Finder, thus you do the job by selecting the parameters, and while it is not automatic, it removes everything, in case you ever need to.

You can also take a look at the last link in my signature to see, how easy it actually is.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
But you can use Finder, thus you do the job by selecting the parameters, and while it is not automatic, it removes everything, in case you ever need to.

You can also take a look at the last link in my signature to see, how easy it actually is.
Click to expand...
Sure you can do it in Finder but who would know to look in something other than ApplicationSupport? THAT's my point ... and don't tell me to use Spotlight to find it. Most of the time it can't find something when I actually know the filename. I'm talking about a doc or mov, not some system file.

I do like the process in that video but for someone who downloads and installs often and deletes often that's a pain.
 
QuarterSwede said:
And I'm saying you can't trust Spotlight either. Again, personal experience.
Click to expand...

Have you actually looked at the guide Mister GGJstudios and me linked to? Or the video (last link in my signature)? It does not involve Spotlight (CMD+Space), you use Finder > CMD+F for that.

again, image is clickable
2012_04_09_pA2_UninstallAppComarison.jpg
 
Thanks GG, that's the first time I've understood how to remove a program (coming from the PC world).
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Have you actually looked at the guide Mister GGJstudios and me linked to? Or the video (last link in my signature)? It does not involve Spotlight (CMD+Space), you use Finder > CMD+F for that.

again, image is clickable
2012_04_09_pA2_UninstallAppComarison.jpg
Click to expand...
That is also Spotlight. The index is what you can't trust.

And yes, I watched the video. I like the process but Spotlight for me just doesn't always work well.
 
QuarterSwede said:
That is also Spotlight. The index is what you can't trust.

And yes, I watched the video. I like the process but Spotlight for me just doesn't always work well.
Click to expand...
If your drive is indexed properly, a Finder search will locate all app-related files/folders. Searching with Spotlight will not, as it doesn't return results from Library folders, where Finder does. I've never seen a case where it didn't find everything. If you have an example, I'll be happy to test it, or you can test it yourself. It works, and certainly is far more effective than AppCleaner or any other app-removal software.
QuarterSwede said:
Sure you can do it in Finder but who would know to look in something other than ApplicationSupport?
Click to expand...
That's the point. You don't need to know about folders like Application Support. The search will find app-related files, wherever they are.
calvol said:
Thanks GG, that's the first time I've understood how to remove a program (coming from the PC world).
Click to expand...
You're welcome!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back