Apple Computers Maintenance question

[emiliano5]

I apologize if this question has already been posted.

I have always been a Windows user, thinking about switching to Mac.

What type of maintenance do you need to run on an Apple computer to keep it running smoothly?

My experience with Windows is that you need to…
Update daily using Windows update to update Antimalware and various other Windows programs.
Keep your virus protection up to date. I have Norton 360. And run the Scans.
Run defragmenter at least every month or every other month.
Run registry clean up frequently.
Check the Problem Reports and Solutions page and install the fixes.
Run Disk cleanup to free up some space.
ETC.

THANKS in advance!

 

[Jisuo]

Nothing really.

-Software update is almost automatic
-No viruses
-No need to defrag
-No registry

Just enjoy your computer.

 

[slpdLoad]

If you really want, you can leave it on once in a while through the night. At like 2 or 3 in the morning a few Unix chron jobs will run in the background that clean up a few things.

There are some programs that will run these for you when you wish.

Just keep things up to date with Software Update and you shouldn't have any issues if you're not hacking around in your system.

 

[Morod]

If you really want, you can leave it on once in a while through the night. At like 2 or 3 in the morning a few Unix chron jobs will run in the background that clean up a few things.

A daily script runs at 3:15 AM every day. A weekly script runs every Saturday at 3:15 AM. If you "sleep" your Apple, the scripts will run when woken up after that time.
A monthly script runs at 5:30 AM the first of every month. If your Apple is in sleep mode at this time the script will not run until the first day of the following month.

 

[i.shaun]

Unlike people are making it seem, OS X does need maintenance once in a while.

If you start noticing a slow down or a problem, the most basic thing you can do is Reboot. That may solve everything right there. If that fails, try to open disk utility (in the applications/Utilities folder) and repair permissions.


These are also troubleshooting steps that often help clear problems that are going on. In the case that both of those fail, reboot the mac and hold command+option+P+R while it boots, and hold it until it reboots and you hear the chime again. That resets the PRAM, and also may fix more serious issues.




There are more troubleshooting steps, but those fix most problems, rebooting being the #1 thing to do. The others are for slightly more serious issues.

 

[jmnikricket]

If that fails, try to open disk utility (in the applications/Utilities folder) and repair permissions.

I repair permissions every 2-4 weeks to keep things flowing well. It's sort of like defragging on a PC, you don't have to do it, but it can prevent problems if you do it regularly. Macs defrag automatically by the way, so this is not necessary and I'm not sure of a way to manually do it. Also run software update about once a week just to check for any security updates (though if you read MacRumors regularly, you should know when you have to d/l updates).

Zapping PRAM is actually Command-Option-P-R, and really only needs to be done if there are serious problems with your computer. Not part of regular maintenance.