Can I make a genius appointment for a Mac with out-of-date Applecare

[Mrbobb]

Because computers are complicated animals, too many variables, sometimes it's easier to re-install from clean and never mind what exactly caused it which u may spend ridiculous time finding. If u go to Apple, they are no magicians either, at some point, they will tell you the same thing, restore from scratch. But OK if service free, it just costs u gas.

If I maybe the geek a second: There is a Star Trek episode where Data was infected with an alien virus, they don't know how to fix him. Luckily Data's software has this safeguard where if it detects things has gone haywire, it resets itself and wipes everything and start anew. He lost some recent memory but that's better than broken. That's kind of what needs done for our computers if solution not obvious, and your problem is certainly a weird one.

 

[kdum8]

Because computers are complicated animals, too many variables, sometimes it's easier to re-install from clean and never mind what exactly caused it which u may spend ridiculous time finding. If u go to Apple, they are no magicians either, at some point, they will tell you the same thing, restore from scratch. But OK if service free, it just costs u gas.

If I maybe the geek a second: There is a Star Trek episode where Data was infected with an alien virus, they don't know how to fix him. Luckily Data's software has this safeguard where if it detects things has gone haywire, it resets itself and wipes everything and start anew. He lost some recent memory but that's better than broken. That's kind of what needs done for our computers if solution not obvious, and your problem is certainly a weird one.

Love the TNG analogy! (which episode was that btw?)

If I re-install ML I will have to wipe the Hard Drive from the installer and opt for a fresh install? Then at some point during the install process will it give me the option to import my data and applications again? (Btw, I know many apps have files in Application Support in the Library also, will a TM restore put all those files back as well?)

 

[Mrbobb]

Oy. Well at least you are asking the right questions.

To answer, you need an intimately Mac-familiar person, am more of a recent Windows convert. One hopes OSX is consistent where it stores all its settings and data paths for ALL applications. If that's the case is easy, but otherwise your helper will also have to have intimate knowledge of EACH application you are using and wish to restore their settings and data (obviously). So be ready to list your applications. Passing you along...

 

[snaky69]

Love the TNG analogy! (which episode was that btw?)

If I re-install ML I will have to wipe the Hard Drive from the installer and opt for a fresh install? Then at some point during the install process will it give me the option to import my data and applications again? (Btw, I know many apps have files in Application Support in the Library also, will a TM restore put all those files back as well?)

That's exactly how it works.

You can also choose to ignore the restoring and give the computer a try in it's clean state. You can always import your stuff later using "migration assistant".

 

[Blondie :)]

Unlikely. However when I do TM restores, I only restore apps, users, and documents. I do leave settings unchecked.

This. It'll give you the best shot at successfully getting rid of your problem. Usually when restoring from a TM backup, it'll only work if the problem occurred after you did your last TM backup. But restoring without reinstating settings will set everything to factory default, which may fix your issue. At any rate, it's worth a shot versus paying hourly for the geniuses.

 

[Orange Crane]

Love the TNG analogy! (which episode was that btw?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contagion_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

 

[GGJstudios]

YCombining this app with another Mac-cleaning software (ie. CleanMyMac, paid app)

I would not recommend CleanMyMac, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much. Here's a recent example. While you may not have experienced problems yet, enough people have that it's wise to avoid it, especially since there are free alternatives that have better reputations, such as Onyx.

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. Most only 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. In fact, deleting some caches 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.

Five Mac maintenance myths​